Saturday, May 26
Mason, Ohio / Prasco Park
1:00 PM
Seton Hall University
29-19-1
4
vs
3
#3 Butler
34-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Butler
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
3
11
3
Seton Hall
1
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
X
4
6
1
Photo by: Dave Wegiel
Layne, Pirates Edge Butler, 4-3, to Advance
5/26/2018 5:37:00 PM | Baseball
MASON, OHIO – Junior Billy Layne, Jr. (Cliffwood Beach, N.J.) pitched six scoreless innings and the Seton Hall baseball team held off Butler, 4-3, on Saturday and will play St. John's on Championship Sunday of the 2018 BIG EAST Baseball Championship.
Layne, Jr. was brilliant, scattering just five hits over six strong innings to pick up the victory. The right-hander struck out nine batters and walked only two. Senior Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) pitched two scoreless innings, and stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth inning, to earn his 12th save of the season.
For a third straight game, the Pirates pushed across a run in the first inning. For the second time in the tournament against Butler, it came in the form of a solo home run by Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.). The Hall took a 1-0 lead with a towering shot by Molina to center field.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Pirates handed a couple of insurance runs to Layne, Jr. After Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) led off with a single, and stole second base, he came in to score on an RBI double down the left field line by Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.). Senior Ryan Ramiz (Freehold, N.J.) then put down a bunt, but Butler pitcher Garrett Christman threw wide of first base, which allowed Alescio to score and give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-0 thanks in large part to a pair of Butler errors in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bulldogs however, cut Seton Hall's lead to 4-3 with two home runs off reliever Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.) in the top of the seventh inning.
Leon entered, and retired Butler in order in the eighth before running into some trouble in the ninth inning. The first two Bulldogs singled, but Leon then got Butler's Gehrig Parker to ground into a double play, before getting Michael Hartnagel to fly out to left field for the final out of the game.
Inside the Numbers:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it concludes play in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship in Mason, Ohio. The Pirates will face top-seeded St. John's at 1:00 p.m. If St. John's wins, they are the 2018 BIG EAST champions. If Seton Hall wins, the teams will play a second game, and the winner of game two will be crowned champion.
Layne, Jr. was brilliant, scattering just five hits over six strong innings to pick up the victory. The right-hander struck out nine batters and walked only two. Senior Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) pitched two scoreless innings, and stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth inning, to earn his 12th save of the season.
For a third straight game, the Pirates pushed across a run in the first inning. For the second time in the tournament against Butler, it came in the form of a solo home run by Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.). The Hall took a 1-0 lead with a towering shot by Molina to center field.
IT'S OUTTA HERE!! AL MOLINA PUTS THE PIRATES ON THE SCOREBOARD WITH A MONSTER SOLO HOME RUN TO NEARLY DEAD CENTER FIELD!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/eCt6j5YO5D
— Seton Hall Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 26, 2018
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Pirates handed a couple of insurance runs to Layne, Jr. After Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) led off with a single, and stole second base, he came in to score on an RBI double down the left field line by Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.). Senior Ryan Ramiz (Freehold, N.J.) then put down a bunt, but Butler pitcher Garrett Christman threw wide of first base, which allowed Alescio to score and give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-0 thanks in large part to a pair of Butler errors in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bulldogs however, cut Seton Hall's lead to 4-3 with two home runs off reliever Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.) in the top of the seventh inning.
Leon entered, and retired Butler in order in the eighth before running into some trouble in the ninth inning. The first two Bulldogs singled, but Leon then got Butler's Gehrig Parker to ground into a double play, before getting Michael Hartnagel to fly out to left field for the final out of the game.
WOW... Leon strands the tying run at third base in the bottom of the ninth!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/ZHnDSc2yoh
— Seton Hall Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 26, 2018
Inside the Numbers:
- Layne, Jr. scattered just five hits in six shutout innings with nine strikeouts and two walks to earn the victory.
- Leon earned his Seton Hall record 12th save of the season with two shutout innings.
- Molina was the lone Pirate with multiple hits. He went 2-for-4 with a home run.
- The Pirates had six hits, while Butler had 11. Seton Hall committed one error, while the Bulldogs had three.
- Seton Hall left five men on base, while Butler left 10. Both teams turned a double play.
- Butler's Garrett Christman took the loss. He allowed four runs over seven innings.
- The victory improves Seton Hall to 29-19-1 on the season, while Butler's season comes to an end with a final record of 34-20.
- The win improves Seton Hall to 36-41 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship and it's the eighth time in the Pirates' history that they will finish first or second in the title event.
- Seton Hall improves to 10-7 all-time against Butler, and 4-1 against the Bulldogs this season.
- Molina's home run gives Seton Hall 26 for the season. It's the most home runs in a season for the Pirates since belting 28 in 2007.
- Seton Hall struck out 14 batters today. It's the 20th time this season that the Pirates have reached double-figures in strikeouts and the fifth time in their last six games.
- Leon's save is the 16th of his career, which ranks second-most in Seton Hall history. Isaac Pavlik is the career record-holder with 22 saves.
- Today's appearance was the 87th 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.
- With today's performance, Seton Hall's team earned run average is down to a season-low 3.86.
- Seton Hall is batting .287 as a team for the BIG EAST Championship and has a 2.32 team ERA through three games.
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it concludes play in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship in Mason, Ohio. The Pirates will face top-seeded St. John's at 1:00 p.m. If St. John's wins, they are the 2018 BIG EAST champions. If Seton Hall wins, the teams will play a second game, and the winner of game two will be crowned champion.
| WINNING PITCHER | LOSING PITCHER | SAVE | |||
 |
BILLY LAYNE, JR. (5-1) 6.0 IP, 0 R, 9 K |
 |
GARRETT CHRISTMAN (4-6) 7.0 IP, 4 R, 5 K |
 |
MATT LEON (12) 2.0 IP, 0 R, 2 K |
| LINE SCORE | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| #3 Butler (34-20) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 3 |
| #2 SETON HALL (29-19-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 6 | 1 |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Layne, Jr., Billy (5-1)
L: CHRISTMAN, Garrett (4-6)
S: Leon, Matt (12)
Batting:
HR: PARKER, Gehrig 1 ; DALL, Connor 1
RBI: PARKER, Gehrig 2 ; DALL, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HOUSTON, Tyler 1 ; PARKER, Gehrig 1 ; DALL, Connor 1
HBP: HOUSTON, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Alescio, Mike 1
HR: Molina, Al 1
RBI: Molina, Al 1 ; Alescio, Mike 1
SH: Dadona, Rob 1 ; Alescio, Mike 1 ; Del Castillo, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Santorelli, Sebastiano 1 ; Molina, Al 1 ; Alescio, Mike 1 ; Shedler-McAvoy, Tyler 1
SB: Santorelli, Sebastiano 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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OF
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LHP
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