Baseball Completes Sweep Of Georgetown, 6-5

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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. The Seton Hall baseball team earned their first sweep of the 2009 season by defeating Georgetown, 6-5, Sunday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field. With the win, the Pirates won their fourth straight game and improved both their conference and overall record to .500.

Prior to first pitch, Seton Hall baseball and Seton Hall athletics honored the 1974 and 1975 Pirates for their College World Series appearances by welcoming players who posed with their head coach Mike Sheppard, Sr. at the pitcher’s mound.

Following the presentation, the Pirates (19-19, 9-9) did not waste any time taking the early lead.  Similar to yesterday, the Pirates jumped on the board in the bottom of the first inning.  Sophomore Ed Brown (Edison, N.J.) led off with a double, moved to third base when junior Chris Spagnuolo (Tabernacle, N.J.) grounded out to second, and scored when senior Matt Smedberg (Rockaway, N.J.) flew out to center field.  Sophomore Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.) gave the Pirates a, 2-0, advantage with an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning.

In the top of the third inning the Hoyas (11-29, 4-14) cut their deficit to, 2-1, with an RBI single by Chip Malt, and kept the Pirates at bay until the home half of the fifth inning when Spagnuolo hit an RBI single.

After Sean Baumann drove in a run with a sacrifice-fly in the top of the sixth inning, freshman Michael Betz (Mine-Hill, N.J.) put the Pirates ahead by two once again with a sacrifice-fly of his own in the bottom half.

The seesaw battle continued in the seventh inning when Tommy Lee grounded out to second base driving in the Hoyas third run, yet Pirate senior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.) brought home two runs with a triple to left-center field for a, 6-3, Hall lead.

Georgetown threatened in the top of the ninth inning scoring a run on an Erick Fernandez RBI single and another of a throwing error by the Pirates, but junior Matt Singer (Bayonne, N.J.) induced a fly ball to Dan Godefroi to end the game with the tying run 90 feet away, and earn his second save of the season.

Spagnuolo was the only Pirate to have multiple hits going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, but the Pirates did pick up hits from seven other starters including Smedberg who went 1-for-1 with two walks, a run scored, and an RBI, and Esposito who went 1-for-2 with a walk, sacrifice bunt, and an RBI.

Pirates sophomore starter Joe DiRocco (East Hanover, N.J.) (4-3) picked up the win allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits in seven innings of work.  Jimmy Saris (3-5) took the loss surrendering four runs on six hits in five innings.

The Pirates return to action Wednesday afternoon when they welcome St. Peter’s to Owen T. Carroll Field.  First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.