2008 Woodie Awards
Monmouth overpowers baseball in NEC opener
Pat Sullivan
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Sports
The Sacred Heart baseball team opened conference play against Monmouth this past weekend and was swept in the four game series in Bridgeport.
Friday's game was postponed due to the weather forcing the Pioneers to play two double headers on back-to-back days.
In game one on Saturday, the Hawks jumped all over starter Jared Balbach, tagging him for nine runs in the third inning.
The big blow was a three-run homer by Ryan Terry that made the score 9-0.
"This weekend gave us a good idea of where we have to go as far competing with the good teams," said head coach Nick Giaquinto.
Balbach gave up 11 runs, nine of which were unearned.
On offense, he Pioneers had nine hits but couldn't manufacture any runs and several missed opportunities. In the fourth, Sacred Heart had the bases loaded but freshman Steve Armato grounded out to second to end the threat.
Monmouth would keep the Pioneer's scoreless with the final score beign 12-0.
In game two on Saturday, the Pioneers were defeated 12-0.
The Hawks had four multiple run innings behind 13 hits.
"We really played poorly in the first three games. We didn't hit or pitch well," said Giaquinto.
The opening game of Sunday's double header wasn't much different for the Pioneers as they fell by the score of 17-0.
Monmouth, the defending conference champs, scored 17 runs on 17 hits, while limiting the Pioneers to just one hit.
"Monmouth really doesn't have any weaknesses, they do everything well," said senior Frank Bainer.
Monmouth starting pitcher Ryan Buch pitched seven strong innings, giving up one hit and two walks, while striking out 14.
The Pioneers committed three more errors in game three giving them eight for the first three games.
"We obviously had a tough weekend against a very good Monmouth ball club. We made far too many mistakes in all aspects of the game and they made us pay for it," said senior Jeff Hanson.
Friday's game was postponed due to the weather forcing the Pioneers to play two double headers on back-to-back days.
In game one on Saturday, the Hawks jumped all over starter Jared Balbach, tagging him for nine runs in the third inning.
The big blow was a three-run homer by Ryan Terry that made the score 9-0.
"This weekend gave us a good idea of where we have to go as far competing with the good teams," said head coach Nick Giaquinto.
Balbach gave up 11 runs, nine of which were unearned.
On offense, he Pioneers had nine hits but couldn't manufacture any runs and several missed opportunities. In the fourth, Sacred Heart had the bases loaded but freshman Steve Armato grounded out to second to end the threat.
Monmouth would keep the Pioneer's scoreless with the final score beign 12-0.
In game two on Saturday, the Pioneers were defeated 12-0.
The Hawks had four multiple run innings behind 13 hits.
"We really played poorly in the first three games. We didn't hit or pitch well," said Giaquinto.
The opening game of Sunday's double header wasn't much different for the Pioneers as they fell by the score of 17-0.
Monmouth, the defending conference champs, scored 17 runs on 17 hits, while limiting the Pioneers to just one hit.
"Monmouth really doesn't have any weaknesses, they do everything well," said senior Frank Bainer.
Monmouth starting pitcher Ryan Buch pitched seven strong innings, giving up one hit and two walks, while striking out 14.
The Pioneers committed three more errors in game three giving them eight for the first three games.
"We obviously had a tough weekend against a very good Monmouth ball club. We made far too many mistakes in all aspects of the game and they made us pay for it," said senior Jeff Hanson.
Be the first to comment on this story