Santorelli's Blast Not Enough as Pirates Fall

Thursday, April 18

Staten Island, N.Y. / Richmond County Bank Ballpark

2:00 PM

Seton Hall University

16-18, 0

Creighton

20-8, 0

Creighton

Seton Hall

4/18/2019 6:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Senior Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) belted a ninth-inning home run, but the Seton Hall baseball team fell in the series opener to Creighton, 5-1, on Thursday.

Santorelli's blast was his second of the season, but only the second hit of the afternoon for Seton Hall. The lone other base hit came in the form of a single off the bat of leadoff hitter Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.) with two outs in the sixth inning. Creighton starter Mitch Ragan held the Pirates hitless until then.

Starter Ricky DeVito (Staten Island, N.Y.) struggled early against Creighton, but settled down in the middle innings. He took the loss, allowing four runs over six innings with eight strikeouts and only one walk.

What Happened:
In the top of the second inning, Creighton struck for three runs off DeVito. The right-hander hit back-to-back batters to begin the inning, and a pair of singles helped put The Hall in an early 3-0 hole.

The Bluejays struck for single runs in the sixth and eighth inning to extend their lead to 5-0. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Santorelli belted a solo home run over the right-center field fence to put The Hall on the scoreboard, but the Pirates weren't able to mount an additional rally.

Inside the Numbers:

Creighton out-hit Seton Hall, 11-to-2. Both teams committed one error.
Santorelli belted a solo home run in the ninth inning, his second of the season.
Shedler-McAvoy singled in the sixth inning to break up a no-hitter.
Reliever Cole Patten (Manasquan, N.J.) allowed only two hits and one unearned run over three innings. He struck out three and walked none.
DeVito took the loss. He allowed four runs over six innings pitched. He struck out eight batters and walked only one.
Seton Hall left three men on base, while Creighton left 10.
Creighton's Mitch Ragan earned the victory. He had a complete game, allowing just one run with seven strikeouts and one walk.

News & Notes:

The Pirates fall to 16-18 overall on the season and 2-2 in the BIG EAST, while Creighton improves to 20-8 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Seton Hall falls to 6-15 all-time against the Bluejays.
Today was the 18th time this season that Seton Hall struck out at least 10 batters.
Santorelli's home run was Seton Hall's 18^th of the season, which matches its total of the 2017 season and surpasses the total of the 2015 & 2016 seasons. The Hall belted 28 home runs last year, its most since the 2007 season.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to tomorrow when it continues its three-game series against BIG EAST foe Creighton at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, N.Y. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.