The Seton Hall baseball team improved to 12-13 on Tuesday after beating Rider University, 9-2, at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Senior shortstop Giuseppe Papaccio had three hits, two runs, two RBI and a walk from the cleanup spot in the order.
"I felt really good in batting practice today," Papaccio said. "I felt really relaxed and was seeing the ball well today and so I was able to put some good swings on the ball."
Senior outfielder Scott Kalamar also had three hits on the day to go along with three runs, two stolen bases and an RBI.
Freshman right-hander Sam Burum (3-0) gave another strong performance for Seton Hall, holding the Broncs to only two runs through five innings, scattering only three hits. Burum worked quickly and got ahead of batters which led to quick innings and zero walks.
"He's done a great job of coming in and having an impact on the team right away," head coach Rob Sheppard said. "He's definitely given us some quality starts and today is just another example of one."
The Pirates jumped on Broncs freshman right-hander Vincenzo Aiello early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. After recording the first two outs, Aiello surrendered four consecutive base hits to Kalamar, Papaccio, Mike Genovese and Kyle Grimm. Genovese would score the third and final run of the inning on Grimm's stolen base.
Seton Hall continued to rally in the bottom half of the second inning with an RBI single by Kalamar and a two-run triple in the left field gap by Papaccio. The Pirates went up 7-0 after Genovese brought in Papaccio with a soft ground out to first base.
"Anytime we can get a lead early is important," Sheppard said. "That's one thing that we have to do a better job of offensively, and we did it today."
The Broncs (13-11) responded in the top of the third inning with two runs of their own to cut the lead to 7-2. Leadoff batter Ian Lindsay ripped a triple into the right center gap to score one and was later brought home by a ground out by Eric Strano.
The Pirates were able to tack on a run in the fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead. Kalamar reached on his third single of the day and after a stolen base and an error was able to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Genovese.
Seton Hall pitchers Connor Krauss, Rick Mangione and Brian Gilbert relieved Burum and effectively kept the Broncs off the scoreboard. Freshman Zack Weigel and junior Dillon Hamlin each reached base three times for the Pirates.
The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday when they will host Princeton at 4 p.m.
Mike Romano can be reached at Michael.romano1@student.shu.edu.
