Seton Hall
Seton Hall unable to get offense going, lose to Creighton 5-1
Date: April 19, 2019By Wilnir Louis
The weather was dark and gloomy to start off the afternoon on Thursday. Those adjectives can also be used to describe Seton Hall’s performance against the Creighton Bluejays, as they lost 5-1 in game one of the weekend series in Staten Island.
In the first inning, starting pitcher Ricky Devito gave up two hits but allowed no runs. Mitch Ragan one-upped Devito, striking out the first three batters of the inning.
In the top of the second inning, Devito had an issue finishing batters. Jordan Hovey and Jared Wegner reached base after being hit by pitches when they had two strikes. After a strikeout, David Vilches singled up the middle to load the bases up for Will Hanafan. Hanafan took advantage and hit a single to the same spot to bring home Hovey. Wegner would then score after a wild pitch. With only one out, Collins was able to get a sacrifice RBI to bring home another run and put Creighton up 3-0.
The Bluejays had an opportunity to let the game get out of hand in the ensuing inning, as a walk and two singles loaded up the bases for Vilches this time, but with a 3-2 count, he swung and missed before any more damage can be done.
Meanwhile, the Pirates offense could not find their groove in the early innings. Throughout six innings, the Hall could not register a hit. They were able to get a runner on base in the bottom of the third due to a fielding error, but besides that, there was not any meaningful contact. Ragan’s no-hit bid was broken in the bottom of the sixth when Tyler Shedler-Mcavoy hit a single to center field. Nothing came after that, and after six, the Pirates found themselves in a 4-0 hole.
The hole would only increase in the top of the eight when Jason Allbery was brought home by a sacrifice fly by Isaac Collins. The Pirates were able to get on the board in the bottom of the ninth when Sebastiano Santorelli hit a bomb to right field. However, that was all she wrote, as Christian Del Castillo and Casey Dana both grounded out to end the game.
After the game, head coach Rob Sheppard stated that the different types of pitches Ragan tossed threw off the Hall’s hitting.
“He got ahead early, he got really good command with his fastball and mixed in some good off-speed so it was a combination of the fastball keeping us off balance with the off-speed.”
Ragan threw a complete nine innings. In those nine innings, he delivered 102 pitches and only allowed two hits while striking out seven batters.
Looking ahead, coach Sheppard is eager to go again against the Bluejays.
“The one good thing about baseball is that you get to [make adjustments] right away. You get to play right away, you don’t have to wait a week or two days or three days, you get a chance to make adjustments and get right back it tomorrow.”
The Pirates will try to bounce back tomorrow against the Bluejays. David Festa is expected to take the mound first for the Hall, with first pitch expected to be thrown at 1 PM. Dalton Allison and Ronny Castaneda will be on the call on wsou.net, giving all of the action at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.
Wilnir Louis can be reached at wilnir.louis@student.shu.edu.
