Spirited Pirates Rally to "Win One for Shep"

Sunday, April 7

Plymouth Meeting, Pa. / Ballpark at Plymouth

1:00 PM

Seton Hall University

13-14, 2-1

Villanova

7-22, 1-2

Seton Hall

Villanova

4/7/2019 6:10:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA. – Sophomore Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) had three hits, including a leadoff double in the 10^th inning, and the Pirate bullpen held Villanova scoreless over the remaining six innings as the Seton Hall baseball team rallied to outlast Villanova, 7-5, in 10 innings on Sunday.

Seton Hall found itself in a 5-0 hole after three innings, but scored seven unanswered to win the game, and its first BIG EAST Conference series of the season. The thrilling comeback happened just a day after long-time Seton Hall head coach Mike Sheppard, Sr., father of current head coach Rob Sheppard, passed away.

Dana led the Pirates offense, reaching base four times. The Pirate third baseman went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, a double, an RBI and a hit-by-pitch.

The Pirate bullpen, Tyler Burnham (East Brunswick, N.J.) and Corey Sawyer (Kearny, N.J.), limited the Wildcats to only two hits and no runs over the last seven innings. Burnham tossed 4.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one walk. Sawyer picked up the victory and was nearly perfect, not allowing a run or a hit over the final three innings, and striking out five.

Dana nearly gave The Hall the lead off the bat as his leadoff double found the wall in left-center field. Christian Del Castillo's (Miami, Fla.) sacrifice bunt moved him to third, and he scored on an RBI groundout by Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.). Freshman Steve Grober (Hillsborough, N.J.) added the insurance with a towering triple to right fielder to put The Hall up, 7-5.

What Happened:
Junior Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas) was dominant through the first two innings, retiring all six batters with four strikeouts, but it all unraveled in the bottom of the third. Villanova struck for five runs on three hits, three walks and a hit-batter. Burnham was able to get the final out of the inning, but allowed two inherited runners to score before doing so. When the smoke cleared, The Hall found itself in a 5-0 hole.

The Pirates finally got on in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Dana singled home Connor Hood (Shrewsbury, Pa.) to knock in Seton Hall's first run, but the Pirates were prevented further offense, stranding a runner at third base.

In the top of the seventh the Pirates offense roared awake. They sent 10 men to the plate and scored four runs on four hits to tie the game at five. With one out and the bases loaded, Toke delivered a hard, two-RBI single to right field to cut the Villanova lead in half, 5-3. Junior Mike Esposito (Chester, N.J.) put down a perfect squeeze bunt and Villanova had no play at home or first place. The Hall's deficit was cut to one, 5-4. Freshman Grober then reached on an error by Villanova's third baseman, which also scored Toke with the game-tying run.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall had 12 hits, while Villanova had five. The Pirates committed two errors, while the Wildcats had five.
Dana reached base four times, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, a double, a hit-by-pitch and an RBI.
Toke reached base three times, going 2-for-5 with a team-best three RBIs, a walk and two runs scored.
Sawyer was nearly perfect pitching to only 10 batters over three scoreless and hitless innings. He struck out five and walked none to earn the victory.
Burnham allowed only three hits over 4.1 scoreless innings of relief. He struck out four and walked only one.
Seton Hall left 15 men on base, while the Wildcats left six.
Villanova's Zach Lutner took the loss. He allowed two runs over two innings.

News & Notes:

The Pirates improve to 13-14 overall and 2-1 in the BIG EAST, while Villanova falls to 7-22 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Seton Hall improves to 89-44 all-time against the Wildcats and has won 11 of the last 12 games in the series.
Toke's second inning single was the 100^th hit of his career. Today is also his 100^th career game.
Today was the 12^th time this season that the Pirates have recorded at least 10 hits.
Today is the first time Seton Hall has won a game after trailing by four runs or more since defeating Rutgers on April 19, 2017. They trailed, 4-0, that day and won 10-9.
Today was the 15^th time this season that Seton Hall struck out at least 10 batters.
Seton Hall improves to 14-0 when leading after seven innings.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to action when it travels to Lawrenceville, N.J. for a midweek contest at Rider on Tuesday, April 9. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.