Reilly Pitches Baseball Past Villanova, 5-1

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 19, 2001) - Sophomore right-hander Chris Reilly (Bound Brook, NJ) pitched two-hit ball over five innings to lead Seton Hall to a 5-1 win over Villanova in a BIG EAST baseball game at Richie Ashburn Field.

Seton Hall, which took two of three games in the series, improves to 5-9 overall and 2-1 in the BIG EAST. Villanova is 7-6-1 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

The Pirates gave Reilly all the support he would need in the top of the second inning. Senior first baseman Brian Leighton (Brewster, NY) led off with a single. With two out, sophomore leftfielder Casey Grimm (Morristown, NJ) belted his second home run of the season to rightfield off Villanova starter Bob Grzenda (0-2).

Seton Hall took advantage of two Villanova errors in the top of the fourth. Leighton and junior designated hitter Todd Crawford (Millersville, PA) reached on errors to open the inning. A double steal put both runners in scoring position. With two out, junior shortstop Chris Carter (Fair Haven, NJ) doubled to left-center as the Pirates increased their lead to 4-0.

Seton Hall scored its final run in the top of the fifth. Sophomore third baseman Joe Scott (Old Tappan, NJ) reached on a one-out single to right. He stole second, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior rightfielder Joe Cuervo (Warren, NJ).

In his first start of the season, Reilly (1-0) yielded only a double by Brian Trotta and an infield single by Chris Graziano in the bottom of the third inning. He struck out four and walked just one.

Villanova scored its only run in the bottom of the eighth. Seton Hall reliever Bryan Haggerty walked Trotta to open the inning. Following a strikeout, Dave Pizzini doubled to right, moving Trotta to third. Matt Longo followed by a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Trotta.

Junior left-hander Isaac Pavlik (Rutherford, NJ) retired the final five Villanova batters to preserve the win.

Joe Scott was the only player with multiple hits as he had a pair of singles to lead the Pirates.

Seton Hall returns to action on Tuesday, March 20 when it travels to Lawrenceville, New Jersey for a 3:00 p.m. game against Rider University.