Baseball Tops West Virginia, 10-4, in BIG EAST Tournament
5/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score (html)
Box Score (pdf)
Post-Game Interview with Head Coach Rob Sheppard
Post-Game Interview with senior Joe DiRocco
CLEARWATER, FLA. - The Seton Hall baseball team used a pair of four run innings to build a quick, 8-0, lead for Joe DiRocco (East Hanover, N.J.) who helped the Pirates hold on for a, 10-4, win over West Virginia in each team's first game on the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. The win propels the Hall to the winner's bracket where they will play the winner of the game between top seeded Connecticut and #8 Notre Dame.
Fifth-seeded Seton Hall (30-23) increased their season-high winning streak to five games and clinched their second 30-win season in four years with the win. It all started in the top of the first inning when they scored four runs on three hits while sending nine batters to the plate.
Zack Granite (Staten Island, N.Y.) started the game with a walk on four-straight pitches, stole second base, and scored on a one-out single by Sean Gusrang (Burlington, N.J.). Dale Anderson (Alberta, Canada) walked and Giuseppe Papaccio (Nutley, N.J.) reached on a catcher's interference loading the bases for A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) who ripped a two-run single to right field for a, 3-0, lead. Papaccio later scored the fourth run when Will Walsh (New Milford, N.J.) beat out a throw from shortstop Grant Buckner on a would-be inning-ending double play groundball to second base.
The Pirates doubled their lead on #5 West Virginia in the top of the third inning this time sending eight batters to the plate picking up four hits.
With one out, Walsh tripled and scored on a double by Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.). Mike Betz (Mine-Hill, N.J.) drew a walk and Granite singled to load the bases for Mike Genovese (Livingston, N.J.) who hit a sacrifice fly to right field for a, 6-0, lead. Betz, who moved to third base on the fly ball by the sophomore, scored when relief pitcher Josh Harlow was called for a balk. Gusrang then scored Granite from second base with a triple.
The Mountaineers looked to comeback in the game by plating three runs in the fifth and sixth inning and a fourth in the eighth, but Seton Hall's pitching and defense stood strong to keep the power hitting team at bay.
Dan DiBartolomeo hit an RBI single in the home half of the fifth inning, and after Isac Franklin drove in a run on a ground out to the right side in the sixth and Matt Malloy hit a sacrifice fly in the same frame, the Mountaineers loaded the bases, but Brady Wilson flew out to right field to end the threat.
In the eighth inning West Virginia hit four-straight singles including a run-scoring knock by Mark Dvoroznak, but with one out, Wilson lined out to shortstop Rusbarsky who caught Dvoroznak off first base and threw out the runner for an inning-ending double play.
The Pirates used the momentum to score two runs in the top of the ninth with an RBI triple by Esposito and an RBI groundout by Scott Kalamar (Bethlehem, Pa.)
DiRocco (7-1) lasted seven innings in his first-ever appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament allowing three runs on nine hits striking out three to earn the win. Marshall Thompson (5-4) tossed 1.2 innings in his start yielding four runs, three earned, on three hits and four walks. Harlow finished the game surrendering six runs on 10 hits in 7.1 relief innings.
Offensively for the Pirates, Esposito went 3-for-5 with one of the Pirates three triples, a double, two runs scored, and two RBI. Granite reached base four times with three walks and a triple, and Gusrang also picked up a triple for one of his two hits. Finally, Walsh recorded two hits scoring two runs and driving in another.
The Pirates will return to Bright House Field tomorrow evening with first pitch scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
