To say that Seton Hall’s offense erupted against Princeton on Wednesday evening would be an understatement.
The Pirates’ bats ran riot against the Tigers, highlighted by home runs from freshman Casey Dana and senior Mike Alescio. All told, Seton Hall batted through the entire order in three separate innings and put an impressive 36 runners on base on its way to a 28-8 victory in Princeton, N.J.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Four Pirates reached base at least four times on Wednesday, led by Alescio. The Pirates’ right-fielder reached base in all five at-bats, before being replaced in the bottom of the sixth. He walked four times in addition to his homer, scoring twice and accounting for three RBI.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, the visiting Pirates at first fell behind in the first inning. Seton Hall starting pitcher Tyler Burnham struggled to find the strike zone early on, allowing two walks and a hit-by-pitch in a three-run first inning for Princeton.
The Pirates, however, quickly tore that script up and made short work of the early deficit. Ryan Ramiz had a two-RBI double, Dana sent a fastball well over the left-field fence, and the Hall rode its momentum to nine runs on seven hits in the second inning alone.
Once they heated up, the Pirates’ bats stayed hot all evening. The onslaught continued with seven more runs in the next two innings, before five Tiger runs to end the fourth inning that made for a 16-8 Seton Hall advantage.
Alescio homered to left field to extend the lead in the sixth, and Jerry Huntzinger had a two-RBI single in the seventh.
The eighth inning, which proved to be the last of the game due to darkness, witnessed the Pirates bat around the order for the third time of the day. Seton Hall loaded the bases before Connor Hood and Thomas Holdorf drew run-scoring walks. Sebastiano Santorelli, who went 3-for-6 and finished a home run shy of the cycle, then launched a two-run double into left field.
Santorelli reached home himself on another double, this time a liner down the left-field line, off the bat of Nick Dabrio. Dabrio then scored the Pirates’ 28th and final run of the day, driven in by Chris Talbott, to end Wednesday’s scoring, 36 combined runs later.
The victory brings the Pirates back to .500 on the season at 12-12-1, while the Tigers were pegged back to 7-14. Wednesday’s big win comes at the perfect time for Seton Hall, as the Pirates begin their Big East campaign at home against Xavier at Owen T. Carroll Field on Friday, April 13.
Kyle Beck can be reached at kyle.beck1@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @notkylebeck.
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