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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. The Seton Hall baseball team scored 13 unanswered runs to defeat Army, 13-2, Wednesday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field. With the win, the Pirates will begin their BIG EAST schedule this weekend with a 6-7 record.
For just only the second time this season, the Pirates surrendered the first run of the ball game when Army (2-9) jumped out to a, 2-0, lead in the top of the second inning. Junior Andy Ernesto hit into an RBI groundout, and Senior Chris Simmons hit a sacrifice-fly to right field.
The Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Dan Lopez (Weehawken, N.J.) walked, junior Greg Miller (Shamong, N.J.) singled, and sophomore Chris Spagnuolo (Tabernacle, N.J.) walked to load the bases. Next batter, junior Tim McCann (Manasquan, N.J.) drew a walk to cut the lead to, 2-1. Miller came around to score the tying run on a fielder’s choice throwing error by first basemen, freshman Kevin McKague.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Pirates took a 4-2 lead when pinch-hitter, freshman Edward Brown (Edison, N.J.) hit a two-run single scoring freshman Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Lopez.
With two-outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Esposito and senior Mark Pappas (Ocean Township, N.J.) singled. The following batter, junior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.) hit a two-run triple, and would come around to score on a wild pitch to give the Pirates a, 7-2, lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Seton Hall sent 11 men to the plate scoring six runs on three Army errors, RBI base hits by freshman Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.) and Lopez, and a sacrifice-fly by Pappas to complete the scoring.
For the Pirates, Esposito finished the day 2-for-4 with two walks, and two runs scored, while Miller went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Freshman Clint Moore and junior Tony Capozzi each went 1-for-3 with a run scored to lead the Black Knights.
Freshman Brian Dudzinski (Lincroft, N.J.) (1-0) picked up the win his in first collegiate start tossing three perfect innings in relief, striking out two. Sophomore Matt Fouch (0-2) took the loss tossing one relief inning, yielding four runs on three hits. Freshman Joe DiRocco (East Hanover, N.J.) earned his first save his collegiate career pitching three innings scoreless innings allowing only one hit.
The Pirates will begin their BIG EAST schedule when they travel to Tampa, Fla. to play the University of South Florida in a three-game series this weekend. Game one will be Friday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
