Baseball's Comeback Falls Short At Richmond, 14-13

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RICHMOND, VA. With Richmond leading, 14-9, in the top of the seventh inning, freshman Bobby Migliazza (Stamford, Conn.) followed back-to-back two out singles with a three-run home run to center field his first collegiate home run and junior Michael Rogers (Portland, Ore.) crushed a solo home run in the top of the eighth, cutting the Richmond lead to, 14-13, however Richmond closer Brian Alas held the Pirates at bay as the comeback fell short Monday afternoon in Richmond.

The Pirates (3-5) jumped out to an early, 8-0, advantage with identical four run top of the first and second innings.  After the Hall loaded the bases with a single by sophomore A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.), a walk by junior Chris Fontenelli (Toms River, N.J.), and a hit-by-pitch to senior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.), sophomore Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.) belted a grand slam over the right-center field wall.  It was his second home run of the season.

Already ahead, 6-0 in the top of the second inning on RBI singles by junior Chris Spagnuolo (Tabernacle, N.J.) and Affinito, as well as a Richmond throwing error, Gusrang connected for a double to center field scoring Affinito for the, 8-0, lead.

The Spiders (8-1) began their comeback in the bottom of the third inning with six runs led by RBI base hits by Cameron Brown, Ryan Metzroth, and Billy Barber, a two-run single Chris Cuppia, and a sacrifice fly by Mike Mergenthaler.

Spagnuolo gave Seton Hall a, 9-6, lead with an RBI double in the top half of the fifth, however Richmond stormed back with seven runs in the bottom half to take a, 13-9, lead.

It started with an RBI single by Phil Ruzbarsky and continued with a bases loaded walk to Brown.  After a Pirate error drove in two runs, Chris Cowell hit a two-run double, and Barber followed with an RBI groundout for the inning’s seventh run.  They would take a, 14-9, lead with an RBI single by Brown in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Offensively, the Pirates were led by Spagnuolo, who went 5-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI, as well as Gusrang with his three hits and five RBI.  Rogers also added three of the Pirates 18 hits with a run scored and an RBI.  Affinito completed his day with two hits and three runs scored, while sophomore Ed Brown (Edison, N.J.) was the only other Pirate with multiple hits.

Red-shirt freshman Benedy Mejia (Paterson, N.J.) (0-1) suffered the loss in his first collegiate appearance yielding four runs on four hits in 1.1 relief innings.  Anthony Cafagna (1-0) picked up the victory after allowing only one run on four hits in 2.1 innings of work.  Alas earned his third save of the season.

Seton Hall returns to action Tuesday afternoon when they play Virginia Commonwealth.  First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

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