BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University baseball team swept the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in doubleheader action Saturday winning 19-12 and 6-5. The Pioneers return to the win column with a 25-23 overall record
 
Records
SHU: 25-23
UMES: 5-40
 
Game 1
Pitching
Joey Trombley: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 4 SO
Ryan Redmond (W, 2-3): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 SO
Trent Price: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO
Jonathan Peterson: 0.0 IP, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB
Paul Glenchur: 0.0 IP, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB
Mitch Hawkins: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 SO
PJ Rogan: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 4 SO
 
Hitting
Peter Link: 3 H, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, 1 2B
Tim McGuire: 2 H, 2 R, 3 RBI
Gavin Donohue: 2 H, 3 R, 1 RBI
JW Fitzgerald: 2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI
 
How it Happened
The Hawks came out hot in the first inning, stringing together three hits and grabbing an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single.
 
UMES extended its advantage in the third with a solo shot to center field, doubling the lead to 2-0.
 
Sacred Heart quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning, as Alex Ungar launched a solo homer to left-center, cutting the deficit in half.
 
The home run battle began to heat up in the fourth, with UMES's Jayson Brown going yard to left for a 3-1 lead. SHU answered right back in the bottom of the frame, as Peter Link blasted a two-run homer to tie it up at 3-3.
 
UMES reclaimed the lead in the fifth on Ryan Howe's second homer of the day, a solo shot to left that made it 4-3.
 
But SHU erupted in the bottom of the inning, putting up a five-run rally. Gavin Donohue drove in Ungar with an RBI single, Dave Yorke plated two more with a base hit to left, and JW Fitzgerald added a two-RBI single to give the Pioneers an 8-4 lead.
 
The offensive outburst continued in the sixth as the Pioneers added eight more insurance runs to blow the game open at 16-4. Home runs from Ronan Donohue, Link, and Dante D'Amore accounted for five of those runs, while Fitzgerald scored on a wild pitch and McGuire knocked in two with a single through the left side.
 
UMES mounted a late push with a seven-run rally in the top of the seventh, trimming the deficit to 16-11.
 
SHU tacked on three more across the seventh and eighth innings, and although UMES added one in the eighth, it wasn't enough to close the gap, as the Pioneers secured a 19-12 victory.
 
Game 2
Pitching
Elijah Foster: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 8 SO
Ryan Parker: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (4 ER), 2 SO
Charlie Costello (W, 2-2): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 SO
Bryan Matuschat (S, 2): 0.1 IP
 
Hitting
Tim McGuire: 3 H, 1 R
CJ Nolan: 2 H, 1 R
Zack Kovalchik:1 H, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
 
How it Happened
UMES struck first once again, this time capitalizing on a Pioneer error in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Sacred Heart quickly responded in the bottom half, as Zack Kovalchik crushed a three-run homer to left field, flipping the game in the Pioneers' favor at 3-1.
 
In the fourth, Ronan Donohue extended the lead with a sacrifice fly to bring home Steak Newman, making it 4-1 SHU.
 
Both teams settled into a pitching duel until the top of the eighth, when UMES came alive with a four-run surge to take a 5-4 lead.
 
But the Pioneers had an answer. In the bottom of the eighth, JW Fitzgerald laid down a perfectly placed bunt down the first base line, scoring CJ Nolan and beating the throw to first. With the bases loaded, Peter Link delivered a clutch sacrifice fly to score Donohue, putting SHU back in front, 6-5.
 
That lead held, and the Pioneers secured the come-from-behind victory to complete the sweep.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers will wrap up regular season play at home next weekend as they face Quinnipiac in a MAAC series beginning Thursday at 1 p.m.
 
The Pioneers are still fighting to secure a spot in the MAAC Championship Tournament. Currently sitting fifth in the 13-team standings, SHU is in position to qualify, with the top eight teams advancing to the postseason.