Baseball Tops Fairleigh Dickinson Behind Tarkington, 12-1

Box Score

TEANECK, NJ (March 27, 2001) - Senior right-hander Shawn Tarkington (Peekskill, NY) struck out ten and pitched three-hit ball over six innings to lead Seton Hall to a 12-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday in a game shortened to eight innings due to darkness.

Seton Hall, which has won seven of its last eight games, improves to 10-10. Fairleigh Dickinson is 3-11.

Tarkington (2-1) cruised through the first three innings. After A.J. DiMichele singled to lead off the bottom of the first, Tarkington struck out the next eight batters he faced - all swinging. He struck out the side in both the second and third innings. Two of the three hits Tarkington allowed were infield singles.

The Pirates scored all the runs they would need in the top of the first inning. Senior rightfielder Joe Cuervo (Warren, NJ) led off the game with a home run to right-center off FDU starter Mark Zielinski (0-1). Junior centerfielder Mike Bascom (Ocean Township, NJ) then reached on catcher's interference. After stealing second and third, Bascom came home on a sacrifice fly by senior catcher Adam Arslanian (Fair Lawn, NJ).

The Pirates added two runs in the third to increase their lead to 4-0. With the bases loaded, senior designated hitter Kevin Leighton (Brewster, NY) was hit by a pitch, forcing in Bascom. Junior third baseman Todd Crawford (Millersville, PA) then drew a walk, forcing in first baseman Brian Leighton.

Leading 6-0, Seton Hall scored six runs in the top of the seventh. Freshman shortstop Santiago Chi (West New York, NJ) had an RBI double while sophomore leftfielder Casey Grimm (Morristown, NJ) drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single to right. Brian Leighton capped the inning off with a three-run homer to right.

FDU averted the shutout in the bottom of the eighth when DiMichele plated Joe Munda with a two-out single to right. Munda reached base on a leadoff walk.

Seton Hall finished with 11 hits. Mike Bascom, Casey Grimm and Adam Arslanian had two hits each to pace the Pirates. Bascom also scored four runs.

Seton Hall returns to action on Wednesday, March 28 when it travels to Brooklyn, New York for a 3 p.m. game against Long Island University.