Games 40, 41 & 42
Sacred Heart vs. Norfolk State
Northeast Conference
Friday, April 26 - 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 27 - 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 28 - Noon
Veterans Memorial Park - Bridgeport, Conn.
LIVE on YouTube Live / Mixlr

Fresh off its first Northeast Conference series loss of the season, the Sacred Heart University baseball team returns home this weekend in a three-way tie at the top of the standings, alongside LIU and Wagner. The Pioneers will look to make hay this weekend against Norfolk State, which sits 11^th in the 12-team NEC. LIU hosts a tough Delaware State team, while Wagner visits winless Maryland Eastern Shore. Though it cannot happen this weekend, SHU is rapidly closing in on locking up its second straight NEC Championship berth.
 
First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday at Veterans Memorial Park. Saturday is Youth Day at the Vet, with area Little League players scheduled to attend and join the Pios on the field pregame.
 
Live video will be available via YouTube Live, live audio via Mixlr and live stats via the SHU Athletics website.
 
THE LAST WEEK
It was the first real bump in the NEC road for SHU last weekend, as they were walked off Bob Reed Field by Delaware State on both Friday and Saturday last weekend, marking the team's first series loss of the league campaign. The Pioneers rebounded on Sunday to avoid the sweep, as Elijah Foster struck out five over six scoreless innings to lead the way to a 6-2 victory.
 
SHU split a midweek, non-conference doubleheader at crosstown rival Fairfield on Tuesday afternoon. Fairfield erased a 6-0 deficit and took the first game, 7-6, in walk-off fashion. In the second game, SHU erased a 3-1 deficit with a Ronan Donohue homer in the fifth, and then the first-year third baseman turned a slick 5-5-3 double play later, to finish off a 4-3 victory.
 
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
Sacred Heart (20-19, 15-6 NEC) finds itself in a late-season fight for the NEC regular-season title for the first time since the 2013 Pioneers squad was 1.5 games behind Bryant with four weeks remaining. SHU ultimately finished solo second, four games back. The Pioneers have never won the league's regular-season crown and last finished in the top two in 2016. A top-two finish would earn the team a bye in the first round of the NEC Championship.
 
Donohue now ranks sixth in the NEC in OPS (1.040) as one of just nine qualifying batters to top the 1.000 mark. He is eighth in the league in slugging (.596).
 
SHU continues to lead the NEC in ERA (5.21) and ranks eighth in the league in on-base percentage (.364).
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Norfolk State (11-29, 6-15 NEC) has won just one NEC series all season, when it swept UMES on the road the second weekend of the season. The Spartans have lost seven of nine league contests in April, but did manage to take a game from a competitive Merrimack squad last weekend. Norfolk State is just 4-9 away from home, with three of those being the sweep at UMES, which is winless on the season.
 
The NSU offense does have its threats, including Justin Journette, who ranks second in the NEC in slugging (.653) and fourth in OPS (1.046). Manny Jackson (.368) and Jalan Jones (.355) are third and fifth in the league in batting average, respectively, while Jackson leads the NEC in hits (64).
 
Norfolk State ranks ninth in the NEC in on-base percentage, with a .361 mark comparable to SHU's. However, the Spartans are more than 1.5 runs worse than the Pioneers on the run-prevention side of things, as they rank ninth in the league with a 6.98 ERA.
 
ON THE MOUND
Sacred Heart projected starters:
Friday: Jake Babuschak (RHP)
            2024 stats: 53.2 IP, 56 H, 31 R (30 ER), 17 BB, 45 K, 5.03 ERA, 1.36 WHIP
            Last start: 4/12 vs. LEM (W), 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Saturday: Joe Trombley (RHP)
            2024 stats: 37.1 IP, 36 H, 18 R (16 ER), 13 BB, 22 K, 3.86 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
            Last start: 4/20 at DSU (ND), 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 1 K
Sunday: Elijah Foster (RHP)
            2024 stats: 37.1 IP, 26 H, 18 R (17 ER), 35 BB, 52 K, 4.10 ERA, 1.63 WHIP
            Last start: 4/21 at DSU (W), 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
 
Norfolk State projected starters:
Friday: Dalton Barham (LHP)
            2024 stats: 57.1 IP, 65 H, 50 R (37 ER), 27 BB, 65 K, 5.81 ERA, 1.60 WHIP
            Last start: 4/19 vs. MER (L), 7.0 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
Saturday: John Horton (RHP)
            2024 stats: 53.0 IP, 53 H, 39 R (32 ER), 31 BB, 50 K, 5.43 ERA, 1.58 WHIP
            Last start: 4/20 vs. MER (W), 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
Sunday: Liam Royster (RHP)
            2024 stats: 32.0 IP, 38 H, 32 R (20 ER), 26 BB, 23 K, 5.63 ERA, 2.00 WHIP
            Last start: 4/21 vs. MER (L), 2.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K
 
LAST MEETING
SHU made the trip to Norfolk State for a three-game series last year in mid-March to open the NEC campaign. The Pios dropped a wild, 14-11 affair to open the weekend, but then routed the Spartans twice thereafter, 16-3 on Saturday and 15-1 on Sunday. Ryan Donnelly earned NEC Player of the Week honors after the weekend wrapped up, in part thanks to a 4-for-6 day with a triple in the series finale.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams have now met a grand total of eight times in their history, though the all-time series dates to 1994, with SHU holding a 5-3 advantage. This weekend marks Norfolk State's first visit to the Vet, as SHU has never hosted the Spartans.
 
NEXT UP
SHU will host Yale in a midweek contest on Tuesday, before traveling to Wagner for a three-game showdown to open the month of May next weekend.