Pirates Drop Opener to FAU

The Pirate dropped their series opener vs. the Florida Atlantic Owls, 4-2, on Friday night.

In the first inning, the shortstop Al Molina doubled while first baseman Matt Toke reached on a single. Both were left stranded.

Senior Shane McCarthy got out off to another rough start in the bottom of the first. McCarthy gave off a leadoff double followed by three more hits to give the FAU a 3-0 lead. McCarthy allowed another hit along with a sacrifice fly to extend the Owls lead 4-0. In the second, Christian Del Castillo hit a single, but the Pirates were unable to make anything of it. In the bottom of the second inning, McCarthy bounced back for the Pirates, retiring the Owls in order with a pair of groundouts.

The Pirates went down in order in the third while McCarthy continued his comeback by picking up his first two strikeouts. In the fourth, The Pirates had an opportunity with the bases loaded after singles by Toke and Sebastiano Santorelli and a walk from Christian Del Castillo but failed to score. Another bases-loaded chance came in the fifth with no outs after singles from seniors Rob Dadona and Molina and Mike Alescio reaching on a throwing error. The Pirates were able to take advantage of the situation with a sacrifice fly by Santorelli to bring the Pirates within three.

The Owls threatened in the sixth after two singles but McCarthy finished his last inning of work unscathed. Billy Layne Jr came out in relief in the seventh and continued Seton Hall's pitching dominance, striking out two in the inning. In the eighth, Casey Dana led off with a single and eventually came around to score on a single by Ryan Ramiz making it 4-2 in favor of FAU.

In the ninth, with one out, Matt Toke flew out to center field, after rounding first, he fell clutching hamstring. There is no official word if he will miss time. Santorelli walked and stole second, but Casey Dana grounded out to end the game.

McCarthy is now 0-3 on the season after bouncing back from his rough first inning. McCarthy recorded four strikeouts with one walk over six innings. Layne pitched two innings of relief recording four strikeouts, zero hits and zero walks. The Pirates recorded 12 hits with Dadona, Ramiz, Molina, and Del Castillo picking up a pair each. Ramiz went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Dadona went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Santorelli went 1-for-3 with a single and a sac fly.

The Pirates are now 5-6 on the season. They face Florida Atlantic in the second of three games tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. The Pirates return to Owen T. Carroll Field on March 14 as they take on Saint Peters. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. You can catch The Pirates home opener here on wsou.net.

Erin Kelly can be reached at erin.kelly@student.shu.edu.