St. John's Takes Series Opener From Pirates, 8-6

Friday, April 14

Queens, N.Y. / Kaiser Stadium

3 p.m.

Seton Hall University

16-16, 0

St. John's

18-13, 0

Seton Hall

St. John's

Alex Nicolosi tosses a pitch against NJIT

4/14/2023 6:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

Queens, N.Y. - The Seton Hall baseball team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning and held a 4-3 lead after the top of the second but St. John's countered with seven runs over the first two innings as the Red Storm powered their way to a game one victory over the Pirates on Friday, 8-6.

The Pirates' bullpen did a good job keeping the Red Storm off the scoreboard as they combined to allow only three hits and one run after the second inning. The effort was led by graduate student Alex Nicolosi (Stony Point, N.Y.), who tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief allowing only one hit and striking out two. Freshman Ryan Reich (Selinsgrove, Pa.) went 2.2 innings without giving up a run.

Offensively for The Hall (16-16, 2-2 BIG EAST), junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) stayed hot by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Graduate student Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) drove in two runs on a base hit.

THE GAME:

Seton Hall jumped on St. John's early as Clyde got the Pirates on the board with a two-run base hit up the middle that scored Viera and redshirt junior Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.). Hack would later drive in Clyde with an RBI single of his own with one out, giving The Hall a 3-0 lead.

St. John's would tie up the score with one swing as a three-run home run made it 3-3. The Pirates would answer in the top of the second as Viera delivered a two-out RBI single that put them back in front, 4-3. The Red Storm did damage in the home half of the second, pushing across four runs that created separation and gave them a 7-4 advantage.

Nicolosi recorded the final outs of the second and blanked St. John's in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Despite his efforts, the Pirates couldn't get over the hump. Redshirt junior Staus Pokrovsky (Pittsgrove, N.J.) roped an RBI double in the seventh that made it 8-5 and an RBI groundout off the bat of sophomore Pat D'Amico (Lynnfield, Mass.) in the ninth trimmed the deficit to two, 8-6, but it was too little too late.

THE NUMBERS:

Both teams tallied eight hits but the Pirates were plagued by two errors.
Seton Hall pitching staff allowed eight runs, six were earned.
Hack stole three bases and the Pirates swiped five bags as a team.
Seton Hall went 5-for-9 leading off an inning.
Pokrovsky went 2-for-5 at the plate, one of two Pirates on the day with multi-hit games.

THE NOTES:

Friday was the 163rd meeting against St. John's and the Red Storm now leads the series, 89-74.
The Hall had previously gone 11 straight games committing one or fewer errors and it went 8-3 in that stretch.
It's Pokrovsky's ninth multiple hit game of the season, which is the fourth-most on the team.
Hack matched his career high with three stolen bases that was set previously this season against Holy Cross on March 18.
Hack is now 10-for-18 through five games in BIG EAST play.

UP NEXT:

Seton Hall will return to action on Saturday, April 15 as it continues its series with St. John's. First pitch of the contest is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.