Pirates Drop Rubber Match to Marist

Published: Sunday, March 30, 2025

by Ryan Nelke

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — The Seton Hall Pirates (11-17) fell in the final game of a three-game series to the Marist Red Foxes (12-13), who held on to win 4-3 on Sunday despite a late push by The Hall.

Steven Svenson got the start for Seton Hall and delivered a solid performance, throwing five innings of one-run ball. However, Svenson had some difficulty securing the final out in his first two innings, as Marist took an early lead in the top of the first on a Kyle Pollack RBI double. Svenson faced traffic on the bases with two outs again in the second but escaped the jam and went on to pitch three more strong innings.

Chris Ubner got the nod for Marist in the rubber match and struggled with control, walking four over his 4 1/3-inning outing. Dylan Pacheco drew first blood for the Pirates against Ubner in the second when he hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Casey Cumiskey. Aiden Robbins struck next in the fifth, singling to left-center and scoring AJ Soldra, which ended Ubner’s day on the mound.

Marist responded instantly after Seton Hall went to the bullpen to begin the sixth, as the Red Foxes knocked reliever Tomas Cestero out of the game after only two batters when he took a line drive off his back. John Downing took his place out of the pen, and a couple of batters later, Brady Steiner drove one back up the middle to score two, putting Marist on top 3-2.

The Red Foxes added to the lead in the seventh when miscommunication in the Pirates' infield led to AJ Brotz scoring and all baserunners being safe on a dribbler by Jason Claiborn, giving the Red Foxes a 4-2 advantage.  

The Hall had a prime opportunity in the bottom of the eighth when former Red Fox Marco Ali stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, but Ali popped out to second base. Ryan Frontera, who entered as a defensive replacement at third base in the seventh inning, had a chance to play hero after Ali but was unsuccessful, lining out to center.

Seton Hall showed it was not going out without a fight in the ninth, as AJ Soldra tripled to left with one out, and Aiden Robbins brought him home on an RBI double with two outs, cutting the Marist lead in half to 4-3. However, Kevin Milewski popped out to catcher Scott Esposito, who made an incredible diving play to end the game.

The Pirates will be back in action Wednesday when they host the Princeton Tigers (7-18). Live coverage will start at 4 p.m. for the midweek matchup on WSOU.net.

Ryan Nelke can be reached at ryan.nelke@student.shu.edu. 

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