Seton Hall
Pirates Drop First Game of USC Upstate-Wofford Tournament, 12-1
Date: February 24, 2018
(Photo: SHU Athletics)
By: Dalton Allison
Behind a stellar pitching performance from senior Blake Whitney, the USC Upstate Trojans defeated Seton Hall 12-1.
Offense was hard to come by for the Pirates, as Whitney held The Hall to only three hits, while striking out eight.
For the Trojans however, they achieved offensive success starting at the beginning of the game. After an Andres Kim walk, Pat Raiff drilled a triple off of starter Shane McCarthy, to put the Trojans up 1-0 early. A Casey Dana throwing error and a fielder's choice eventually led to two more runs crossing the plate, and the Trojans led 3-0 after one.
After allowing a run in the third, and two in the fourth, the wheels really fell off when McCarthy was yanked after four. Noah Thompson came in to relieve McCarthy, and things rapidly declined for the Pirates. After a leadoff double by Toran Shahidi led to a run off of a Rob Dadona error, real trouble came when the bases were full.
With runners on base after another fielding error and a walk, Thompson was removed in favor of Hunter Waldis. Senior Charlie Carpenter stepped up to the plate, and greeted Waldis with a grand slam, pushing the lead to 11-0 in favor of the Trojans.
After Waldis loaded the bases again in the bottom of the seventh inning, he hit Raiff to walk home a run. Lefty Matt Ponsiglione came in to relieve the side.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Pirates were finally able to produce some limited offense. Chris Talbott was able to reach home on a Ryan Ramiz ground out. This would be the only run put up by the Pirates on the day, as that would be the only run allowed by Johnathan Carlyle in his two innings of relief.
Both the Pirates and the Trojans finished with seven hits each, but errors killed took the Pirates out of this game. They finished with five on the day, which led to seven of the Trojans' twelve runs to be unearned. Only Ramiz and Al Moline registered extra base hits for the Pirates on the day, each hitting a double.
The Pirates now drop to 1-3 early on in the season. They will have to get back on the right track tomorrow, as they face the Wofford Terriers on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Dalton Allison can be reached at dalton.allison@student.shu.edu
