Seton Hall
Pirates' Season Comes to a Close in BIG EAST Championship Second Round
Date: May 26, 2017By: Matt Lapolla
OMAHA, Neb.--The Seton Hall Pirates' season came to an end on Friday afternoon, falling by a score of 3-2 to the St. John's Red Storm in the elimination game of the BIG EAST Championship.
Seton Hall came into the game fresh off a 4-1 loss to the Creighton Bluejays. The Johnnies also suffered a loss in the first round, falling 13-3 to the Xavier Musketeers. Cullen Dana took the mound for the Pirates, squaring off against Kevin Magee of the Red Storm.
The Pirates got off to a quick start, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. After a Joe Poduslenko double, Matt Toke singled down the left field line to put Seton Hall on the board. Two batters later, Mike Caputo laced a single up the middle to bring in Toke. This marked the second consecutive game that the Red Storm fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first, as the Xavier Musketeers were able to do the same in the first game of the BIG EAST Championship.
The Red Storm answered right back in the bottom of the first. John Valente led off the inning with a double, and with two outs Gui Gingras was able to bring him home on an RBI single down the left field line.
Dana was able to work out of a few jams in the middle innings, tossing six shutout innings. Anthony Pacillo came on to relieve the left-hander in the seventh, but he ran into a roadblock in the bottom of the eighth.
Gingras led off the inning with a triple to center field, putting the tying run at third with nobody out for the Red Storm. Josh Shaw followed up with a double to left-center field, bringing the score even at two. A sacrifice bunt moved Shaw to third, and a sacrifice fly from Robbie Knightes brought him home to give St. John's a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish.
Mikael-Ali Mogues came on to pinch hit in the top of the ninth inning and managed to draw a leadoff walk, but the Pirates could not even the score, ending their season.
The Pirates, who finished with a 29-25 record, going 10-8 in conference play, will lose seven players to graduation this year.
Matt Lapolla can be reached at matthew.lapolla@student.shu.edu
