Pirates Fall as Rider Rallies in Shortened Affair

Tuesday, April 9

Lawrenceville, N.J. / Sonny Pittaro Field

3:30 PM

Seton Hall University

13-15

Rider

12-19

Seton Hall

Rider

4/9/2019 6:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Freshman Steve Grober (Hillsborough, N.J.) drove in three runs, and sophomore Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) reached base four times, but Rider rallied from a six-run deficit to defeat the Seton Hall baseball team, 11-8, in a rain-shortened contest on Tuesday.

The Pirates led by as many as six runs entering the bottom of the fourth inning, but Rider bounced back with a single run in the fourth, and big innings of three runs in the fifth and five runs in the seventh. With two outs in the seventh inning, the heavens opened, and drown-out the rest of the game.

Grober led The Hall with three hits, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and a team-best three-RBIs. Dana went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, two doubles, two walks and two runs scored.

What Happened:
Seton Hall got on the scoreboard early in the top of the first inning. After Jerry Huntzinger (Staten Island, N.Y.) walked to lead off the game, Dana launched a ball off the wall in left field for a double. Junior Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) followed with a sacrifice fly to score Huntzinger with the game's first run. After Tyler Sheder-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.) walked, Grober delivered a two-out, two-run single to put The Hall up, 3-0.

After Rider's Mike Ionta hit a two-run home run off Seton Hall starter Brennan O'Neill (Morristown, N.J.) to cut the Pirates lead to 3-2, Seton Hall got a little two-out magic going in the top of the second. All with two outs, The Hall managed to load the bases, and Shedler-McAvoy drilled a two-run single to center field to extend the Pirates' lead to 5-2.

Del Castillo led off the fourth inning with a solo home run, his fifth of the season. Two more runs came in on an RBI single by Grober and a double by Hood that inning to put the Pirates on top, 8-2.

Rider wasn't finished offensively however, striking for runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall out-hit Rider, 13-to-12. The Pirates committed four errors, while Rider made only one.
Grober went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a team-best three RBIs.
Dana reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base, two doubles, two walks and two runs scored.
Hood went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Del Castillo and Toke both reached base three times. Del Castillo had two walks, two runs scored and a home run. Toke had two walks, a sacrifice fly, a single and an RBI.
O'Neill allowed five earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts and no walks in a no decision.
Sophomore Sean Miller (Newton, N.J.) tossed 1.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
Reliever Blake Espinal (Bronx, N.Y.) took the loss. He allowed four runs, only one earned, in two-thirds of an inning.
Seton Hall left 12 men on base, while Rider left six.

News & Notes:

The Pirates fall to 13-15 on the season, while Rider improves to 12-19.
Seton Hall falls to 36-8 all-time against the Broncs and had its seven-game win streak in the series snapped.
The game after the Pirates erased a four-run lead and won for the first time in two years, they held a lead of at least four runs and lost for the first time since falling to Hawaii, 8-6, after leading 5-1 on March 25, 2018.
The first six batters in the Pirates' lineup all reached base at least twice.
Today was the 13th time this season that the Pirates have recorded at least 10 hits.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it plays at another New Jersey non-conference opponent, Princeton. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.