On Tuesday, the Pirate baseball team traveled south down the Garden State Parkway to face in-state rival, Rutgers. The trip was worth it for the Pirates as they downed the Scarlet Knights 9-6.
The scoring started early for the Pirates. Freshman Matt Toke went from first base to home on a simple ground ball to third base, which ended up being a throwing error so wild that it allowed a run to score. Rutgers did not allow this run to go unmatched, with Mike Martinez scoring in the third inning off a wild pitch by Seton Hall starting pitcher Andrew Politi.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Seton Hall’s Matt Dadona scored in the fifth inning because of a fielder’s choice. Rutgers responded in the next half-inning with two one-run singles by Jawuan Harris and Luke Bowerbank, which gave the Scarlet Knights one-run advantage heading into the last third of the game.
The sixth inning was filled with offense for the Pirates. Seton Hall shortstop Al Molina scored on a throwing error. The first three runs for the Pirates on the day were all gained via unearned runs. Catcher Chris Villa hit a critical bases loaded double that scored two runs, and gave the Pirates the lead.
The seventh inning ended up clinching the game for the Pirates. Molina and Toke both hit RBI singles to start the scoring for the Pirates in the inning. Mike Caputo sacrificed himself in order to score Molina. Once again, the Pirates scored on a fielder’s choice, this time scoring Toke.
Seton Hall held a 9-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh. The lead was slightly cut with an RBI single by Tom Marcinczyk. Mike Carter had also had an RBI single, which was his third hit of the day. This last run made the final score 9-6 in favor of Seton Hall.
The winning pitcher for the Pirates was Corey Sawyer, his first win on the season. Noah Thompson got the save for the Pirates. The standout for the Pirates was freshman Toke who had three hits from his cleanup spot in the batting order.
This win improved the Pirates' record to 17-16. Rutgers will get another shot at the Pirates on Wednesday as it will travel to South Orange to complete the second game of the home-and-home series.
Brendan Finnegan can be reached at brendan.finnegan@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @FinnBrend.
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