Pirates Fall at USC Upstate

Friday, February 23

Spartanburg, S.C.

4:00 PM

Seton Hall University

1-3

USC Upstate

3-2-1

Seton Hall

USC Upstate

2/23/2018 8:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Seton Hall baseball team committed a season-high five errors and fell at USC Upstate, 12-1, to open a three-game series against three different schools in Spartanburg, S.C. on Friday.

The errors led to seven unearned runs, two of which were charged to Seton Hall starter Shane McCarthy (Fair Haven, N.J.), who took the loss.

Senior Ryan Ramiz (Freehold, N.J.) led off the game with a double, but was stranded at second base. From there, USC Upstate starter Blake Whitney pitched to the minimum for the next 15 batters until a single by freshman Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) led off the top of the sixth inning with a single.

The lop-sided score did however, lead to the season debuts of five Pirates. Senior Chris Talbott (Freehold, N.J.) and junior Matt Ponsiglione (Staten Island, N.Y.), as well as freshmen Thomas Holdorf (Freehold, N.J.), Jerry Huntzinger (Staten Island, N.Y.), and Hunter Waldis (Far Hills, N.J.) all saw action in today's contest with the freshmen making their collegiate debuts.

Turning Point:
In the bottom of the first inning, USC Upstate took the lead only two batters into the game. After McCarthy walked leadoff hitter Andres Kim, Pat Raiff followed with an RBI triple. A Seton Hall error and a single by the Spartans' Will Hardigree led to two more runs to give USC Upstate a 3-0 lead after the first inning.

Trailing 6-0, USC Upstate padded its lead with a five-run sixth inning, highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of catcher Charlie Carpenter.

Inside the Numbers:

Dana was the lone Pirate with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.
Ponsiglione retired all four batters he faced, including a strikeout.
Despite the difference in runs, the Pirates and Spartans both had seven hits. The significant statistical difference was in errors. The Hall committed five, while USC Upstate only committed one.
McCarthy took the loss, falling to 0-2 on the young season. He pitched four innings and allowed four earned runs with one strikeout and two walks.
Talbott collected his first hit of the season with a single in the eighth inning.
Holdorf picked up the first hit of his collegiate career with a single in the ninth inning.
Sophomore Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas) allowed four runs, but all were unearned with a walk and a strikeout over 1.1 innings. He allowed only one hit.
Waldis allowed one earned run with three strikeouts and one walk in 1.1 innings pitched.
Both teams left six men on base.
Seton Hall turned two double plays, while USC Upstate turned one.
USC Upstate's Blake Whitney earned the victory with seven innings of shutout baseball. He struck out eight batters and walked only one.

News & Notes:

With four at bats today, Ramiz has surpassed 500 for his stellar Seton Hall career.
After an 0-for-2 performance today, Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) had his 14-game hit streak snapped.
McCarthy made his 39^th career start today, which ranks sixth all-time at Seton Hall. Tim Byron and former teammate Zach Prendergast are tied for fifth on the list with 40 starts.
Today's game was the first-ever between Seton Hall and USC Upstate.
The loss drops the Pirates to 1-3 on the young season, while USC Upstate improves to 3-2-1.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will be back in action tomorrow when it continues its play in Spartanburg, S.C. Due to poor weather expected on Sunday, the Pirates will play a doubleheader on Saturday. Game one will be against Wofford at 1:00 p.m., while game two will be against Pittsburgh. The Pirate Sports Network will again carry a live audio stream via SHUpirates.com of both contests.