Seton Hall
Pirates Salvage Third Game of Series with No. 23 NC State
Date: February 19, 2018
(Photo: SHU Athletics)
By: Dalton Allison
(Raleigh, North Carolina)- A big day from designated hitter Sebastiano Santorelli pushed the Pirates to victory Sunday against No. 23 North Carolina State, 8-6.
The junior from Tuckahoe, New York produced from the sixth spot today, going 3-for-4 with a home run and double on the day.
The offense started early for the Pirates, as they took advantage of errors from the Wolfpack. On an attempt to turn a double play, Wolfpack first baseman Steven Oakly committed a throwing error that allowed Christian Del Castillo to score from second base. The two other runners that reached, Mike Alescio and Matt Toke, would go on to score on a Santorelli and Casey Dana double, respectively.
The early 3-0 lead for the Pirates lasted until the bottom of the third inning, when starter Rick DeVito began to fall apart. Back to back walks to open up the inning allowed Brett Kinneman to double home two, and then be driven in by a Josh McLaine home run, making the score 4-2. Head coach Rob Shepard then decided to put in Ryan McLinsky in relief.
After allowing a leadoff single, McLinsky struck out Brock Deatherage, and appeared to have the inning under control. He then gave up a triple to Devonte Brown, which cashed in a run. Brown then scored on an error by Dana, making the score 6-3.
After a Santorelli home run in the fourth, the Pirates trailed 6-4 heading into the fifth inning. A Ryan Ramiz walk and an Alescio single set the stage for Matt Toke. He blasted a three run home run over the right field fence, giving the Pirates a 7-6 advantage. Back to back doubles by senior Al Molina and Santorelli then gave the Pirates the 8-6 lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the game.
Out of the bullpen, Blake Espinal, Noah Thompson, Corey Sawyer, and Matt Leon combined for a flawless four innings of work, including seven strikeouts.
On the day, Espinal received the win for his two innings of work, and David Harrison picked up the loss for the Wolfpack. Leon earned his first save of the season.
The Pirates are now 1-2 following their series against North Carolina State. Moving forward, they will travel south towards Spartanburg, South Carolina as they will play in the USC-Upstate-Wofford tournament. Their first matchup is against USC-Upstate on Friday at 4 p.m.
Dalton Allison can be reached at dalton.allison@student.shu.edu.
