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LIU's Record-Breaking Baseball Season Comes to a Close at NCAA Regionals

6/1/2024

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The record-breaking 2024 season for the LIU Sharks baseball team came to a close at Boshamer Stadium at the NCAA Regionals on Saturday.

The script for this game was almost like any other recent Sharks contest as the team rallied late, but ultimately lost to Wofford, 5-2. 

LIU put pressure on Wofford's pitching staff all day as the team left 13 runners on base after collecting 11 hits, one walk and three hit-by-pitches. 

Junior starting pitcher Jared Hughes kept the Sharks in the game, most notably getting out of a jam in the second inning where with two runners on, he notched back-to-back strikeouts of Wofford's Lucas Manning and Andrew Mannelly. 

Hughes finished the day with a strong 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits while walking four and striking out two. 

The Terriers got the scoring started with an RBI single by Brice Martinez in the third to go up 1-0.

A highlight-reel catch by Jake Mastillo kept the score at 1-0 as the game bled into the later innings. Wofford added three more in the bottom of the sixth to take a four-run lead. 

The Sharks got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh as after a Benjamin Fierenzi HBP and a Mastillo single, JC Navarro singled to score Fierenzi and make the score 4-1. Catcher Jack Power ripped a double to right and LIU found themselves only down two. 

The Terriers added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh and the Sharks were unable to make a patented rally to overcome the deficit. 

Fierenzi finished 2-for-3 with a double and two HBP, while Mastillo added two hits of his own and scored a run. Both Navarro and Power contributed two hits and an RBI to LIU's impressive two-game run at Regionals. Noah Tabaie and Jack VanDoran appeared in relief for the Sharks to keep the game close until the final pitch. 

The Sharks won a program-record 24 NEC games and finished the season with a .727 NEC winning percentage – the highest totals for the program since the school's Division I inception in 2019. They won a program-high 20 games at home and had a landmark win earlier this year against the University of Miami.