Baseball Tops NJIT, 13-3
3/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score (html)
Box Score (pdf)
NEWARK, N.J. The Seton Hall baseball team sent ten men to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring five runs on six hits en route to defeating NJIT, 13-3, Wednesday afternoon in Newark, N.J. With the win, the Pirates swept the home and home series with the Highlanders, and enter their third weekend of their BIG EAST Conference schedule with a 12-10 overall record.
Freshman A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) led off the first inning with a double and came around to score the first run of the game on an RBI single by senior Mark Pappas (Ocean Township, N.J.). Junior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.) followed with an RBI single before senior Dan Lopez (Weehawken, N.J.) drove in the third run of the inning with a sacrifice-fly. Sophomore Chris Spagnuolo (Tabernacle, N.J.) and junior Matt Smedberg (Rockaway, N.J.) added run-scoring singles to give Seton Hall the, 5-0, advantage.
The Highlanders chipped away with an RBI groundout by senior Matt Schlitter in the bottom of the first inning, and an RBI triple by freshman Matt Tomcyzk to cut the lead to, 5-2. However, after the Pirates tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth inning, Pappas belted a two-run home run over the left field wall for a, 9-2, lead. Affinito made it an, 11-2, Pirate lead with a two-run blast of his own in the top of the sixth over the center field wall.
For the Pirates, Pappas finished the day 4-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBI, while Affinito went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI. Smedberg and Spagnuolo also added two hits, a run scored, and an RBI apiece. Tomcyzk led the Highlanders ending the day 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Freshman Chris Roach (Andover, N.J.) (1-0) picked up his first collegiate victory after tossing five innings allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three. Junior P.J. Saporito (1-5) took the loss surrendering nine runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings of work.
The Pirates will travel to Queens, N.Y. to take on #25 St. John’s for a three-game weekend series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
