Sunday, May 27
Mason, Ohio / Prasco Park
1:00 PM
Seton Hall University
30-19-1
19
vs
2
#1 St. John's
38-15
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Seton Hall
0
0
1
3
3
0
8
2
2
19
26
1
St. John's
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
6
2
Photo by: Dave Wegiel
Pirates Will Play for Title After 19-2 Victory
5/27/2018 5:27:00 PM | Baseball
MASON, OHIO – The Seton Hall baseball team erupted for 19 runs and a season-high 26 hits in a 19-2 victory over top-seeded St. John's on Sunday to force a final, winner-take-all second game for the 2018 BIG EAST Championship.
Coming through the loser's bracket of the tournament, the Pirates have avoided elimination three times, defeating Georgetown on Thursday, Butler on Friday, and St. John's today.
Seniors Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Rob Dadona (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the offensive onslaught, collecting four hits apiece before being replaced.
Seton Hall got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the third inning. Sophomore Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.) reached first base on an error and stole second base. Dadona followed with an RBI single through the right side to put the Pirates up 1-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Pirates took advantage of St. John's control issues. With two outs, Seton Hall drew three straight walks off Red Storm starter Michael LoPresti. Christian Del Castillo (Miami, Fla.) followed with an infield single, just past the mound, which scored a run. Dadona then laced a two-RBI single to left field to extend The Hall's lead to 4-0.
St. John's got a run back in the bottom of the fourth off starter Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas), but Andrew Politi (Long Valley, N.J.) came on in relief and struck out his only batter to leave the bases loaded.
The Hall's offense went back to work in the top of the fifth, plating three more. Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.) led off with a single, and Alescio followed with a double high off the center field wall. With one out, Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) put down a perfect squeeze bunt, and St. John's second baseman threw the ball away, which allowed both runners to score. Two batters later, Shedler-McAvoy also put down a squeeze bunt, which turned into an infield single, and drove in the Pirates' seventh run, 7-1.
In the seventh inning, the Pirates sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs on seven hits to put the game out of reach. In the offensive barrage, freshman Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) hit a solo home run, and Del Castillo belted a two-run home run.
Inside the Numbers:
Coming through the loser's bracket of the tournament, the Pirates have avoided elimination three times, defeating Georgetown on Thursday, Butler on Friday, and St. John's today.
Seniors Mike Alescio (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Rob Dadona (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the offensive onslaught, collecting four hits apiece before being replaced.
Seton Hall got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the third inning. Sophomore Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.) reached first base on an error and stole second base. Dadona followed with an RBI single through the right side to put the Pirates up 1-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Pirates took advantage of St. John's control issues. With two outs, Seton Hall drew three straight walks off Red Storm starter Michael LoPresti. Christian Del Castillo (Miami, Fla.) followed with an infield single, just past the mound, which scored a run. Dadona then laced a two-RBI single to left field to extend The Hall's lead to 4-0.
St. John's got a run back in the bottom of the fourth off starter Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas), but Andrew Politi (Long Valley, N.J.) came on in relief and struck out his only batter to leave the bases loaded.
The Hall's offense went back to work in the top of the fifth, plating three more. Al Molina (Freehold, N.J.) led off with a single, and Alescio followed with a double high off the center field wall. With one out, Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) put down a perfect squeeze bunt, and St. John's second baseman threw the ball away, which allowed both runners to score. Two batters later, Shedler-McAvoy also put down a squeeze bunt, which turned into an infield single, and drove in the Pirates' seventh run, 7-1.
In the seventh inning, the Pirates sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs on seven hits to put the game out of reach. In the offensive barrage, freshman Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) hit a solo home run, and Del Castillo belted a two-run home run.
Inside the Numbers:
- Alescio had four hits today, going 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
- Dadona went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored.
- Ramiz reached base four times, going 3-for-6 with a triple, a double, a walk, a run scored and four RBIs.
- Shedler-McAvoy reached base four times, going 3-for-5 with a walk, an RBI and four runs scored.
- Dana went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs.
- Del Castillo went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.
- Thompson started for the Pirates and allowed one run over 3.2 innings in a no decision.
- Politi picked up the win in relief. He allowed just one hit over 3.1 scoreless innings with six walks and one walk.
- Sophomore Blake Espinal (Bronx, N.Y.) tossed a perfect eighth inning.
- The Pirates had a season-high 26 hits, while St. John's had six. Seton Hall committed one error, while the Red Storm had two.
- Seton Hall left 14 men on base, while St. John's left nine.
- St. John's Michael LoPresti took the loss. He allowed four runs over 3.2 innings.
- The victory improves Seton Hall to 30-19-1 on the season, while St. John's drops to 38-15.
- The win improves Seton Hall to 37-41 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship.
- Seton Hall improves to 60-70 all-time against St. John's, and 2-2 against the Red Storm this season.
- Seton Hall reached double-figures in hits for the 19th time this season.
- Seton Hall struck out 11 batters today. It's the 21st time this season that the Pirates have reached double-figures in strikeouts and the sixth time in their last seven games.
- The Pirates are now 10-0 this season when scoring at least 10 runs.
| WINNING PITCHER | LOSING PITCHER | ||
 |
ANDREW POLITI (5-4) 3.1 IP, 1 H, 6 K |
 |
MICHAEL LOPRESTI (4-3) 3.2 IP, 4 R, 5 BB |
| LINE SCORE | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| #2 SETON HALL (30-19-1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 26 | 1 |
| #1 St. John's (38-15) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Politi, Andrew (5-4)
L: LoPRESTI, Michael (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Alescio, Mike 1 ; Ramiz, Ryan 1
3B: Ramiz, Ryan 1
HR: Dana, Casey 1 ; Del Castillo, Christian 1
RBI: Dadona, Rob 3 ; Molina, Al 1 ; Alescio, Mike 1 ; Villa, Chris 1 ; Ramiz, Ryan 4 ; Toke, Matt 1 ; Hood, Connor 1 ; Dana, Casey 2 ; Shedler-McAvoy, Tyler 1 ; Del Castillo, Christian 3
SH: Santorelli, Sebastiano 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dadona, Rob 1 ; Santorelli, Sebastiano 2 ; Molina, Al 2 ; Alescio, Mike 2 ; Villa, Chris 1 ; Ramiz, Ryan 1 ; Toke, Matt 2 ; Dana, Casey 2 ; Shedler-McAvoy, Tyler 4 ; Del Castillo, Christian 1 ; Holdorf, Thomas 1
SB: Shedler-McAvoy, Tyler 1
CS: Alescio, Mike 1
Batting:
2B: GILLERMAN, Jordan 1
RBI: VALENTE, John 1 ; BROCATO, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GALAZIN, Jamie 1 ; MILLER, Brandon 1
HBP: MASCARELLA, Wyatt 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
4
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
1
AB
6
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
5
R
4
H
3
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
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