The Pirates wrapped up their annual Strike Out Cancer Tournament on Sunday with an 11-5 victory over University of Massachusetts.
The Pirates' offense was led by an impressive performance by junior Zack Granite, who went 4-4 with a career-high five steals in the game. He was later named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after tallying eight stolen bases supported by a .556 batting average over the course of the three days.
It took a group effort; however, for the Pirates to take down the Minutemen. The team recorded 12 stolen bases in the game.
UMass got off to a hot start in the game, bringing in four runs in the top of the first inning off of Seton Hall's Sam Burum. The Pirates bounced back in their first plate appearances with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first.
Granite led off with a single, and then later stole his first bag of the afternoon. Followed by a Chris Selden walk, Giuseppe Papaccio singled up the middle to score the team's first two runs. With two gone, Alex Falconi singled home Papaccio, and Mike Genovese brought in Falconi with an RBI single, tying the game at four runs apiece.
The two clubs remained tied until the bottom of the fourth inning when Granite singled home Ryan Sullivan for the go-ahead run.
Leading 5-4, Papaccio led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a triple. He later scored on a wild pitch. Sal Annunziata followed up, belting his third home run of the season to extend Seton Hall's lead to 7-4.
The Pirates put the game away in the bottom of the seventh where Scott Kalamar was able to extend his on-base streak to 16 consecutive games. His two-run single brought the score to 11-4.
After the rocky first inning, Sam Burum settled down to get the win for the Pirates. The freshman followed up his rough first inning with five innings without giving up an earned run.
The Hall will return to action on Wednesday when they play Saint Peter's. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
David Heim can be reached at David.Heim@student.shu.edu.
