BOX SCORE

Trumbull, CT – Mike Drowne's walk-off home run to left center in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted Sacred Heart to a 4-3 win over Wagner in Northeast Conference (NEC) action at Trumbull High School. The two teams are now tied for second at 13-8 in the NEC with the winner of the second game assuming a first-place tie with Monmouth.

Senior Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ / Cranford) went 3-5 with a double, run and RBI to lead the Seahawk offense. Sophomore Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) and Jared Gruccio (Landisville, NJ / Buena Regional) each added two hits for the Green & White, which recorded eight hits in the first game.

Wagner struck first with two runs on four hits in the top of the first inning. Gruccio got things going with a one-out infield single. Junior Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA) then walked on four pitches, before Drechsel singled through the right side, plating Gruccio. Boyd made it 2-0 with a line-drive single up the middle.

The Pioneers tied the game up at 2-2 in the bottom of the first with three two-out hits. Jeff Hanson started the rally with a single to center field. Tyler Santos followed with a double to left center, moving Hanson to third. Jeff Heppner brought the pair around with a two-run double to right center.

Sophomore LHP Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) then settled down, retiring the next 10 in a row before allowing a batter to reach via an error. He did not allow another hit until a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth.

The Seahawks reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth. Drechsel hit a bloop double to left field. He advanced to third on a ground out before scoring on pinch-hitter Jon Lucas' (Hackettstown, NJ / Hackettstown) sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Rice exited after 5.0 stellar innings with a career-high seven strikeouts while yielding just two runs on four hits, all of which were recorded with two outs.

Sacred Heart tied the game up at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Hanson doubled to lead off the inning. Santos followed with a single through the left side, moving pinch-runner Rob Griffith to third base. Griffith was brought around on a ground ball double play. The Pioneers seemed poised to take the lead when Paul Schmidt gave it a ride to left field, only to be robbed by junior Joe Conforti (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) at the fence of a sure home run.

Pioneer pitching then put the clamps on the Wagner offense not allowing another hit the rest of the way.

Sacred Heart threatened in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 11th innings, leaving the winning run stranded in scoring position each time. The Pioneers broke through on Drowne's walk-off home run to lead off the 12th inning.

Despite picking up his first loss of the year, senior RHP Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA / North Penn) was outstanding in relief, striking out a season-high five over a season-best 3.1 innings of work, yielding just one run on two hits and a pair of walks.

Sacred Heart's Chris Zaccherio improved to 4-1 with 4.0 perfect innings of relief, fanning four. Pioneer starter LHP Jared Balbach struck out four while yielding three runs on eight hits over 8.0 innings of work. Drowne, Hanson and Santos each had a pair of hits to lead the way for Sacred Heart.