Bats Show, But Pirates Fall Late

Thursday, May 23

Mason, Ohio / Prasco Park

2:30 pm

Seton Hall University

25-27

#1 Creighton

36-11

Seton Hall

Creighton

5/23/2019 8:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

MASON, OHIO – Five Pirates collected two hits, but the Seton Hall baseball team dropped the opening round of the 2019 BIG EAST Championship on Thursday as Creighton scored six times in the final two innings, including three in the bottom of the ninth.

Seton Hall had an 8-4 lead with one out in the top of the eighth inning when a 58-minute lightning delay halted the game. Once the game resumed, the Pirates' momentum was lost.

Offensively, the Pirates erupted for nine runs on 13 hits. Five Pirates had multiple hits, Jerry Huntzinger (Staten Island, N.Y.), Christian Del Castillo (Miami, Fla.), Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.), Connor Hood (Shrewsbury, Pa.) and Steve Grober (Hillsborough, N.J.). Grober also had a triple and a team-high three RBIs.

Seton Hall starter Ricky DeVito (Staten Island, N.Y.) had a no decision for the Pirates. He allowed three earned runs over six innings with seven strikeouts and five walks. Three Seton Hall relievers combined to allow six runs over the final 2.1 innings.

E6 | DeVito keeps Creighton off the scoreboard with two strikeouts in the sixth. Pirates take an 8-4 lead to the seventh.#HALLin pic.twitter.com/YZzT4LwfqU
— Seton Hall Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 23, 2019

What Happened:
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the second, the Pirates erupted for three runs on four hits. With runners on first and second, Grober tripled down the left field line to clear the bases. Senior Chris Villa (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed with a sacrifice fly to put The Hall up, 4-2. The Bluejays again bounced back in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs with two outs to tie the game at four.

In the fourth inning, Hood reached on a bunt single, and stole second base. Grober followed by driving in his third run of the game with a single to center field to put The Hall back on top, 5-4. The Pirates added more insurance in the fifth inning when Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.) launched an opposite field two-run home run to give them a 7-4 advantage. Del Castillo sent a double to the wall in right field to drive in Villa in the sixth inning and extend Seton Hall's lead to 8-4.

IT'S GONE, GOODBYE!!! MATT TOKE GOES OPPO-TACO!! Pirates now lead, 7-4!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/bKw9VhnI4F
— Seton Hall Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 23, 2019

Creighton struck for three runs off the Pirates' bullpen in the bottom of the eighth on home runs by David Vilches and Parker Upton to cut The Hall's lead to 8-7.

The Pirates got an important insurance run in the top of the ninth when Del Castillo reached third on a double and an error. A wild pitch enabled him to score Seton Hall's ninth run.

In the bottom of the ninth, reliever Hunter Waldis (Far Hills, N.J.) inherited runners on first and second with one out. Waldis got the second out on a pop up, but a wild pitch put the tying runs in scoring position. Creighton's Jared Wegner singled up the middle to score both runners and tie the game at nine. After Wegner stole second base, he scored the winning run on an error by Toke at first base on a grounder by Will Hanafan.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall out-hit Creighton, 13-to-11. Both teams committed one error.
Grober went 2-for-4 with a triple and a team-high three RBIs.
Del Castillo reached base three times, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, a walk and an RBI.
Huntzinger reached base three-times, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, a run scored and a sacrifice bunt.
Santorelli went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored.
Hood went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
Toke had a two-run home run.
DeVito allowed three earned runs over six innings with seven strikeouts and five walks in a no decision.
Waldis took the loss for Seton Hall. He allowed one unearned run in 0.1 inning.
Seton Hall left six men on base, while the Bluejays left nine.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall falls to 25-27 on the season, while Creighton improves to 36-11.
Seton Hall falls to 6-18 all-time against the Bluejays.
With the loss, Seton Hall drops to 37-43 all-time in BIG EAST Championship play.
Seton Hall falls to 11-15 in first round games of the BIG EAST Championship, and has now lost five straight games to open the tournament.
The game was delayed fifty-eight minutes due to lightning in the area with the Pirates leading 8-4 with one out in the top of the eighth inning.
Seton Hall started the same lineup for its 10^th straight game today. The Pirates are 5-5 during those games.
With a single today, Shedler-McAvoy has now hit safely in 21 of the last 22 games.
Seton Hall falls to 24-8 when scoring at least five runs in a game.
Today was the 25^th time this season that Seton Hall struck out at least 10 batters.
Today was the 21^st time this season that the Pirates have recorded at least 10 hits.
With 10 strikeouts today, Seton Hall now has 477 for the season, which is the second-most in program history. Only the 1987 Pirates with 497 strikeouts had more. Seton Hall has recorded at least 400 strikeouts nine times in its history, including the last four seasons.
Toke's home run is his fourth of the season, which is a new season-high.
Toke's ninth inning error was his first of the season, and this first since his freshman year. He entered the tournament with the defensive chances (379) of any BIG EAST player without an error.
Today was the third time this season that Seton Hall has lost despite holding a lead of at least four runs at any time during the game.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to action on Friday, May 24 when it continues play at the 2019 BIG EAST Championship at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. The fourth-seeded Pirates will take on second-seeded Xavier in an elimination game at 2:30 pm. The losing team will be eliminated from the tournament. The game will be streamed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.