The Seton Hall Pirates baseball team fell to the Connecticut Huskies 4-0 on Sunday at Owen T. Carroll Field in the rubber match of the three-game series.
After a 2-1 victory on the previous day, the Pirates were looking to win the season series against the Huskies. Shane McCarthy took the mound for the Hall, facing off against UConn’s Mason Feole.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Both starters dominated through the first four innings. Feole held the Pirates to just one hit while striking out six, and McCarthy also allowed only one hit while striking out four. However, both pitchers experienced some difficulties in the middle innings.
With Ryan Ramiz on first and two outs, Feole gave up back-to-back walks to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth. After a lengthy at-bat, Feole managed to strike out Matt Fortin and escape the inning unscathed. Despite pitching well through the first five innings, Feole’s pitch count entered the triple digits and he was forced out of the game.
McCarthy faced a similar roadblock in the following half-inning. Chris Winkel and Anthony Prato led off the top of the sixth with back-to-back singles, and Prato was able to advance to second base on a wild pitch. With runners on second and third and nobody out, UConn’s Willy Yahn drove a double down the left field line, bringing in two runs for the Huskies. Zac Susi followed with a RBI single to center field, extending Connecticut’s lead to 3-0.
Seton Hall had another opportunity in the bottom of the sixth. After Matt Toke, Joe Poduslenko and Mikael-Ali Mogues drew consecutive walks, the Pirates were in prime position to tie the game up with the bases loaded and no outs. The Huskies brought in the right-hander Ryan Radue, who induced a Mike Caputo pop out before notching back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
The Huskies were able to tack on another run in the top of the eighth. After walking two batters and allowing a single, Zach Schellenger was faced with the bases loaded and nobody out. Tyler Gnesda hit into a double play but was able to bring in Yahn in the process. The Pirates failed to strike back in the eighth and ninth innings, and the Huskies secured a 4-0 victory to win the series.
The Pirates drop to 11-10 on the season, while the Huskies improve to 12-9. The Pirates return to action on Tuesday, March 28 when they travel to New Rochelle, N.Y. to face Iona. First pitch is expected to be at 3:30 p.m.
Matt Lapolla can be reached at matthew.lapolla@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @MatthewLapolla.
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