Pirates Outslug Xavier To Clinch Series

Sunday, April 10

South Orange, N.J.

12 p.m.

Seton Hall University

8-22, 2-1

Xavier

16-17, 1-2

Xavier

Seton Hall

4/10/2022 4:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

South Orange, N.J. — Two big innings offensively and six innings of scoreless relief helped the Seton Hall baseball team clinch its first BIG EAST series of the season on Sunday as the Pirates defeated Xavier, 10-7, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium at Owen T. Carroll Field.

Junior Jonathan Luders (Lynnfield, Mass.) went 3-for-3 and scored three runs, junior Mark McNelly (Limerick, Pa.) drove in three runs on two hits out of the nine spot and junior Staus Pokrovsky (Pittsgrove, N.J.) and senior Steve Grober (Hillsborough, N.J.) had two RBI a piece for the Pirates.

Senior Brennan O'Neill (Morristown, N.J.) struck out four in a three-inning start and senior Alex Nicolosi (Stony Point, N.Y.) fanned three in 1.2 innings of relief. Freshman Daniel Frontera (Red Bank, N.J.) earned his second win out of the bullpen this season and sophomore Zane Probst (Mill Hall, Pa.) picked up his first save of the season.

How It Happened

Xavier jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but the Pirates would later post a crooked number in the home half of the first. Seton Hall had the bases loaded with no one out and Grober at the plate and he drove in the Pirates' first run on an infield single. With one out, Pokrovsky would tie up the score at 2-2 with an infield base hit of his own. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Jedier Hernandez (Trenton, N.J.) and RBI base hits by junior Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.) and McNelly extended the Pirates' lead to 5-2.

Seton Hall tacked on another run in the second inning as senior Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) placed a perfect sac bunt up the first base line that scored Luders from third. The Musketeers would begin to chip away at the lead, though, as they scored five runs from the third through the fifth innings to take a 7-6 lead. Frontera worked a clean sixth inning that set the stage for the Pirates' offense in the home half.

Luders again lead off an inning with a base hit and he would later move to third after a stolen base and a groundout. Grober then put the ball in play and forced the third baseman to throw the ball wide of first, allowing Luders to score easily and tie up the game at 7-7. Pokrovsky drove in the go-ahead run on an RBI single and McNelly added two key insurance runs that made it a 10-7 lead in favor of The Hall.

Frontera retired Xavier in the top of the seventh and Probst came on in the eighth inning and registered the two-inning save.

Inside the Box Score

The Pirates outhit Xavier, 12-7, and didn't commit an error while the Musketeers had two.
Seton Hall had four two-out RBI and three two-out hits.
The Pirates went 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position and 5-for-8 leading off an inning.
The Seton Hall bullpen allowed only four hits in six innings of work.
Luders went 6-for-10 in the series against the Musketeers and has registered multi-hit games in three of his last four games.

Up Next

The Pirates will travel down the Jersey Shore to take on Monmouth on Tuesday, April 12 for a 3 p.m. contest.