The Seton Hall Pirates reached double-digit wins on the year, as they defeated the St. Peter’s Peacocks, 4-3, on Wednesday, March 26 at Mike Sheppard Sr. Stadium.
The Pirates suffered a 13-12 loss in a slugfest against the Hofstra Pride on March 25, while their opponents, St. Peter’s, were coming off a series win against Canisius.
Despite hitting off Pirates starting pitcher Alex D’Ambrosio, St. Peter’s couldn’t score in the first three innings of the game. The Pirates also struggled to score, as they only got one hit in that same time.
Both teams scored their first runs of the game in the same inning, and in the same fashion, as throwing errors from Seton Hall third baseman Joey Calabretti and Peacocks third baseman Logan Baker allowed both teams to score in the fourth inning.
Seton Hall would capitalize on their newfound offensive momentum with an RBI triple from sophomore center fielder AJ Soldra and an RBI groundout from senior catcher Jimmy Brennan to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead through five innings.
In the meantime, Seton Hall reliever Jordan Marot carved through the Peacock lineup with ease, striking out three hitters while only allowing one baserunner on a dropped third strike through three innings of play.
Fortunately for the Peacocks, they started the eighth inning with two hits from junior left fielder Tommy Kendrick and senior catcher Ashby Vining. Graduate right fielder Tyler DeClus followed with a fielder's choice to cut the deficit to one run. As a result, Seton took Marot out of the game, replacing him with sophomore right-handed pitcher Connor Byrne. A pinch hit sacrifice fly from St. Peter’s senior first baseman Tyler Smith would tie the game two batters later, with the Peacocks rejuvenated.
After a fly out from sophomore right fielder Aiden Robbins, sophomore designated hitter Kevin Milewski got hit by a pitch. Freshman left fielder Magnus Krieger was clutch with a single to advance freshman pinch runner Aiden Dill. Graduate first baseman Marco Ali followed with a sacrifice bunt to score Dill and help the Pirates retake the lead.
Byrne prevented the Pirates from having to bat in the bottom of the ninth, as he struck three batters in a row, and secured the win for himself, as well as for Seton Hall.
Seton Hall is currently 11–17 overall after facing Marist in a three-game series from March 28 to March 30. They will face Princeton at the Mike Sheppard Sr. Stadium on Wednesday, April 2 at 4 p.m.
John Misiewicz writes for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at john.misiewicz@student.shu.edu.
