Thursday, May 24
Mason, Ohio / Prasco Park
6:30 PM
Seton Hall University
27-19
1
vs
2
#3 Butler
34-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
R
H
E
Butler
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
7
1
Seton Hall
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
6
1
McCarthy, Politi Excel, But Pirates Fall in 13 Inn
5/24/2018 11:57:00 PM | Baseball
MASON, OHIO – Senior Shane McCarthy (Fair Haven, N.J.) didn't allow an earned run over seven innings, and Andrew Politi (Long Valley, N.J.) tossed 5.2 dominant innings of relief, but the Seton Hall baseball team fell to Butler, 2-1, in 13 innings on Thursday in the opening round of the 2018 BIG EAST Championship.
Making his 50th career start, McCarthy was brilliant, allowing only a first inning run over seven innings. He struck out five batters and walked only one. Politi was equally as dominant allowing one run over 5.2 innings of relief with nine strikeouts and one walk.
Butler got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning, thanks in large part to an error by Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.), but the Pirate shortstop made up for his lapse with a towering solo home run to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.
From there, it was a pitchers' duel between Seton Hall's McCarthy and Politi vs. Butler's Ryan Pepiot and Josh Walker. Pepiot allowed only the Molina home run over 7.1 innings pitched, while Walker tossed 4.2 shutout innings of relief.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Seton Hall appeared poised to take the lead, loading the bases with no outs. Christian Del Castillo (Miami, Fla.) grounded into a fielder's choice, with Butler getting the force out at home. Rob Dadona (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed with a ground ball to the shortstop, who stepped on second base for the second out of the inning, but Del Castillo was also called for runner's interference to complete the inning-ending double play.
Turning Point:
In the top of the 13th inning Politi surrendered a leadoff single to James Gargano, who was sacrificed successfully to second base. After Politi recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Pirate closer Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) entered the game. After a walk, Butler's Michael Hartnagel hit an RBI single through the left side to score the go-ahead run.
Inside the Numbers:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it continues play in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship in Mason, Ohio. The Pirates will face No. 4 Georgetown in an elimination game. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Making his 50th career start, McCarthy was brilliant, allowing only a first inning run over seven innings. He struck out five batters and walked only one. Politi was equally as dominant allowing one run over 5.2 innings of relief with nine strikeouts and one walk.
Butler got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning, thanks in large part to an error by Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.), but the Pirate shortstop made up for his lapse with a towering solo home run to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.
From there, it was a pitchers' duel between Seton Hall's McCarthy and Politi vs. Butler's Ryan Pepiot and Josh Walker. Pepiot allowed only the Molina home run over 7.1 innings pitched, while Walker tossed 4.2 shutout innings of relief.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Seton Hall appeared poised to take the lead, loading the bases with no outs. Christian Del Castillo (Miami, Fla.) grounded into a fielder's choice, with Butler getting the force out at home. Rob Dadona (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed with a ground ball to the shortstop, who stepped on second base for the second out of the inning, but Del Castillo was also called for runner's interference to complete the inning-ending double play.
Turning Point:
In the top of the 13th inning Politi surrendered a leadoff single to James Gargano, who was sacrificed successfully to second base. After Politi recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Pirate closer Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) entered the game. After a walk, Butler's Michael Hartnagel hit an RBI single through the left side to score the go-ahead run.
Inside the Numbers:
- McCarthy allowed only one unearned run over seven innings in a no decision. He struck out five batters and walked one.
- Politi allowed one run over 5.2 innings of relief. He struck out nine batters and walked only one.
- Sophomore Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) was the lone Pirate with multiple hits. He went 2-for-5.
- Molina belted his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot in the first inning.
- The Pirates had six hits, while Butler had seven. Both teams had one error.
- Seton Hall left 11 men on base, while Butler left nine.
- Butler's Josh Walker picked up the win in relief, while Jack Pilcher earned the save.
- The loss drops Seton Hall to 27-19-1 on the season, while Butler improves to 34-18 overall.
- Seton Hall falls to 34-41 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship and has now lost six straight tournament games.
- Seton Hall drops to 9-7 all-time against Butler.
- The 13-inning game was the second-longest game in the history of the BIG EAST Championship.
- McCarthy made his 50th career start tonight, which passes Joe DiRocco for second-most in Seton Hall history. Only Jon Prosinski (57) has started more games in a Pirate uniform.
- With seven innings tonight, McCarthy moved past former Pirate Mike Patton into fourth place on Seton Hall's career innings pitched list. He now has 298.2 innings pitched in his career.
- Tonight's appearance was the 86th of Leon's career, which ranks second-most in Seton Hall history. Only George Fernandez (94) has taken the mound in more Seton Hall games ever.
- Molina's home run gives Seton Hall 24 for the season. It's the most home runs in a season for the Pirates since belting 24 in 2008.
- Seton Hall struck out 14 batters tonight. It's the 18th time this season that the Pirates have reached double-figures in strikeouts.
- With tonight's performance, Seton Hall's team earned run average is down to a season-low 3.87.
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it continues play in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship in Mason, Ohio. The Pirates will face No. 4 Georgetown in an elimination game. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
| LINE SCORE | ||||||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | R | H | E |
| #3 Butler (34-18) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| #2 SETON HALL (27-19-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
WINNING PITCHER: Josh Walker (4-2) LOSING PITCHER: Matt Leon (1-2) SAVE: Jack Pilcher (10)
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: WALKER, Josh (4-2)
L: Leon, Matt (1-2)
S: PILCHER, Jack (10)
Batting:
RBI: HARTNAGEL, Michael 1
SH: JAROSZ, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JAROSZ, Zach 1 ; GARGANO, James 1
Batting:
HR: Molina, Al 1
RBI: Molina, Al 1
SH: Santorelli, Sebastiano 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Molina, Al 1
SB: Alescio, Mike 1 ; Ramiz, Ryan 1
CS: Hood, Connor 1
HBP: Ramiz, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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