Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – Chris Whittemore broke up a 3-3 tie with a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning and Sacred Heart defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 5-3, to split a four-game series that concluded Monday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Chris Dionisio (1-0) pitched five innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out four for Sacred Heart (4-3), which claimed a 9-8 win over Southeastern (8-4) in the opening game of the series on Saturday.
Sacred Heart forced extra innings after
Jeff Harkensee lined into a double play with runners on first and second in the ninth. Derick Horn led off the 10th inning with a double to right-center field before being replaced by pinch-runner Matt Fitton.
Hunter Phillips then attempted to bunt Fitton over to third, but Southeastern's
Trey Martin fielded the ball and threw a strike to third to retire Fitton. Rocco Gondek then doubled to right-center field off Southeastern reliever
Stefan Lopez (0-1) to put two runners in scoring position and Whittemore followed with a single past a drawn-in infield.
Sacred Heart took a 1-0 lead second inning when Whittemore's RBI ground out drove in Horn, who led off with a single, moved to second on a single by Phillips and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Gondek.
Southeastern, which collected eight hits and stranded 12 runners on base, tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single by
Cody Gougler before tying the game at 3-3 in the sixth when Harkensee scored on a passed ball.
Matt Pittari, making his first collegiate start, scattered seven hits and fanned five batters in five innings.
Jacob Ott pitched a scoreless inning for the Lions before Lopez pitched the final four innings, allowing five hits and two runs with five strikeouts.
Justin Boudreaux led Southeastern at the plate going 3-for-5 while
Jonathan Pace added a first-inning single to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Harkensee went 0-for-4 to snap his 10-game hitting streak while
Cass Hargis was 0-for-5 to snap his nine-game hitting streak.
Southeastern will return to action on Wednesday when it plays host to in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette in a 6 p.m. contest. Live stats for the game only will be available at www.LionSports.net.
Sacred Heart........ 010 020 000 2 - 5 12 2 (4-3)
Southeastern La..... 000 111 000 0 - 3 8 2 (8-4)
Schifano, Dionisio (6) and Horn, Perez (10). Pittari, Ott (6), Lopez (7) and Fisher. W – Dionisio (1-0). L – Lopez (0-1). E – Murphy (3), Whittemore (1), Pace (5), Hebert (4). DP - SHU 2. LOB - SHU 11, SLU 12. 2B – Tedesco (4), Horn (2), Gondek (2), Fisher (2), Hebert (2). HBP – Griffith, Harkensee, Gougler. SH – Edwards (2), Gondek (1), Fisher (1). SB – Boudreaux (3). T - 3:08. A – 805.
