Dana, Pirates Slam Princeton, 7-2

Wednesday, April 10

Princeton, N.J. / Clarke Field

3:00 PM

Seton Hall University

14-15

Princeton

6-19

Seton Hall

Princeton

4/10/2019 6:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

PRINCETON, N.J. – Sophomore Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) had a go-head grand slam as part of a game-deciding six-run sixth inning and the Seton Hall baseball team defeated Princeton, 7-2, on Wednesday.

Dana, a member of the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll this week, continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.

Thomas Holdorf (Freehold, N.J.), Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) and Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.) all also collected two hits. Freshman Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) drove in two runs, and Christian Del Castillo (Miami, Fla.) walked three times.

Seton Hall starter Nick Payero (Monroe, N.J.) had his best performance in his third career start. The freshman allowed two runs over a career-high four innings with a career-best four strikeouts and only one walk.

What Happened:
The game was a pitchers' duel early on as both team mustered only two hits through the first four innings. Princeton's Joseph Flynn however, belted a solo home run on Payero's first offering of the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Later in the same inning with two outs, Princeton's Ramzi Haddad hit a routine grounder to first, but the ball hit a large divot and skipped over Holdorf's shoulder. On the play Princeton's second run came in to score.

The Hall finally broke through on the scoreboard, in a big way, in the top of the sixth inning. Connor Hood (Shrewsbury, Pa.) and Jerry Huntzinger (Staten Island, N.Y.) drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. With one out, a third walk loaded the bases for Dana's long-ball. His sixth home run of the season put The Hall on top, 4-2. The inning however, wasn't over. With two outs, Holdorf singled, and pinch-hitter David Haberman (Morristown, N.J.) had a ground-rule double to put two in scoring position. Clyde followed with a gapper to left-center field to clear the bases and extend The Hall's lead to 6-2.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall out-hit Princeton, 11-to-6. The Pirates committed one error, while Princeton made none.
Dana went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.
Holdorf, Santorelli and Shedler-McAvoy each had two singles apiece.
Del Castillo walked three times.
Clyde drove in two runs with a double in the sixth inning.
Sophomore Tyler Burnham (East Brunswick, N.J.) pitched well in relief, allowing just one hit over two scoreless innings. He struck out two and walked none to pick up the victory.
Sophomore Hunter Waldis (Far Hills, N.J.) tossed 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. He entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded, and recorded a strikeout to strand three runners.
Junior Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.) was dominant in the ninth inning, retiring Princeton in order with two strikeouts.
Payero had the best start of his young career. The right-hander allowed two runs over four innings pitched with four strikeouts and one walk.
Seton Hall left five men on base, while Princeton left seven.
Princeton's Reece Rabin took the loss. He allowed four runs in one inning of relief.

News & Notes:

The Pirates improve to 14-15 on the season, while Princeton falls to 6-19 overall.
Seton Hall improves to 31-9-1 all-time against the Tigers and have won six of the last seven games in the series.
Dana's home run is his sixth of the season, which is only one shy of his total for his freshman year.
Today was the 14th time this season that the Pirates have recorded at least 10 hits.
Today was the 16th time this season that Seton Hall struck out at least 10 batters.
Seton Hall improves to 13-0 when leading after seven innings.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to action this weekend when it heads to Fort Worth, Texas for a three-game series against Texas Christian University. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.