Emmitsburg, Md. (April 24, 2015)--The Mount St. Mary's University baseball team fell to Sacred Heart, 10-4, in the opening game of a four-game Northeast Conference series at E.T. Straw Family Stadium on Friday afternoon.  Ryan Owens (Burke, Va.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Mountaineers in the loss.

Sacred Heart (14-19-1, 7-2 NEC) scored four times on four extra-base hits in the top of the first to take the early lead.  Jayson Sullivan doubled with one out before Zack Short lofted a wind-aided home run to right that just cleared the fence for a 2-0 lead.  Victor Sorrento doubled and Ted Shaw walked ahead of P.J. DeFillipo's two-run double to right-center pushed the Sacred Heart lead to 4-0.

The Pioneers added a pair of runs in the fourth on RBI singles from Short and Shaw.

Mount St. Mary's (6-25, 4-9 NEC) got back into the game with a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to cut the deficit to 6-4.  In the sixth, the Mount loaded the bases when Tommy Quealy (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was hit by a pitch, Owens singled, and Andrew Clow (Bel Air, Md.) was walked.  Kory Britton (Columbia, Md.) then grounded out to second base to bring home Quealy with the Mount's first run.

In the seventh, the Mount rallied for three runs to cut the Sacred Heart lead to 6-4.  Jay Knight (Frederick, Md.) walked, Brian Parreira (Annapolis, Md.) singled, and Tyler Post (Brookeville, Md.) walked to load the bases with no outs.  Brendan Dabagian (Media, Pa.) followed with a base hit to right field to score Knight to make the score 6-2.  Joshua Lenig (Dumfries, Va.) was retired on a pop out to third for the first out, and Sacred Heart went to Vic Wertz out of the bullpen to try and get out of the jam.

Owens worked a walk to force home Parreira, cutting the deficit to 6-3.  After a strikeout, Britton singled up the middle to score Post, but Sacred Heart shortstop Short made a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield, and he threw out the runner rounding the bag at third to end the inning.

Sacred Heart sealed the win by scoring four times in the top of the eighth.  Anthony Capozziello had the big hit in the inning, a two-run single to right-center field.

Owens went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks for the Mount while Dabagian added a 2-for-4 day at the plate.  Britton drove home a pair of runs, giving him a team-high 20 RBI on the year.

On the mound, starter Thomas Williams (Bowie, Md.) allowed six runs (five earned) in 3.2 innings to take the loss.  Scott Nickerson (Annapolis, Md.) allowed two runs (one earned) with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief.

Short went 3-for-5 with four RBI while DeFilippo was 3-for-5 with two RBI to pace Sacred Heart in the win.  Jason Foley picked up the win, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings.

The teams continue the four-game series with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader tomorrow.

--Mount St. Mary's University Athletics--