Offense Erupts as Pirates Take Series at ETSU, 11-4

Sunday, April 2

Johnson City, Tenn. / Thomas Stadium

11:30 a.m.

Seton Hall University

12-13

East Tennessee State

13-13

Seton Hall

ETSU

Max Viera takes an at bat against Monmouth on March 12

Offense Erupts as Pirates Take Series at ETSU, 11-4

4/2/2023 3:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score BOX SCORE - ETSU3 (.pdf)

Max Viera collected four of the Pirates' season-high 18 hits.

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) had four of the Pirates' season-high 18 hits and the Seton Hall baseball team downed East Tennessee State, 11-4, on Sunday for its fourth win in its last five games.

Seven Pirates had at least two hits and five had two RBIs in a well-rounded offensive team effort. Trailing 2-1, The Hall took the lead for good with a five-run fifth inning.

Viera was again the catalyst for the Pirates, going 4-for-6 with two stolen bases and four runs scored. The Pirates' shortstop is batting .565 over his last five games with two home runs and eight stolen bases.

Graduate student Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Will Gale (Scotch Plains, N.J.), Jedier Hernandez (Trenton, N.J.), Mark McNelly (Limerick, Pa.) and Zack Sylvester (Montville, N.J.) all had two hits and two RBIs. Devin Hack (Somerville, N.J.) also had a pair of hits.

THE GAME:
With two outs in the bottom of the first, ETSU's Cameron Sisernos hit a two-run home run to take an early lead, the team's fifth in the last two games.

In the fourth, the Pirates got on the scoreboard with a little two-out magic. With two down and the bases empty, Clyde, Staus Pokrovsky (Pittsgrove, N.J.) and McNelly hit consecutive singles, the latter of which drove in the Pirates' first run of the contest and cut their deficit in half.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Pirates used their supreme patience at the plate to take the lead. The Hall loaded the bases with no outs, and then three-straight batters earned walks to force in three runs. Clyde's at bat, the middle of the three, went 11 pitches before he earned the free pass. With two outs, and three runs already in, Gale singled to right field, plating two more to give The Hall a 6-2 advantage.

The Pirates added more insurance with a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh on a two-out, two-RBI single from Hernandez. In the ninth, a Sylvester double and a Clyde single up the middle also plated runs.

THE NUMBERS:

Seton Hall improves to 12-13 on the season and wins the series at ETSU, while the Buccaneers fall to 13-13.
The Hall out-hit the Buccaneers, 18-to-7.
ETSU had one error, but the Pirates were errorless.
The Pirates left 16 men on base, while ETSU left six.
Viera went 4-for-6 with two stolen bases and four runs scored.
Clyde reached base four times, going 3-for-5 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBI.
Gale reached base four times, going 2-for-4 with a run scored, two walks and two RBI.
Sylvester reached base four times, going 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, two RBI and two runs scored.
Hernandez was 2-for-5 with a walk and two RBI.
McNelly was 2-for-5 with a walk and two RBI.
Hack was 2-for-6 with a double.
Graduate student Alex Nicolosi (Stony Brook, N.Y.) earned the victory in relief with three hitless innings. He struck out three and walked only one. He's now 2-1 on the season.
Freshman Anthony Ehly (Glenside, Pa.) tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing only two hits.

THE NOTES:

The Hall's 18 hits today are a season-high.
Seton Hall belted out 42 hits during its three-game series at East Tennessee State and saw its team batting average rise to a season-high .278.
The Hall gets its first road series victory of the season and its first since sweeping Villanova on the road during the 2021 campaign.
It's the 19^th time this year that The Hall has committed one or fewer errors.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action on Wednesday, April 5 when it makes the short trip to Princeton. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.