Seton Hall University
28-22, 10-8
Creighton
23-22, 9-9
Pirates Handle Creighton To Complete Sweep, 11-6
5/14/2023 8:26:00 PM | Baseball
South Orange, N.J. -Â Seton Hall completed its first-ever sweep of Creighton on Sunday with an emphatic 11-6 win at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium.
Redshirt junior Will Gale (Scotch Plains, N.J.) hit a two-run home run and junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) put the game out of reach with a sixth-inning grand slam. Sophomore Jedier Hernandez (Trenton, N.J.) drove in a pair of runs. The Pirates (28-22, 10-8 BIG EAST) once again saw a strong starting pitching performance, this time from sophomore Cole Hansen (Skillman, N.J.) who struck out a career-high seven batters in six innings.
Seton Hall moves ahead of Creighton and into sole possession of third place in the BIG EAST standings with the victory. With UConn and Xavier having already clinched spots in the BIG EAST Tournament, the Pirates are in control of their own destiny to return to the conference tournament.
THE GAME:
Creighton jumped ahead in the top of the second on an RBI double but the Pirates responded immediately in the home half. Sophomore Jedier Hernandez (Trenton, N.J.) got the scoring started with a run-scoring single and junior Zack Sylvester (Montville, N.J.) drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. With Hernandez at first base and two outs, Gale turned on a 1-1 pitch that hit off the parking deck in left, putting The Hall out in front by three, 4-1.
Hansen sat down the side in order in the top of the third inning but the Bluejays inched closer in the fourth with a two-run home run that cut their deficit to one, 4-3. Seton Hall answered once again in the bottom half as Hernandez drove in his second run of the game on a sac fly that made it 5-3 Pirates.
Following another one-two-three inning for Hansen, Seton Hall broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, senior Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.) knocked a single to right field that score Sylvester all the way from second base. After redshirt Junior Jonathan Luders (Lynnfield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, graduate student Alex Clyde (Old Tappan, N.J.) made it a 7-3 Seton Hall lead with an RBI single. Viera was the next batter he took the first pitch he saw to the top of the parking deck as his grand slam extended the Pirates' lead to 11-3.
NEWS & NOTES
- The Pirates went 15-7 at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium this season, its most home victories in a season since winning 19 home games in 2014.
- 28 wins for the Pirates are their most victories since winning 30 games in 2018.
- Viera has scored 41 runs and driven in 43 this season, becoming the first Pirate to register at least 40 runs and 40 RBI since Giuseppe Papaccio (43 R, 53 RBI) and Scott Kalamar (43 R, 43 RBI) both accomplished the feat in 2013.
- Viera now has three four-RBI games and nine multi-RBI games this season.
- Gale's home run was the second of the season and the second of his career.
- Redshirt junior Devin Hack (Somerville, N.J.) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and has 18 multi-hit games this season.
- Hack is now hitting .457 (32-for-70) against BIG EAST teams this season.
- Clyde now has a team-best 20 multi-hit games.
- Murray went 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
- Seton Hall pitching had a 2.33 ERA and a .185 opponent's batting average while striking out 27 batters over three games against Creighton.
- Freshman Michael Gillen (Rochelle Park, N.J.) tossed a scoreless seventh inning and has not allowed a run in seven appearances and 9.2 innings pitched against BIG EAST competition.
UP NEXT:
Seton Hall wraps up the regular season next weekend with a three-game series at Villanova.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hansen, Cole (4-1)
L: Justin Kleinsorge (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Sterling Hayes 1 ; Colby Canales 1
HR: Jack Grace 1 ; Colby Canales 1
RBI: Jack Grace 3 ; Colby Canales 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Tyler Lozano 1 ; Sterling Hayes 2 ; Jack Grace 2 ; Colby Canales 1
Batting:
3B: Hack, Devin 1
HR: Viera, Max 1 ; Gale, Will 1
RBI: Murray, Oscar 1 ; Clyde, Alex 1 ; Viera, Max 4 ; Hernandez, Jedier 2 ; Sylvester, Zack 1 ; Gale, Will 2
SH: Hernandez, Jedier 1
SF: Hernandez, Jedier 1 ; Sylvester, Zack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murray, Oscar 1 ; Luders, Jonathan 1 ; Clyde, Alex 1 ; Viera, Max 1 ; Pokrovsky, Staus 1 ; Hack, Devin 2 ; Hernandez, Jedier 1 ; Sylvester, Zack 1 ; Gale, Will 2
CS: Viera, Max 1 ; Hack, Devin 1
HBP: Luders, Jonathan 2 ; Sylvester, Zack 1
