Payero Shines as Sheppard Collects 500th Win

Friday, March 31

Johnson City, Tenn. / Thomas Stadium

5 p.m.

Seton Hall University

11-12

East Tennessee State

12-12

Seton Hall

ETSU

3/31/2023 8:13:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score BOX SCORE - ETSU1 (.pdf)

The Hall edges East Tennessee State, 3-2, as Payero allows only one run over seven innings.

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Graduate student Nick Payero (Monroe, N.J.) allowed only one run over seven sparkling innings as the Seton Hall baseball team edged East Tennessee State, 3-2, on Friday. The victory is the 500^th in the career for Seton Hall Head Coach Rob Sheppard.

Sheppard joins only his father, Mike Sheppard, Sr., as 500-game winners in Seton Hall baseball history.

Payero scattered six hits and allowed only one run in seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth. Junior Jay Allmer (Cary, N.C.) entered in relief and was able to navigate both the eighth and the ninth to earn his first save.

Junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) again spearheaded the Pirates' offense, going 3-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and two stolen bases. Will Gale (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) had two hits apiece.

How It Happened:
The Hall got on the scoreboard first in the top of the fourth. Viera led off with a triple to right-center field, and scored on a wild pitch.

While Payero was routinely putting up zeros in the bottom half of innings, the Pirates added to their lead in the top of the fifth. With one out, Gale tripled to left-center field, and beat the throw home on a squeeze bunt by Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.). After a ground out advanced Murray to second base, Viera struck again with a single up the middle to score Murray and give The Hall a 3-0 lead.

Payero was cruising until running into trouble in the eighth as the first two ETSU batters singled. Allmer entered in relief and allowed a sacrifice fly to plate the Buccaneers first run, but induced an inning-ending double play to limit the damage. In the ninth, Allmer allowed a run, but stranded the tying run at second.

Like father, like son... Congratulations to Seton Hall Baseball Head Coach Rob Sheppard on 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ wins!!#HALLin | #NeverLoseYourHustle | @BIGEAST | @NCAABaseball 🏴‍☠️⚾⚪🔵 pic.twitter.com/LAGA2QrMsY
— Seton Hall University Baseball (@SHUBaseball) March 31, 2023

Numbers & Notes:

Today's victory is the 500^th in the career of Seton Hall Head Coach Rob Sheppard.
Seton Hall improves to 11-12 on the season and has now won three straight, while ETSU drops to 12-12.
The Pirates out-hit the Buccaneers, 8-to-7.
Seton Hall committed one error, while ETSU was errorless.
The Hall left seven men on base, while ETSU left five.
Payero earned the victory after allowing only one run on six hits over seven innings. He struck out one batter and didn't walk any.
Allmer earned his first save with two innings of one-run relief.
Viera went 3-for-4 with a triple, a run scored, an RBI and two stolen bases.
Gale was 2-for-5 with a triple, a run scored and two stolen bases.
Clyde went 2-for-4 with a double.
Viera is batting .435 over his last five games and is 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts.
The Hall has recorded a save in its last three games after collecting only two saves over its first 20.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it continues its three-game series at East Tennessee State in Johnson City, Tenn. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.