Pitchers Duel Ends in Narrow Loss to Fairfield

Saturday, May 16

Fairfield, CT

1 p.m.

Sacred Heart

17-32, 13-16

Fairfield

27-21, 20-10

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Fairfield	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	6	1
Sacred Heart	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	5	0

Pitchers Duel Ends in Narrow Loss to Fairfield

5/16/2026 4:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Fairfield, Conn. -- Sacred Heart received seven shutout innings and a combined 13 strikeouts from its pitching staff, but a late Fairfield rally proved to be the difference as the Pioneers came up just short in the series finale to end the season.

By: Julia Groff

Fairfield, Conn. -- Sacred Heart received seven shutout innings and a combined 13 strikeouts from its pitching staff, but a late Fairfield rally proved to be the difference as the Pioneers came up just short in the series finale to end the season.

Records

Sacred Heart | 17-32 (13-16 MAAC)

Fairfield | 27-21 (20-10 MAAC)

Top Performers

JW Fitzgerald: 0-3, R

Gavin Donohue: 1-4, R

Ronan Donohue: 3-4, RBI

Daniel Rice III: 1-3

Jake Friel: 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 SO

Jase Schueller: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 5 SO

Hector Alejandro: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO

How It Happened

Jake Friel was dominant out of the gate, striking out two batters in the first inning and adding another in the second. He continued to cruise through the middle innings, recording two more strikeouts in the third and his final punchout in the fourth as both teams remained scoreless early.

Jase Schueller took over and kept the momentum going on the mound, recording inning-ending strikeouts in both the fifth and sixth before striking out back-to-back batters in the seventh. He added another strikeout in the eighth, but Fairfield finally broke through with three runs to take a 3–0 lead after seven scoreless innings from both sides.

Hector Alejandro came on in the ninth and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to keep the deficit at three.

In the bottom half, JW Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch and Gavin Donohue followed with a single before CJ Nolan worked a walk to load the bases. Ronan Donohue brought home Fitzgerald with an RBI single, and Gavin Donohue later scored on a groundout by Will Cook, but Sacred Heart's rally came up just short as the Pioneers fell 3–2.