NORWICH, CONN. - Top-seeded Monmouth University surrendered five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to second-seeded Sacred Heart to break open a 1-1 tie, as the Pioneers posted a 6-1 victory over the Hawks at the 2011 Northeast Conference Baseball Championships, on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 35-18 overall, and will face CCSU in the tournament's second elimination game, at noon. Sacred Heart, the lone unbeaten remaining in the tournament, will face the winner of the Monmouth/CCSU elimination game for a chance at securing the trophy and earning a bid in the NCAA Tournament, at 3:30 p.m.
Sacred Heart took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on John Murphy's two-out, RBI single up the middle off Monmouth starter Dan Smith.
Murphy reached safely on an infield single to start the bottom of the fourth, on a play that Smith suffered an arm injury, and after a stolen base, Andrew McGee induced a 9-5 double play as Jamie Rosenkranz gunned down the runner, and Ryan Terry applied the tag at third. McGee, a first-team All-NEC relief pitcher, worked around a single and a walk to keep the Hawks within 1-0 through four frames.
Nick Leiningen, who was perfect for the first four innings, gave up a lead-off single to Nick Pulsonetti, and Cal Costanzo followed with a sacrifice bunt to push a runner into scoring position, but the Hawks were unable to capitalize, after two straight line-outs to centerfield.
Jon Guida drew a lead-off walk to open the sixth frame for the Hawks, and with runners at the corners and two away, NEC Player of the Year Ryan Terry laced a shot up the middle on the first pitch of the at-bat, to knot the game at 1-1.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, the Pioneers worked a hit-and-run to perfection as Steve Tedesco's slow-roller through the right side put runners at the corners, before JJ Edwards followed with a bloop single just over the head of Terry at third, giving Sacred Heart a 2-1 edge. Hunter Phillips then cleared the bases, and ended up at third on a single to right, which was coupled with an error as the Pioneers took a 5-1 lead. SHU went ahead 6-1 on Dan Perez's single to left center.
Leiningen, a second-team All-NEC pitcher as a freshman, tossed a complete game for the Pioneers, allowing one run on six hits with two strikeouts, to improve to 7-3 on the year.
Smith worked 3.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits in his start, while McGee (5-3) was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs on six hits, with four strikeouts in relief. Frey tossed 1.1 scoreless frames to close out the game for Monmouth.
Terry, who also tied the Hawks' first game of the Championships with an RBI single in the eighth inning, had two hits, as well as freshman Ed Martin, to lead the Monmouth offense.
