Toke, Santorelli Power Pirates Over NC State, 8-6

Sunday, February 18

Raleigh, N.C.

1:00 PM

Seton Hall University

1-2

No. 23 NC State

2-1

Seton Hall

NC State

2/18/2018 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

RALEIGH, N.C. – Sophomore Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.C.) hit a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to give the Seton Hall baseball team the lead for good in an 8-6 victory at No. 23 NC State on Sunday.

Trailing 6-3, the Pirates struck for four runs in the epic fifth inning, capped by Toke first career home run to reclaim the lead.

Junior Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) fell just a triple shy of the cycle, and his first career home run, a solo shot to lead off the fourth inning cut the Pirate deficit to two, 6-4.

Seton Hall took 3-0 lead right away with three runs in the top of the first inning. An error enabled the first Pirate run to score, followed by a sacrifice fly by Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.) and an RBI double by Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) made it 3-0.

NC State however, sent 10 men to the plate in the third inning and erupted for six runs off Seton Hall starter Ricky DeVito (Staten Island, N.Y.) and reliever Ryan McLinskey (Pearl River, N.Y.).

Turning Point:
Trailing 6-4, the Pirates' offense took control of the game in the top of the fifth inning. Senior Ryan Ramiz (Freehold, N.J.) walked to lead off the inning, and Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.) singled to right-center field to put two on with one out for Toke. That's when Toke delivered a three-run homer over the left field wall to put The Hall in front, 7-6.

After a pitching change, the Pirates hit back-to-back doubles by Molina and Santorelli to plate the Pirates' eighth run.

Inside the Numbers:

Santorelli finished the day 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a run scored and two RBIs.
Toke only had one hit, but it was a three-run home run that gave the Pirates the lead for good.
Seton Hall out-hit the Wolfpack, 10-to-7, and both teams committed just one error.
The winning pitcher was Seton Hall's Blake Espinal (Bronx, N.Y.), who made his collegiate debut with two perfect innings. The sophomore struck out two and didn't issue a walk.
Senior Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) picked up the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Sophomore Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas) pitched strong inning of relief. He issued a walk, but struck out two and didn't allow a hit.
Alescio went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and two runs scored.
Sophomore Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.) tossed two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit, two walks and two strikeouts.
Seton Hall left five men on base, while NC State left 10.
NC State's David Harrison took the loss. He allowed seven runs, four earned, in 4.1 innings pitched.

News & Notes:

With a hit, Toke has now hit safely in 14 straight games dating back to last season.
Today's relief appearance is the 66^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.
DeVito made his first career start on the mound.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will be back in action on Friday, February 23 when it travels to Spartanburg, S.C. for a contest at USC Upstate. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The Pirate Sports Network will again carry a live audio stream via SHUpirates.com.