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Wappingers Falls, NY -- LIU head coach Dan Pirillo refers to the seventh, eighth and ninth innings as the "Championship Innings."

For three consecutive games, second-seeded LIU lived up to that label, delivering champion-caliber performances during those crucial final innings. Now, the Sharks can officially call themselves NEC champions after an electrifying ninth-inning rally that saw them upend top-seeded Sacred Heart, 11-6, at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, NY.

Facing off in a decisive winner-take-all game on Sunday afternoon, LIU took home its third NEC title in program history, all coming within the last six years.

After scoring seven runs in the eighth to oust Merrimack yesterday and following up with a five-run rally in the seventh to knock off SHU in the first leg of the championship round, the Sharks fired off seven runs in the top of the ninth inning this afternoon to secure the victory in yet another high prssure elimination game.

"This game needed big moments from players for us to win and we got that all around today," said Pirillo.

Trailing 5-4 enetering the ninth, LIU took its first lead since the first inning after RBI singles from senior JC Navarro (Sahuarita, AZ/Walden Grove (AZ Western)) and junior Jack Power (Northampton, MA/Northampton).

Third baseman Noah Sorensen (Montrose, PA/Scranton Prep (UConn)) continued the surge, driving a double to deep right to score Navarro and Power.

Shortstop Benjamin Fierenzi (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia/De La Salle College (AZ Western)) then delivered the big blow, punching a based loaded single to left that plated all three runners after the ball was misplayed. It was Fierenzi's fourth hit of the contest.

The Sharks’ closer Jack VanDoran (West Babylon, NY/West Baylon) earned the save, retiring the final two batters after allowing a run.

The back-and-forth battle began when leftfielder Jake Mastillo (Moscow, PA/North Pocono (Lock Haven) wasted no time making noise on offense. singled to center field in the first to bring in the Sharks’ first run of the game. Tournament MVP Seth Surrett (New Windsor, NY/Kennedy Catholic) started his busy day early, scoring the first of three times on the afternoon.

The Pioneers quickly matched the Sharks with a run of their own in the first on Dante D’Amore's (Southington, CT/Southington) RBI double to left field.

SHU added two more in the second. Ty Galletti (Plainview, NY/Plainview Old Bethpage) hit a run scoring double to left and the Pios made it a 3-1 lead after scoring again on a double play ball.

LIU got one back in the third when Mastillo drove in Surrett again on a fielder's choice to cut the lead to one.

SHU grew its lead to 5-2 in the fifth. Charlie Tallman (Fair Haven, NJ) scampered home on a wild pitch and Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, NY/Brookdale CC) lofted a sacrifice fly.

Surrett answered right back in the sixth with a two-run single to left that cut the Pioneer lead to one, where the score stood until the decisive ninth inning.

Righthander Noah Tabaie (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg (Hagerstown CC)) shined in relief for the Sharks, holding SHU hitless through three innings to earn the win. He walked one and struck out one.

Surrett finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs, three runs scored and a double to take home Tournament MVP honors. Surrett went 7-for-20 (.350) with four RBIs overall throughout the conference championship.

LIU's 44 runs over the course of the tournament finished one shy of the NEC record set by CCSU in 2006. The Sharks' 56 hits fell three short of the NEC mark established by Monmouth in 2001.

This marked the fifth straight year that the championship round went to a second leg. In four of those tournaments, the team that entered the championship round unbeaten did not win the crown.

LIU is heading to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history. The Sharks will find out where they will be going Monday afternoon at 12 pm on the NCAA Selection Show, which will be broadcasted on ESPN2 and will be streamed on the ESPN app.
 
NEC All-Tournament Team
Seth Surrett, Gr., RF, LIU (MVP)
Benjamin Fierenzi, Jr., SS, LIU
Jake Mastillo, R-Sr., LF, LIU
PJ Moritz, Sr., P, LIU
JC Navarro, Sr., 1B, LIU
Jake Babuschak, Sr., P, SHU
Michael Simonelli, So., LF, SHU
Alex Ungar, Jr., RF, SHU
Cavan Brady, Gr., 3B, MC
Matthew Chatelle, So., C, MC
Frankie Ferrentino, So., DH, MC
Brian Sanders, Gr., RF, FDU
Xavier Ulrich, R-Sr., 1B, WC