Seton Hall University
4-5
California Baptist
5-6
Hansen, Viera Pace Pirates In 12-3 Win Over Cal Baptist
3/5/2023 11:37:00 PM | Baseball
Riverside, Calif. - A stellar pitching performance from starter Cole Hansen (Skillman, N.J.) and junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) set the tone with a three-hit game and three runs scored in a balanced effort for the Seton Hall baseball team as the Pirates defeated Cal Baptist, 12-3, on Sunday evening.
Junior Zack Sylvester (Montville, N.J.) and graduate student Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) both had two hits and drove in two runs for the Pirates (4-5). Along with Hansen, who struck out six and allowed only four batters to reach in six innings of work, The Hall got two perfect innings of relief from freshman Michael Gillen (Rochelle Park, N.Y.) and tallied three strikeouts. The two hurlers retired 13 in a row from the final out of the fourth through the eighth inning.
How It Happened
Hansen got into a little bit of trouble in the first inning but worked out of it as the Lancers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. After Hansen worked a clean second inning, Seton Hall manufactured a crooked inning in the top of the third. Redshirt juniors Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.) and Mark McNelly (Limerick, Pa.) got the inning started with back-to-back base hits and both would score on a wild pitch and a Viera single, respectively, putting the Pirates in front, 2-1. Consecutive walks with the bases loaded drawn by Sylvester and Clyde extended the Pirates' lead to 4-1 and Viera went home on a passed ball that made it 5-1 Pirates.
A sacrifice fly from sophomore Michael Callan Moss (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the top of the fifth made it a five-run game, 6-1, and Hansen followed that insurance run up with a shutdown home half of the fifth with two strikeouts. Seton Hall sprinkled six runs across the seventh, eighth and ninth innings that sealed the victory for the Pirates. The seventh featured an RBI triple off the bat of Sylvester and Clyde drove him in on an RBI base knock. Two more runs were scored in the eighth on errors that made it 10-1 and Murray added to the lead with an RBI double before McNelly sent Moss home on a sac fly.
News & Notes
- The win was the 492nd career win for head coach Rob Sheppard.
- Viera set a new career high with three hits on Sunday and its also a single-game team best this season.
- Sylvester now leads the Pirates with 10 hits on the season following his third multi-hit game of the season.
- Following his first career start, Hansen now has a minuscule 0.63 ERA and has allowed only one run in 14.1 innings.
- Gillen has not allowed a hit a run in his two career appearances.
- The Pirates went 4-fo-9 leading off the inning against the Lancers on Sunday.
- Seton Hall did not commit an error while the Pirates took advantage of two Cal Baptist miscues.
Up Next
After an off day tomorrow, Seton Hall will look to even the series on Tuesday when the Pirates wrap up their four-game set with the Lancers at 9 p.m. Eastern. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hansen, Cole (2-0)
L: Seth Mattox (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Murray, Oscar 1
3B: Sylvester, Zack 1
RBI: Viera, Max 1 ; Sylvester, Zack 2 ; Clyde, Alex 2 ; Moss, Michael Callan 1 ; Murray, Oscar 1 ; McNelly, Mark 1
SF: Moss, Michael Callan 1 ; McNelly, Mark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Luders, Jonathan 1 ; Hack, Devin 2 ; D'Amico, Pat 1 ; Viera, Max 3 ; Sylvester, Zack 1 ; Clyde, Alex 1 ; Moss, Michael Callan 1 ; Murray, Oscar 1 ; McNelly, Mark 1
SB: Viera, Max 2
HBP: Luders, Jonathan 1 ; Hack, Devin 1
Batting:
2B: Michael Carpentier 1 ; Ryan Kim 1 ; Josiah Chavez 1
HR: Mitchel Simon 1
RBI: Mitchel Simon 2 ; Jake Skipworth 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marty Munoz 1 ; Ryan Kim 1 ; Mitchel Simon 1
