Baseball Completes Comeback Against FDU, 6-5

Box Score (html)
Box Score (pdf)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall baseball team sent 10 batters to the plate scoring four runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth to complete the comeback and beat Fairleigh Dickinson, 6-5, Wednesday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field.  With the win, the Pirates have won two in a row and take an 11-4 overall record and a 1-5 BIG EAST mark into their third conference weekend matchup.

Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.) got things started in the eighth with a lead-off walk.  A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) singled removing Knight's reliever Eric Anderson from the game in favor of Craig Warner.  Pinch-hitter Ryan Sullivan (Stony Point, N.Y.) ripped an RBI single, followed by another by Chris Fontenelli (Toms River, N.J.).  Michael Rogers (Portland, Ore.) drove in the tying run with a one-out groundout to the right side of the infield and Chris Spagnuolo (Tabernacle, N.J.) plated the Pirates' sixth run with a single up the middle.

After giving up a lead-off walk in the top of the ninth, Mike Genovese (Livingston, N.J.) (2-0) settled down to record the final three outs including two strikeouts to earn the win.

FDU (4-17) took an early, 4-0, lead in the top of the fourth with run-scoring singles by Ryan Kresky, Mike Eliasen, and Ben Mersky.  They looked to build on the lead in the top of the sixth with bases loaded and one out, however Pirates' reliever Henry Warner (Gladstone, N.J.) induced a double play ground out off the bat of JT Sherba to Giuseppe Papaccio (Nutley, N.J.) who made a diving play to his backhand side, tagged third base and threw over to first base for the final out of the inning.

Chase Gray (Toms River, N.J.) got the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI groundout to the left side of the infield scoring Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.) from third.  They again chipped away in the bottom of the seventh inning when Scott Kalamar (Bethlehem, Pa.) scored on an error by Knights' third baseman Eliasen. 

Eliasen however made up for his miscue with an RBI single in the top of the eighth giving the Knights a, 5-2, lead.

Warner (1-1) suffered the loss for the Knights allowing two runs on three hits in 0.1 innings of relief.  FDU starter Terry Lydecker received a no-decision surrendering a run on four walks in 5.1 hitless innings of work.

The Pirates return to action Friday when they host game one of a three-game series against BIG EAST rival Cincinnati at 6:00 p.m.