WSOU

Seton Hall drops last game to USC on Sunday, 10-1

Date: March 1, 2020

By: Justin Nicosia

Seton Hall fell under .500, with a 10-1 road loss against the USC Trojans this Sunday, March 1. After beating the Trojans 6-3 on Friday, the Pirates dropped the next two to lose the series, making their record 4-5.

David Festa started the game for the Pirates, and allowed a two-out single in the first to shortstop Ben Ramirez, giving the Trojans an early lead. His day would be done after the second inning, where he gave up three more runs on four hits, two of which were triples. He ended up with four earned runs, six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts in 2.0 innings pitched.

The Hall then threatened in the top of the third. Jace Baquai, who earned his first start of the year in left, singled up the middle, and Tyler Shedler-McAvoy followed with a single of his own to set up a two-on, one out opportunity for the Pirates. However, a strikeout, and a terrific diving catch by Tyresse Turner on a shallow fly ball to left field left the Pirates empty-handed.

After Brennan O’Neill delivered a perfect third inning in relief, Casey Dana got the Pirates on the board with a long home run to left, that was gone as soon as it left the bat. It was Dana’s second on the year. In the bottom of the fourth, a Connor Hood fielding error allowed a run to score for USC, giving them a 5-1 lead.

Scoring ceased until the sixth. After quickly getting the first two batters, O’Neill was trying to complete his fourth inning of work when USC strung together four consecutive hits, bringing in three runs, and putting an end to O’Neill’s night. He ended with a line of 3.2 IP, four runs (three earned runs),two walks and five hits. Blaise Panzini then forced a ground ball fielder’s choice to stop the bleeding. USC entered the seventh up 8-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, Panzini gave up three consecutive one-out hits, and walked a run in with two outs, to force head coach Rob Sheppard to bring in Hunter Waldis in a bases loaded jam. He walked the first batter, but got the next one out to end the inning.

Seton Hall was unable to get any offense going in the late innings, despite their best efforts to. They left two runners on in both the seventh and the eighth, and an additional one in the ninth, as the team ended with 10 left on base.

Seton Hall now has only two total runs in the last 24 innings, dating back to the fourth inning in Friday’s game. They aim to end that streak as they face Fresno State on the road on Tuesday, before traveling to Moraga, Calif., to take on Saint Mary’s for their final three-game series of the road trip.

Justin Nicosia can be reached at justin.nicosia@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Baseball

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