Baseball Falls Short To Cincinnati, 5-4

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CINCINNATI, OH.   Seton Hall and Cincinnati took a, 4-4, tie into the bottom of the ninth inning, however, T.J. Jones drove home the winning run for the Bearcats with a one-out sacrifice fly to center field as the Pirates fell, 5-4, at Marge Schott Stadium Thursday evening.

With one-out, the Bearcats loaded the bases on a Pirate fielding error, a hit batsmen, and a walk before Jones hit a fly ball to center field scoring Chris Peters for the winning run.

After Cincinnati (28-26, 12-13) broke the scoreless tie with back-to-back home runs by Mike Spina and Justin Riddell in the fourth inning - including a two-run blast by Spina for his BIG EAST conference-leading 22^nd of the season - the Pirates scored a run in the fifth and the sixth to cut their deficit to, 3-2.

In the fifth inning, sophomore Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.) reached base on a walk and advanced to second base on a successful sacrifice bunt by freshman Bobby Migliazza (Stamford, Conn.).  With two-outs, freshman Will Walsh (New Milford, N.J.) ripped a run-scoring double for the Pirates first run.  Esposito drove home senior Matt Smedberg (Rockaway, N.J.) with an RBI single up the middle in the sixth inning.

The Pirates (24-23, 12-13) would erase the deficit by taking a, 4-3, lead in the top of the eighth inning, however the Bearcats came right back in their half to tie the game.

In the visiting half of the eighth, senior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.) hit a one-out single and moved to second base when sophomore Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.) drew a walk.  Esposito followed with an RBI single through the right side of the infield, while junior Chris Fontenelli (Toms River, N.J.) drove home the go-ahead run with a single to right field.

In the home half, Jones singled to lead off the inning, moved to second base on sacrifice bunt by Cameron Satterwhite and scored to tie the game at four on a single by Lance Durham through the right side.

Esposito led the way for the Pirates offense going 3-for-3 with three singles, a walk, a run scored, and two RBI.

Junior Matt Singer (Bayonne, N.J.) (6-3) took the loss surrendering two runs, one earned, on two hits and two strikeouts in two relief innings.  Jake Geglein (5-1) picked up the win tossing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts.

Both starting pitchers earned no decisions despite strong outings.  Pirates senior Keith Cantwell (Tinton Falls, N.J.) struck out six in 6.2 innings of work allowing three runs on five hits, while Billy Welsh allowed two runs on five hits in six innings striking out three.

The Pirates and Bearcats will return to the field Friday evening to play game two of the three-game series with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.