Seton Hall University
Xavier
Late Heroics Lift Hall Past Xavier, 3-2, in 12
5/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2014
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - It took 12 innings and over six hours but an infield single by senior Chris Selden (Allenhurst, N.J.) and the subsequent throwing error that scored junior D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.) helped the Seton Hall baseball team clinch a berth in the 2014 BIG EAST Championship with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the visiting Xavier Musketeers on Saturday.
Weather delays were prevalent throughout the marathon affair but the win improves the Pirates record to 35-11 overall and 9-5 in the BIG EAST. Coupled with Butler's 8-3 loss to Georgetown earlier in the day, Seton Hall is now assured a top-four spot in the final standings, joining St. John's and Creighton as teams who have locked up a trip to MCU Park in Brooklyn later this month.
Xavier falls to 24-23 overall and 7-7 in conference play but remains three games ahead of Butler for the final postseason spot with four league games remaining.
Sal Annunziata (Bronx, N.Y.) drove in the Pirates' first two runs of the game, one in the first inning and the second coming with SHU trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth. Annunziata finished 2-for-5 and has driven in 43 runs in this his junior campaign, the third-highest total in the BIG EAST. He also now boasts a team-best 13 multi-RBI games this season.
Freshman Ryan Testani (Shelton, Conn.) earned the victory (3-1) after tossing 2.1 innings of one-hit ball to put an exclamation mark on 4.2 scoreless innings for the Seton Hall bullpen behind starter Anthony Pacillo (Lyndhurst, N.J.).
For the second game in a row the Pirates moved ahead in the opening frame, scoring the first run of the afternoon without recording a hit. Leadoff man Derek Jenkins (Annandale, N.J.) worked a walk and advanced to second when Xavier starter Scott Klever misplayed an attempted sacrifice bunt by Zack Weigel (Oak Park, Ill.), allowing the sophomore left fielder to reach first safely as well.
From the third hole, Kyle Grimm (Bergenfield, N.J.) laid down a successful sacrifice to move two runners into scoring position for the Pirates' RBIs leader Annunziata. The right-handed hitting first baseman was retired on a groundout to the shortstop, but the speedy Jenkins came across on the play to stake Seton Hall to an early 1-0 lead.
The Musketeers collected five hits in the first three innings but Pacillo effectively worked around the base-runners with the help of timely defense behind him. In the bottom of the third, it was Annunziata who collected the first base hit of the game for The Hall, shooting a two-out double to the wall in right-center, but he would advance no further.
After allowing seven hitters to reach in the first three innings, Pacillo settled into a grove and sent the Musketeers down in order in the next two frames. Inclement weather resulted in an hour-long delay with Seton Hall at-bat in the last of the fifth but the freshman came back out to take the ball for The Hall and picked up right where he left off.
The Lyndhurst native faced just seven hitters while putting up two more zeroes in the sixth and the seventh, preserving the Pirates' one-run edge.
The Hall could not widen the margin however and in the eighth, Xavier broke through to score its first two runs of the series and move ahead, 2-1. Pacillo issued a leadoff walk to third baseman Stephen Schoettmer but recorded an out when #9-hitter Michael Moore got under the sacrifice attempt and popped out to catcher Dillon Hamlin (Colts Neck, N.J.). The Musketeers' center fielder Brian Bruening followed with a double to the gap in left center though that ended Pacillo's afternoon after 7 1/3 solid innings (2 ER).
Sophomore Sam Burum (Robbinsville, N.J.) came on in relief and was the beneficiary of a tremendous back-handed diving stab by second baseman Chris Chiaradio (Teaneck, N.J.) that robbed Xavier junior Joe Forney and kept the lead in tact momentarily. The respite was short-lived however as Daniel Rizzie sent the Musketeers in front with a two-out, two-RBI single - his third hit of the day - before Joe DiBenedetto (Staten Island, N.Y.) came on to retire Andre Jernigan and end the rally.
Seton Hall was kept off the board in the bottom of the eighth but DiBenedetto turned in a scoreless ninth to hold the deficit at one. Pinch hitter Joe Poduslenko (Glen Mills, Pa.) started the frame with a single to center and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Jenkins. Xavier closer Brad Kirschner then got Weigel to sky out to shortstop but Grimm extended the inning for Annunziata with a walk.
Down to his last strike, the Pirates' cleanup man came through with a clutch single to left center off the lefty hurler, plating Poduslenko to level the score at 2-2. A third prolonged stoppage due to weather slowed the momentum and when play resumed, Ruhlman popped out to first to send the game into extras.
DiBenedetto started the 10th strong despite the hour that had passed since his last pitch, retiring the first two Musketeers that came to the plate. Rizzie then earned a two-out walk and Derek Hasenbeck singled between third and short to move the runner to third. With the go-ahead run 90 feet away, Testani answered the call and struck out Jernigan to keep the score tied.
Seton Hall could not find the decisive run in their first turn in extras but Testani yielded just a two-out single in the 11th to hold the score at 2-2. Freshman Mike Caputo (Morganville, N.J.) hit for Chiaradio to start the home half and earned a walk. Jenkins' second sacrifice bunt of the game advanced Caputo into scoring position with just one away, but he was ultimately stranded there.
Xavier's 12th turn at bat followed an identical script as Testani walked Bruening and Forney moved him to second with a bunt but the 6-foot-5 righty bounced back to get the next two Musketeers and quell the danger. In what turned out to be the decisive frame, The Hall was again faced with a two-out scenario but Ruhlman swiped second and hustled around to score the winner when Schoettmer misfired on his attempt to retire Selden.
With the result, SHU extended its home winning streak to 13 which includes a 5-0 mark against BIG EAST opponents. Eric Stiene (3-2) took the loss for Xavier.
A second lightning delay preempted the start of the ninth by an excess of 45 minutes and the subsequent weather delay after the score was tied pushed the final time of game over six hours. The final game of the series is scheduled to begin shortly at Owen T. Carroll Field and a live broadcast can be heard on www.WSOU.net
