BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The LIU baseball team had a thrilling win over Sacred Heart at home Monday afternoon, beating the Pioneers in the bottom of the ninth, 3-2. The Sharks won the game on a walk-off home run by senior Anthony Warneke.
 
Most of the game was a defensive battle, as SHU's starting pitcher, and LIU starter Alec Huertas would pitch five scoreless innings. Huertas would notch eight strikeouts in 6.2 frames, holding SHU to just two hits in the first five.
 
The Pioneers broke the scoreless streak in the top of the sixth, when they would score two runs on three hits to go up, 2-0. The score stayed there until the bottom of the eighth, when the Sharks got on the board. Senior Christopher Wasson would single, steal second and score on an error, and then sophomore Carlton Harper had a long double to right field that would bring another run home, tying the game up, 2-2.
 
Senior Rob Griswold held SHU scoreless in the top of the ninth, giving his team a chance in the bottom of the frame. And Warneke took it. With one out, on the first pitch he saw, Warneke blasted a ball over the right field fence for his first home run of the season, ending the game with the Sharks ahead, 3-2.
 
Griswold got the win on the mound to move to 4-0 on the season, as he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. Senior Salvatore Ferro was also clutch in relief, facing two batters and striking out one.
 
Up next, the Sharks head north to Smithfield, R.I. to take on league-leading Bryant in a three game series, Friday, April 30 to Sunday, May 2.