Layne, Molina Help Pirates Complete Nova Sweep

Sunday, April 29

South Orange, N.J.

12:00 PM

Seton Hall University

20-15-1, 8-1

Villanova

6-29, 0-9

Villanova

Seton Hall

4/29/2018 4:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Junior Billy Layne, Jr. (Cliffwood Beach, N.J.) allowed only two runs over six dazzling innings and Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.) drove in three runs as the Seton Hall baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Villanova with an 11-2 victory on Sunday.

Layne, Jr. allowed only one hit through the first five innings. He made one mistake in the top of the sixth inning, which resulted in a two-run home run by Villanova's Ryan Toohers. He struck out a career-high nine batters and walked only one.

Offensively, the Pirates wasted little time in giving Layne, Jr. support. The Hall pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning when Rob Dadona (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored on an error by the Villanova shortstop. Seton Hall pushed its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.) and an RBI sacrifice fly by Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.).

In the fifth inning, the Pirates blew the game open. With one out, Dadona doubled down the left field line. After Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) walked, Molina doubled to the left-center field gap to score both runners. With two outs, Ryan Ramiz (Freehold, N.J.) doubled to right field to drive in Molina and extend The Hall's advantage to 6-0.

With The Hall already leading, 9-2, freshman Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) put a stamp on the series with a two-run home run, his team-leading fifth of the season, in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Inside the Numbers:

Layne, Jr. earned the victory allowing only two runs on two hits over six innings. He struck out a career-high nine batters and walked only one.
Molina went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and a team-best three RBIs.
Dadona reached base three times, going 1-for-3 with a double, a stolen base two walks and three runs scored.
Santorelli also reached base three times, going 1-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base and a run scored.
Dana connected on a two-run home, walked and scored two runs.
Sophomore Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.) tossed two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
Senior Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Seton Hall had nine hits, while Villanova had only four. Seton Hall committed no errors, while the Wildcats had four.
Both teams left six men on base.
Villanova's Jimmy Kingsbury took the loss. He allowed five runs over 5.1 innings.

News & Notes:

The victory improves Seton Hall to 20-15-1 overall and 8-1 in BIG EAST play, while Villanova falls to 6-29 overall and 0-9 in the conference. It's the eighth straight year that Pirates have won at least 20 games.
Seton Hall is now 87-43 all-time against Villanova. Furthermore, the Pirates have now won 16 of the last 18 games with the Wildcats.
The Hall has won eight of its first nine BIG EAST Conference games for the first time since winning 13 of its first 14 games in 1989.
The victory gives Seton Hall a series sweep of Villanova, its second straight BIG EAST series sweep, after winning all three games at Butler last weekend.
Seton Hall held the Wildcats to just five runs for the series, while Pirate pitchers had a 1.33 ERA over the three games with 38 strikeouts.
Molina's double today gives him a BIG EAST-leading 16 for the season. The Seton Hall record for doubles in a single season is 24, held by David Kim and current assistant coach Giuseppe Papaccio.
Today's appearance is the 81^st of Leon's career, which is fourth-most in Seton Hall history.
Seton Hall struck out 12 batters today. It's the 13^th time this season that the Pirates have reached double-figures in strikeouts.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to action on Tuesday, May 1 when it hosts local non-conference rival Saint Peter's at Owen T. Carroll Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.