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CINCINNATI, OH. Cincinnati junior Lance Durham broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the tenth inning with a single to right side of the infield scoring T.J. Jones from second base to defeat Seton Hall, 6-5, and clinch the final berth of the BIG EAST Conference Tournament.
The Pirates (25-24, 13-14) took a, 5-4, lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, however the Bearcats (29-27, 13-14) tied the game with a two-out single bringing the game into extra-innings,
Tied at four in the visiting half of the ninth inning, senior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.) led off with a single. Sophomore Ed Brown (Edison, N.J.) pinch-ran for the senior and advanced to second base on a successful sacrifice bunt by sophomore Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.). Sophomore Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.) moved Brown to third base on groundball to the right side of the infield and scored on a two-out RBI single by freshman Charlie Rivera (Hazlet, N.J.).
However, in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Peters led off with a double and came around to score two batters later when Cameron Satterwhite dropped a two-out single into right-center field plating Peters for the game-tying run. In the tenth, the Bearcats picked up three-straight singles with two-outs including the run-scoring hit by Durham.
Prior to the ninth inning, the Bearcats scored two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run by Peters and two more runs in the bottom of the third on a two-out blast by Durham. Affinito sandwiched a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield in the top half of the third inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cincinnati threatened to open up their, 4-1, lead, but the Hall’s defense kept them in the game. With one out, the Bearcats loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before freshman reliever Collin McGowan (Stratford, N.J.) induced a groundball down the third base line where Gusrang made a diving play to his left, stopped the ball, touched third base and threw across the diamond to throw out Jimmy Jacquot at first to end the inning.
The Pirates fed off the momentum as Gusrang led off the inning with a single and moved to third base on a single by Rivera. Junior Chris Fontenelli (Toms River, N.J.) cut the deficit to, 4-2, with an RBI single. Four batters and two-outs later senior Matt Smedberg (Rockaway, N.J.) came through with a game-tying two-run double off the right field wall.
On the day, Rivera combined to finish 7-for-8 with a walk, two runs scored, and three RBI including a 3-for-4 game two. Fontenelli also had three hits in game two while sophomore A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) and Affinito ended with two each.
Junior Matt Singer (Bayonne, N.J.) took the loss yielding a run on three hits in 0.2 innings of work, while Jake Geglein (6-1) earned the win surrendering a run on two hits in three relief innings. Depsite the loss, the Pirates bullpen of freshmen Benedy Mejia (Paterson, N.J.), McGowan, Henry Warner (Gladstone, N.J.), and Singer combined to toss 7.1 innings allowing only two runs.
