Coming off a three-game win streak, the Seton Hall Pirates (4-18) looked to keep their momentum going as they hosted the Wagner Seahawks (3-18) at Owen T. Carroll Field on Wednesday. Junior LHP Aaron Groller got the start for Seton Hall, while Wagner sent out junior RHP Ruben Del Castillo.
Seton Hall’s defense came up big to start the game, thanks to junior Jonathan Luders. In the top of the first inning, Luders flied out Wagner senior Dante Faicchio and then threw out sophomore Lukas Torres at first for the double play. Seton Hall’s offense was unable to capitalize, however, and so, the first inning ended with both teams scoreless.
Aaron Groller started the second inning off strong for the Pirates, throwing two consecutive strikeouts to keep the Seahawks off the scoreboard. Then, in the bottom of the second with two runners on basepaths, Wagner’s Ruben Del Castillo threw a wild pitch that scored Seton Hall junior Staus Pokrovsky, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead heading into the 3rd inning.
A pitching battle began to emerge at the top of third when Aaron Groller threw another strikeout, holding down the Pirate’s defense. Ruben Del Castillo responded for Wagner by throwing to consecutive strikeouts, which prevented Seton Hall from finding any offensive momentum. Aaron Groller would later throw his fourth, and final, strikeout of the game at the top of the fourth inning to keep the Pirates in front 1-0.
Wagner then tied the game 1-1 at the top of the fifth inning, thanks to a one out double by freshman AJ Vigliotti that scored junior Griffin Selby. However, Seton Hall answered with a score of their own as redshirt sophomore Will Gale scored on a sacrifice groundout. At this point in the game, Seton Hall lead 2-1 and would not look back.
At the bottom of the seventh inning, freshman Pat D’Amico hit a one out single that scored junior Devin Hack, putting the Pirates in front 3-1. Later in the seventh, junior Staus Pokrovsky hit a homerun, his second of the season, that also scored Pat D’Amico and extended Seton Hall’s lead 5-1.
The final two scores for the Pirates would come at the bottom of the eighth inning when junior Jonathan Luders and redshirt sophomore Will Gale each scored unearned runs to conclude the 7-1 Seton Hall victory.
Not only did Seton Hall’s offense catch fire in Wednesday’s game against Wagner, having scored six unanswered runs after the sixth inning, but they also finished the game with a strong performance by senior RHP Alex Nicolosi, who posted five strikeouts through the final four innings.
With this victory, the Pirates extend their winning streak to four games and improve their overall record to 5-18 on the season. Next up, Seton Hall will host a three-game series against Mercer, starting on April 1 at 4 p.m.
JP Colello can be reached at joseph.colello@student.shu.edu.
