BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn baseball team dropped two heart-breaking games in a row Friday afternoon, falling to Sacred Heart 6-5 and 3-1 in a doubleheader on LIU Field. With the losses, the Blackbirds move to 22-27 overall, and 12-13 in conference play, still fighting for a spot in the Northeast Conference tournament.
Sacred Heart 6, LIU Brooklyn 5
In the first game of the day, the Blackbirds methodically took the early lead, before seeing Sacred Heart use the long ball twice to rally back and win it.
LIU got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Junior
Andrew Turner singled to lead off, and senior
Harrison Preschel had a double down the left field line to put him on third. Freshman
Joe Curcio would single to SHU's shortstop, scoring Turner and putting the Blackbirds up, 1-0.
Another run would score in the bottom of the third. Senior
Charles Misiano and junior
Dom Paiotti were walked to lead off, and sophomore
Joe Mercadante had a sacrifice bunt to move them over. Turner would walk to load the bases, and Preschel had a sacrifice fly to right field that would bring home Misano and make the lead 2-0.
The Blackbirds added two more in the fourth. With one out, sophomore
Luis Arias de los Santos doubled to center field, and sophomore
Andrew Smith followed that up with a single. Misiano hit a ball hard at the SHU pitcher, who overthrew to first base; the error allowed Arias to score. Paiotti came up next, and singled up the middle, which was enough to bring Smith home, putting LIU up, 4-0.
But Sacred Heart would wipe the slate clean in the next frame. Three singles would load the bases, and Keith Klebart would hit a grand slam over the left field fence to tie it up, 4-4. Starter
Patrick Clyne would successfully retire the next three batters to get out of the inning without further damage.
LIU would continue to work their way back, retaking the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Turner led off with a double, and a walk and a single from senior
Anthony Capo would move him to third. Arias had the sacrifice fly this time, hitting a long ball to deep center field that would make it 5-4 LIU.
Junior
Baylor LaPointe came in from the bullpen with the Blackbirds up by one, and shut Sacred Heart down in the top of the sixth. LaPointe had two strikeouts and a fly out, using just 13 pitches to retire the side.
In the top of the seventh, however, the Pioneers once again used the long ball to go up. With two outs, a single and a home run over the right field fence put SHU back on top, 6-5.
The Blackbirds were unable to answer in the bottom of the seventh, and the Pioneers took the first win of the day.
Sacred Heart 3, LIU Brooklyn 1
The visiting team rode that momentum into the second game of the day, scoring runs in the first and second inning to take the early lead. An RBI groundout scored the first run of the day, and a sacrifice fly in the top of the second would make it 2-0.
The Blackbirds would threaten to score, loading the bases in the bottom of the first, but they didn't get on the board until the bottom of the third. Paiotti would walk and move to second on a balk, before scoring on Turner's RBI single to left field to make it 2-1.
Sacred Heart added a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI double, but the arms for both teams shut down scoring for the final inning and a half, and the visiting team would take the win, 3-1.
The two teams resume the series with the conclusion, Saturday, May 20 at 1 p.m.