Baseball Clipped By Michigan State, 5-4
2/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - For the second straight day, the Seton Hall baseball team battled to the final out, but came up short, as they fell to Michigan State, 5-4, in day two of the three-day BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge.
Trailing by a run in the top of the ninth inning, Ryan Sullivan (Stony Point, N.Y.) led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) and third on a ground out to the right side of the infield off the bat of Will Walsh (New Milford, N.J.). However with two out, Spartan's pitcher David Garner induced Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.) to fly out to right field to end the game.
Michigan State (1-1) broke the, 4-4, tie with the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Jordan Keur led off the inning reaching first on a Pirate fielding error, he moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt and third base on a deep fly ball to right field. Brandon Eckerle caught the Pirate defense by surprise with a two-out bunt to the left side of the infield plating Keur for the, 5-4, lead.
Seton Hall (0-2) jumped out to a quick, 3-0, lead in the top half of the first inning. Sullivan led off the game by reaching base of a Spartan fielding error, and after Rusbarsky singled, Walsh belted a two-run double to right field. Walsh would later score on a fielder's choice off the bat of Giuseppe Papaccio (Nutley, N.J.) for the three-run lead.
The Spartans, however, came right back to tie the score at three in the home half of the first inning with a two-run triple by Jeff Holm and an RBI single by Tony Wieber.
Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.) put the Hall back on top in the third inning with a blooping single over a drawn in infield scoring Walsh from third base, but the Spartans came back to tie the score at four in their half of the fourth inning when Tortsen Boss grounded into what would have been an inning-ending double play, but used his speed to beat out the throw to first base allowing Justin Scanlon to score from third.
Offensively, the Pirates were led by Walsh who finished the game with two hits, two runs scored, and two RBI. Rusbarsky, Esposito, and Scott Kalamar (Bethlehem, Pa.) each finished with two hits as well, while freshman Zach Granite (Staten Island, N.Y.) picked up a hit, a walk, and two stolen bases. Defensively, Esposito threw out two Spartan runners attempting to steal second base.
Brian Gilbert (Toms River, N.J.) (0-1) took the loss allowing one run on three hits in three innings of work. Garner (1-0) picked up the win pitching four hitless relief innings striking out three. Greg Terhune (Washington, N.J.) received no-decision for the Pirates after allowing four runs in five innings of work striking out four in just his second career collegiate start.
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow afternoon for their third and final game of the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge when they take on Iowa. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
