Seton Hall University
St. John's
Offense Eludes as Baseball Falls, 7-3
5/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2014
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Pirates' offense mustered just three hits as the Seton Hall baseball team fell to St. John's, 7-3, on Thursday, snapping their nation-leading 15-game home win streak.
Seton Hall (37-12, 10-6) starting pitcher Josh Prevost (Belle Mead, N.J.) allowed five earned runs over 6.1 innings to suffer only his second loss of the season.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Derek Jenkins (Annandale, N.J.) singled to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zack Weigel (Oak Park, Ill.). The speedy leadoff hitter then stole third base and came home on an RBI sacrifice fly by Kyle Grimm (Bergenfield, N.J.).
But the Pirates' lead wouldn't last long as St. John's sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the second inning. Four Red Storm singles and a walk added up to three runs against Prevost and St. John's took a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Seton Hall appeared poised to tie the game, but came up just short. Weigel walked and Grimm followed with an RBI triple to right center field to cut the Pirates' deficit to 3-2. But with no outs and Grimm on third base, the middle of the Seton Hall lineup went down in order, stranding the tying run 90 feet away.
St. John's (34-17, 12-4) added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings and the Pirates mustered just one hit over the final five innings.
D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.) singled home Grimm with two outs in the ninth inning to plate the Pirates' third and final run.
The loss eliminates Seton Hall from contention for the BIG EAST regular season title and the BIG EAST Tournament's top seed. If the Pirates rebound and win the series with St. John's, they'll earn the tournament's #2 seed. If they lose the series, they'll earn the #3 seed.
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it resumes its three-game series with St. John's, weather permitting. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.
