Leon Dazzles, But Pirates Fall at NC State, 3-1

Friday, February 16

Raleigh, N.C.

3:30 PM

Seton Hall University

0-2

No. 23 NC State

2-0

Seton Hall

NC State

2/16/2018 9:51:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

RALEIGH, N.C. – Senior Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) struck out six of the 10 batters he faced in relief, but the Seton Hall baseball team fell to No. 23 NC State in game two of a doubleheader on Friday.

All three of Seton Hall's pitchers in game two of the doubleheader had strong moments, limiting a high-powered Wolfpack offense to just three runs, but the Pirates' offense mustered just three hits and a single first-inning run.

Sophomore Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) smashed a two-out double off the wall in left-center field to score Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.) with the game's first run in the top of the first inning.

Turning Point:
Seton Hall starter Andrew Politi (Long Valley, N.J.) showed brilliance early on, but ran into trouble with his command in the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back hits to start the inning, aided by the Pirates' lone error of the game, tied the game at one. Politi then walked two straight batters to load the bases. The strangest play of the game followed, but fortunately it was to the Pirates' advantage. NC State's Shane Shepard hit a pop up to shallow left field. The ball dropped in, but the umpires had enforced the infield fly rule, Will Wilson scored when the ball hit the ground, but Brad Debo, heading to third, was thrown out by left fielder Christian Del Castillo (Miami Fla.) to complete the inning-ending double-play. The damage was limited, but NC State took the lead, 2-1.

The Wolfpack tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth on a leadoff solo home run by Brock Deatherage.

Inside the Numbers:

Leon pitched 2.1 innings of relief and struck out six of the 10 batters he faced. He allowed only two hits, no runs and one walk.
Alescio was the lone Pirate with multiple hits. He finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Politi took the loss. He pitched 4.2 innings and allowed three earned runs, while striking out three and walking four in 100 pitches.
NC State out-hit the Pirates, 9-to-3, while the Pirates defense out-performed the Wolfpack, one error to two.
Toke went 1-for-4 with an RBI double.
Sophomore Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.) tossed a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts.
Seton Hall left four men on base, while NC State left nine.
NC State's Johnny Piedmonte picked up the victory with seven innings of one-run baseball. He struck out seven and walked only one batter.

News & Notes:

With a hit, Toke has now hit safely in 13 straight games dating back to last season.
Today's relief appearance is the 65^th of Leon's career, which ranks seventh-most in Seton Hall history. Former Pirate Luis Fernandez is sixth on the list with 70 appearances.
With a two hits today, Alescio has surpassed the 100-hit milestone for his career.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will be back in action on Sunday when completes its three-game series at NC State. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Pirate Sports Network will again carry a live audio stream via SHUpirates.com.