Seton Hall University
Creighton
Baseball Rallies to Stun Creighton, 5-4
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf) 
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The Seton Hall baseball team scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come-from-behind to defeat Creighton, 5-4, on Friday.
Sal Annunziata (Bronx, N.Y.) delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI single with one out in the eighth inning. Annunziata led the Pirates' offense, going 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.
Seton Hall (21-18) and Creighton have only played five times in history, but the last four have been decided by one run. The Bluejays twice edged The Hall by one run in 10 innings in Omaha last year. On May 5, Creighton rallied from a two-run deficit in extra innings to defeat the Pirates, 8-7. Today, it was the Pirates who rallied from a late two-run hole.
Creighton (25-14) got the scoring started with single runs in the top of the third and fourth innings off Seton Hall starter Anthony Pacillo (Lyndhurst, N.J.). But the Pirates charged back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Kyle Grimm (Bergenfield, N.J.) singled to right field. Annunziata followed with a triple to right-center field, scoring Grimm to cut the Bluejay lead to 2-1. Tyler Boyd (Succasunna, N.J.) delivered a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score Annunziata and tie the game at two.
The Pirates had trouble getting the final out in both the fifth and sixth innings. After retiring the first two batters, Seton Hall allowed single runs in both innings as Creighton took a 4-2 advantage.
Zack Weigel (Oak Park, Ill.) walked to lead off the eighth inning for Seton Hall. Creighton brought in their closer, David Gerber, who entered the contest with seven saves and a 1.27 earned run average. With one out and Weigel on second, senior D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.) singled through the left side, which scored Weigel to cut the Creighton lead to 4-3. After Ruhlman stole second base, Grimm followed with a fly ball to right field, but Creighton right fielder Kevin Connelly erred and the ball dropped in. Ruhlman scored to tie the game and Grimm, representing the go-ahead run, advanced to second. That's when Annunziata delivered the winning RBI single.
Joe DiBenedetto (Staten Island, N.Y.) continued his dominant season. The sophomore entered the game with two outs in the eighth and got the game's final four outs in order. DiBenedetto struck out three of the four batters he faced and earned the victory.
Dan Ditusa (St. Charles, Ill.) and Ryan Testani (Shelton, Conn.) also both pitched scoreless innings in what was yet another strong outing by the Pirates' bullpen.
Kyle Grimm also had a fine offense evening. The senior reached base three times, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Seton Hall will continue its three-game series with Creighton tomorrow at Owen T. Carroll Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
| LINE SCORE | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Creighton (25-14, 8-4) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
| SETON HALL (21-18, 6-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Win - Joe DiBenedetto (2-0) Loss - David Gerber (0-2) Save - None
