Pirates Can't Overcome Miscues Against Xavier, 6-5
5/24/2023 10:59:00 PM | Baseball
Mason, Ohio - Seton Hall pitching allowed only one earned run on Wednesday evening but Xavier took advantage of miscues by the Pirates to win the ballgame, 6-5, in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship at Prasco Park.
Senior Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.) went 2-for-5 will a solo home run that led off the game and sophomore Jedier Hernandez went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Sophomore Pat D'Amico (Lynnfield, Mass.) hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning that made it a one-run game. Graduate student Nick Payero (Monroe, N.J.) allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings of work.
The Pirates will now face fourth-seeded Georgetown in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.
THE GAME:
Leading off the top of the first inning, Murray clubbed a 1-1 pitch over the center field wall that gave Seton Hall an early 1-0 lead. Xavier responded in the home half as a Pirate error let the runner score from second base as the Musketeers tied up the game at 1-1.
After the Musketeers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third on an RBI single, it was the Pirates' turn to answer. With one out and Hack standing at second base, Hernandez went the opposite way with an outside pitch and stroked a double to the right field corner that scored Hack easily and tied the score up at 2-2.
Xavier scratched two runs across in the fifth inning to jump back in front, 4-2. Junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) led off the top the of the sixth with a triple and was driven in by redshirt junior Staus Pokrovsky (Pittsgrove, N.J.) on a sacrifice fly that trimmed the Seton Hall deficit to one, 4-3. The Musketeers loaded the bases with one out in the home half of the sixth but graduate student Alex Nicolosi came on in relief to record the final two outs. He also put a zero up in the seventh after working around baserunners.
The bottom of the eighth saw two more runs for the Musketeers come across and both were unearned, making it 6-3 Xavier. Hernandez's third hit of the game came with one out in the ninth and D'Amico drove him in on his fourth home run of the season that made it a one-run game, 6-5. Despite the rally, two strong defensive plays by the Xavier infield for the final two outs sealed the victory.
NEWS & NOTES
- The loss snaps Seton Hall's six-game win streak.
- The Pirates are now 20-13 on the season when they score first.
- Seton Hall drops to 37-47 at the BIG EAST Championship.
- D'Amico now has four home runs on the season and five home runs in his career.
- It was D'Amico's first home run since March 26 at Fordham.
- Murray has six home runs on the season and eight round trippers in his Seton Hall career.
- Murray has now reached base in 31 consecutive games
- Hernandez now has two three-hit games this season and 14 overall multi-hit performances.
- Payero had three strikeouts on Wednesday, giving him a team-best 62 strikeouts on the season.
