Pirates Rally Twice to Edge Princeton, 12-10

Wednesday, April 5

Princeton, N.J. / Clarke Field

3 p.m.

Seton Hall University

12-14

Princeton

10-14

Seton Hall

Princeton

4/5/2023 6:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score BOX SCORE - PRIN (.pdf)

A five-run eighth inning provided the difference and the Pirates have now won five their last six games.

PRINCETON, N.J. – Playing in his first game since March 9, junior Jonathan Luders (Lynnfield, Mass.) reached base four times and the Pirates scored five times in the eighth to rally for a 12-10 victory at Princeton on Wednesday.

The Pirates rallied from sizeable deficits twice, coming back from a 6-2 deficit to take a 7-6 lead. Then, down 9-7, the Pirates erupted for a five-run eighth inning. An RBI single by Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) cut the deficit in half, and Mark McNelly (Limerick, Pa.) delivered the clutch go-ahead RBIs with a single up the middle to give The Hall a 10-9 lead. Luders followed with a two-run single to give the Pirates some insurance.

Luders reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, two runs scored and three RBIs. Viera continued his impressive spring, going 2-for-6 with a double and three RBIs. McNelly and Will Gale (Scotch Plains, N.J.) also had a pair of hits.

MARK MCNELLY DELIVERS WITH TWO OUTS!! A TWO-RUN DOUBLE TO GIVE THE HALL A 10-9 LEAD!!#HALLin #NeverLoseYourHustle pic.twitter.com/AW1y9PhPfg
— Seton Hall University Baseball (@SHUBaseball) April 5, 2023

THE GAME:
In the third inning, Luders and Devin Hack (Somerville, N.J.) were hit by a pitch to start the inning. Although Gale struck out, both runners stole to put two in scoring position. With two down, Viera lifted a double over the head of the Tiger right fielder to give The Hall a 2-0 lead.

The lead, however, was short-lived as Princeton struck for four runs in the bottom of the inning. After the Tigers cut The Hall's lead in half, reliever Aaron Groller (Harleysville, Pa.) gave up a three-run home run to give Princeton a 4-2 advantage. In the fifth, Princeton's Kyle Vinci connected on his Ivy League-leading 11^th home run to give the Tigers a 6-2 lead.

In the top of the sixth, the Tigers lost the strike zone and the Pirates took advantage, loading the bases with no outs. After Luders drew a bases-loaded walk, Hack delivered a sacrifice fly to cut The Hall's deficit to 6-4. Gale singled hard to center to drive in another run, and Luders came home on a wild pitch to tie the score at six! Staus Pokrovsky (Pittsgrove, N.J.) then gave The Hall the lead with a hard RBI single to left.

Freshman Anthony Ehly (Glenside, Pa.) inherited the bases loaded with no outs and managed to only allow a single run in the sixth, but in the seventh, Vinci belted his second dinger of the game to give the Tigers a 9-7 lead.

In the eighth, Viera struck again with an RBI single to cut The Hall's deficit to 9-8. With the bases loaded and two outs, McNelly belted a hard single up the middle to score two and once again give The Hall the lead, 10-9. Luders sent the next pitch to center field to score two more and give the Pirates a 12-9 advantage.

POKROVSKY WITH THE RBI SINGLE!! FIVE RUNS HAVE SCORED IN THE SIXTH!! THE PIRATES TAKE A 7-6 LEAD!!#HALLin #NeverLoseYourHustle
ESPN+ Link pic.twitter.com/AqtxS7FhBB
— Seton Hall University Baseball (@SHUBaseball) April 5, 2023

THE NUMBERS:

The Tigers out-hit the Pirates, 13-to-11.
Princeton had three errors, while the Pirates committed just one.
Seton Hall left nine runners on base, while Princeton left eight.
Luders reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Viera was 2-for-6 with a double, a run scored and three RBI.
Gale was 2-for-5 with an RBI, two stolen bases and two runs scored.
McNelly was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI.
Junior Dom DiRado (Vestal, N.Y.) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief.
Freshman Michael Gillen (Rochelle Park, N.J.) picked up his second save of the season by pitching the final 1.2 innings and allowing just one run.

THE NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 13-13 on the season, while Princeton falls to 10-14.
The Hall improves to 33-9-1 all-time against the Tigers.
It's the 20^th time this year that The Hall has committed one or fewer errors.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow, Thursday, April 6 when it opens BIG EAST play against Georgetown at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.

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Next Event

Georgetown

W, 9-4

Apr 6 (Thu)

12 p.m.

Box Score Recap BOX SCORE - GU (.pdf)Live stats History

Full Schedule

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: DiRado, Dom (1-1)

L: J. Faulkner (1-1)

S: Gillen, Michael (2)

Seton Hall

Batting:

2B: Viera, Max 1 ; Clyde, Alex 1

RBI: Gale, Will 1 ; Pokrovsky, Staus 1 ; Viera, Max 3 ; McNelly, Mark 2 ; Luders, Jonathan 3 ; Hack, Devin 1

SF: Hack, Devin 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Gale, Will 2 ; Viera, Max 1 ; Hernandez, Jedier 1 ; Clyde, Alex 2 ; Moss, Michael Callan 1 ; Murray, Oscar 1 ; McNelly, Mark 1 ; Luders, Jonathan 2 ; Hack, Devin 1