Seton Hall baseball had the bats going in its 10-5 win over Georgetown Sunday to complete the series sweep as Zach Prendergast took care of business on the mound.
The top of the first went down in order all at the hand of Prendergast strikeouts. Seton Hall came out ready in the bottom of the first and put up two runs on four hits after an Al Molina RBI double and Matt Toke’s triple in the next at-bat.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Seton Hall added another run in the second after Tyler Shedler-McAvoy opened the inning with a triple and was brought in by a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Jackson Martin. Prendergast added two strikeouts in both the second and third inning giving him seven strikeouts in three innings.
“Starting off in the first, I wanted to get ahead with my fastball then work my off-speed off of that and it worked out," Prendergast said. "I was throwing well in the zone and pounding it all the way through."
Georgetown was unable to touch the Seton Hall pitching until the top of the fifth when Eric Garza led off the inning with a single to record the Hoya’s first hit.
Seton Hall didn’t miss a beat, however, putting up another run in the bottom of the third after Molina reached first on a single, and after a few Hoya errors, found himself on third base. He was then brought in by a sacrifice fly to center field.
The sixth inning is what decided the game. After Prendergast retired the side in order, Seton Hall put up five runs in the bottom of the inning. Mike Alescio and Shedler-McAvoy started the inning with two walks, and after a throwing error on a double steal, Alescio was first to come across the plate. Shedler-McAvoy scored on a wild pitch and Molina’s single to center brought in another two runs. Matt Fortin drove in Molina with a double to center and Seton Hall stretched its comfortable lead.
Prendergast lost a little juice in the seventh where he gave up two doubles, a single and a walk which led to Georgetown getting its first run of the day. Ryan Testani came in relief and kept the damage to a minimum by striking out the next two batters. Prendergast ended the day with nine strikeouts.
Seton Hall added another run in the bottom of the seventh when Sebastiano Santorelli had a pinch hit RBI single which brought Alescio in.
Gerogetown made a late push by scoring two runs in each of the final two innings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Seton Hall’s offensive production as the Pirates came away with a 10-5 win and the series sweep.
“We’re going to go in hungry each game. Losing the first two series was kind of tough but this has really helped us bounce back," Fortin said after the game. “We have a nice win streak going here and hopefully we can expand on it.”
Seton Hall will face St. Peter’s on Wednesday in South Orange. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Keith Egan can be reached at keith.egan@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @Keith_egan10.
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