Seton Hall
Pirates use early fireworks to stop USC, 6-3
Date: February 29, 2020By: Madi Travisano
The Pirates take game one of their three-game series against the USC Trojans on Friday night. They won 6-3 with heavy bats coming in during the first inning with a strong defense following suit.
Juniors Casey Dana and Ryan McLinskey stepped up and showed what the Hall can do both offensively and defensively. Dana went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a solo home run while McLinskey had a solid start on the mound for the Pirates. He went 5.2 innings while striking out six batters in his third career start.
With one out in the first, redshirt junior Christian Del Castillo drove in senior Tyler Shedler-McAvoy home on a single that gave the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. After an RBI drawn walk by Jeremy Huntzinger with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. Later on, junior Thomas Holdorf drove in two more runs to make that a 4-0 first inning.
USC got a run back but a solo home run from Dana extended the Hall’s lead to 5-1. McLinskey then on to retire nine of the next 10 batters between the second and fourth innings. The Pirates’ bats once again came alive in the eighth from seniors Connor Hood and Matt Toke which then set the stage for Dana to drive home another run.
The Hall held a steady three run lead going into the ninth inning and were able to hold them. Then with three fly outs to freshmen Devin Hack in left field, the Pirates ended this first game with a win. Hack had eight putouts in left field, including the ones previously mentioned to get those final outs in the ninth inning.
The Pirates and the Trojans will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Madi Travisano can be reached at madisyn.travisano@student.shu.edu.
