Emmitsburg, Md. (May 16, 2009)—Mount St. Mary's rallied from a four-run deficit to earn a 10-6 win over Sacred Heart in the final game of the regular season at E.T. Straw Family Stadium on campus on Saturday morning. With the win, the Mount keeps its Northeast Conference playoff hopes alive.

The Mount finishes the regular season 23-25 overall and 15-11 in the Northeast Conference. The Mountaineers are currently tied for fourth in the NEC with Central Connecticut State. The Mount has completed the regular season, but the Blue Devils play at Monmouth tomorrow. If Monmouth wins that game, the Mount will earn the No. 4 seed at the NEC Tournament. If Central Connecticut State wins, the Mount will miss out on the conference playoffs.

The Northeast Conference Tournament will be held at New Britain Stadium in New Britain, Conn., beginning on Thursday, May 21.

Trailing 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Mount scored three times in each of the next three frames to secure the victory.

The game was a pitcher's duel early between Mike Matta (Woodbridge, Va./Potomac) and Sacred Heart's Corey Corcoran with Matta's RBI double in the bottom of the second scoring the only run after five innings.

The Pioneers erupted for a five-run sixth to grab a 5-1 advantage. With two outs and no one on base, Jeff Heppner drew a walk and moved to second on a Mike Olszyk base hit. First baseman Robert Griffith followed with a line-drive home run to left to give Sacred Heart a 3-1 advantage. Steve Tedesco hustled out a double and M.J. Schifano belted a two-run homer to center field to give his team a four-run advantage.

The Mount answered in the bottom of the sixth with three runs to cut the deficit to 5-4. With two outs, sophomore catcher Kyle Kane (Boonsboro, Md./Boonsboro) belted a solo home run to center field, his seventh homer of the year. Shane Eyler (Taneytown, Md./Francis Scott Key) was then walked and freshman first baseman Josh Winter (Timonium, Md./Boys' Latin) greeted reliever Matt Fitton with a two-run blast to center to make the score 5-4.

Sacred Heart (27-25-1, 16-10 NEC) got one run back in the top of the seventh on a Phil Tantillo solo home run, but the Mount took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the frame.

In the seventh, Joe Kavanagh (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) singled off reliever Chris Zaccherio to open the inning. Pinch hitter Buddy Fields (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) walked and both runners moved up 90 feet on a throwing error by Sacred Heart catcher Heppner when he tried to pick Kavanagh off second base.

Senior Matt Staso (Ellicott City, Md./Mount St. Joseph) then blooped a base hit over the first baseman's head to plate Kavanagh to make the score 6-5. Tommy Flynn (Reston, Va./South Lakes) grounded to third base, but beat the relay throw to first on the double-play attempt, allowing Fields to score the tying run. Flynn then stole second base and moved to third on a fly out, setting up Kane for a clutch two-out RBI single up the middle to break the tie.

The Mount put three big insurance runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win. Kavanagh walked and Staso singled to set the plate for Flynn, who lofted a three-run homer to right field with two outs to give the Mount a four-run cushion.

Reliever Kent Worthington (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) retired the Pioneers in the ninth to clinch the victory. Worthington allowed one run with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief of Matta to improve to 3-6 on the season.

Staso, Matta and Kane each went 2-for-4 in the victory while Flynn drove in four runs in the game. Tedesco, Jeff Hanson and Schiffano posted two hits each for the Pioneers.

The Mount's 15 Northeast Conference victories are the second-most by a Mount team since joining the league in 1989. The record of 21 victories was set by the Mount's 2007 squad. The Mount has posted a winning NEC mark in each of the past five seasons.

Game Notes...The teams split the four-game series with Sacred Heart taking the first two games before the Mount rallied to capture the final two...Sacred Heart leads the all-time series between the teams, 15-12...The game was the final home game for seniors Jimmy Mudgett, Bobby Plumb, Ryan Stamp, Staso and Andres Tamayo.