Pirates Split Saturday Doubleheader With Holy Cross
South Orange, NJ – Red shirt junior Will Gale (Scotch Plains, NJ) delivered the game-winning base hit in the bottom of the 10th of the nightcap in a doubleheader against Holy Cross as the Seton Hall baseball team split Saturday’s twin bill at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium at Owen T. Carroll Field.
The Pirates emerged victorious in game two, 4-3, but Holy Cross took game one, 6-4. Red shirt junior Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.) went 4-for-7 over the two games, and The Hall saw two strong relief performances in both games as a freshman Ryan Reich (Sellinsgrove, Pa.) and graduate student Nick Payero (Monroe, NJ) both struck out six batters out of the bullpen.
How it happened
O’Neill worked a 24-pitch first inning, but the offense gave him a boost in the home half. Gale led off the inning with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With nobody out, Viera lofted a shallow fly ball into foul territory that was caught by the first baseman, but took him away from the play enough to allow Gale to score from third, giving the Pirates a 1-0 advantage.
After a 1-2-3 top of the third from O’Neill that featured two strikeouts, Viera led off the inning with a double before stealing third base. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and Hernandez drew another walk that gave him an RBI as Viera trotted home to make it 2-0 Pirates. The next batter was Clyde who, despite grounding into a double play, brought in another run when D’Amico scored to make it 3-0 Hall.
Consecutive doubles in the top of the fourth got the Crusaders on the scoreboard, 3-1, and they later cleared the bases with a bases-loaded double, giving Holy Cross a 4-3 lead. The Pirates would tie the score in the bottom of the fourth after the junior Devin Hack (Somerville, NJ) worked one run, stole second and third before drawing a wild throw by the catcher that went into the outfield to easily score from third. Holy Cross would break a tie in the fifth on a wild pitch, and it added insurance in the top of the ninth that made it 6-4.
The Pirates scored first in game two, the same as the first, this time it was the second Pat D’Amico (Lynnfield, Mass.) who stroked an RBI double to the gap that plated Gale. The Crusaders went ahead with a three-run sophomore but the redshirt junior Staus Pokrovsky (Pittsgrove, NJ) made it a one-run game, 3-2, on a single that scored Murray. Murray would later put the ball in play in the seventh when the left fielder bobbled his base hit, allowing the graduate student Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, NJ) to score from second to tie the game at 3-3.
After junior Jay Allmer (Cary, NC) struck out the side in the top of the 10th, Murray led off the home half and was hit by a pitch, Pokrovsky dropped a perfect bunt down the first base line and Hack followed with another bunt single, this time down the third base line . That loaded the bases for Gale, who singled to right field and helped the Pirates walk away with a 4-3 victory.
Next
The rubber match goes down at 12 noon tomorrow at the Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium. Fans can watch at FloSports.com or setonhall.statbroadcast.com.
