Pirates Split First Doubleheader Of The Weekend With Xavier

Friday, May 7

Cincinnati, OH

12 p.m.

Seton Hall University

20-15, 13-3

Xavier

17-20, 8-7

Seton Hall

Xavier

Pirates Split First Doubleheader Of The Weekend With Xavier

5/7/2021 6:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Seton Hall takes the first game, 4-1, but drops game two, 6-1

CINCINNATI – The Seton Hall baseball team won its 20th game and a BIG EAST-best 13th conference contest of the season in game one, 4-1, but fell in game two, 6-1, as the Pirates split a doubleheader with Xavier on Friday afternoon.

The Pirates (20-15, 13-4 BIG EAST) and the Musketeers will conclude the series tomorrow with another doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.

Senior Ryan McLinskey (Pearl River, N.Y.) improved to 4-0 on the season with a stellar pitching performance – 6.2 innings, one earned run, three hits allowed and eight strikeouts. Senior Sean Miller (Newton, N.J.) registered his second save of the season. Junior Joe Cinnella (Mahwah, N.J.) only gave up two runs – neither of them earned – and struck out five in the night cap.

Sophomore Jonathan Luders (Lynnfield, Mass.) reached base in four of his seven plate appearances on the day and recorded his first career home run in game two. Senior Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) drove in a pair of runs in game one.

Here's What Happened:

Game One
On the first pitch of the game, senior Jerry Huntzinger (Staten Island, N.Y.) pounded a double into center field, and two batters later the catcher was cashed in on Dana's first hit of the contest, a screaming single to right field. Huntzinger now leads Seton Hall with 30 runs scored.

Xavier would respond in the ensuing half inning however, knotting the game at one run per side. A multi-run fourth inning would jolt the Pirates into a comfortable 4-1 lead in which they would take to the game's conclusion. Shedler-McAvoy's solo home run began the massive inning, which later was followed up by an unearned run scored by sophomore infielder Jonathan Luders (Lynnfield Mass.), and capped off by another single for a score off the bat of Dana, tallying his 96th career RBI.

In one of McLinskey's most efficient outings as a Pirate, he was near-impeccable. The right-hander recorded three innings in which he faced the minimum, and at one point retired 13-consecutive Musketeers spanning from the third inning and into the seventh. With his fourth outing worth five innings or more, McLinskey's season ERA improved to 2.00.

Miller relieved McLinskey in the seventh, taking the mound for an eleventh time. Miller rode a pair of pitches to his third save of 2021, recording the game's final out and closing the door on Xavier.

Game Two

Cinnella registered four strikeouts through the first three innings but the Pirates were unable to push a run across in the top of the fourth where there were two runners on and no one out.

With one out in the home half of the inning, a throwing error that would've been the second out kept the Musketeers alive. The miscue would prove to be costly for Seton Hall as a two-run blast put Xavier ahead 2-0.

The Pirates would respond in the next inning with a home run of their own off the bat of Luders, his second hit of the game from the nine spot in the order. It wouldn't be enough though as a four-run eighth inning for Xavier put the game out of reach.