Credit: GR Productions
Pirates Win Final Series of their 2025 Season
Published: Sunday, May 18, 2025
by Victor Lisboa
VILLANOVA, P.A. — The Seton Hall Pirates (24-30) closed out their 2025 season on Friday where they took two of three games from the Villanova Wildcats (22-28) in Pennsylvania.
In the first matchup of the weekend, it was the Wildcats who struck first and never looked back. In the bottom of the third inning, Michael Whooley provided Villanova with the early lead from a three run home run off of Pirates starter Steven Svenson.
The Pirates responded in the sixth with a sacrifice fly from catcher Jimmy Brennan, scoring Dylan Pacheco to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Pirates fell farther behind the Wildcats in the bottom half of the sixth, allowing three more runs to score and thus trailing 6-1.
In the seventh, Pirates left fielder Justin Ford connected on his first home run of the season, cutting the deficit to 6-2. But this would become the final score, as the Pirates lost the first game of the series.
In the second game of the weekend set, the Seton Hall bats came alive to bounce back. Although the Wildcats took the early lead once again, scoring two runs in the first, the Pirates answered immediately as third baseman Marco Ali crushed a two-run home run in the second inning.
After Villanova regained the lead 3-2, the Pirates found their offensive rhythm in the fifth inning. Center fielder AJ Soldra’s double scored Aiden Robbins, who went five for six on the day. The next batter, Pirates catcher Kevin Milewski, then barrelled up his sixteenth home run of the season, giving the Pirates their first lead of the series, 5-3.
Seton Hall added to their lead in the sixth, where Pacheco’s RBI double and Soldra’s sacrifice fly allowed two to score in the inning making the contest 7-2 in favor of the Pirates.
The Wildcats answered with a run, but the Pirates scored two more of their own in the eighth inning when back to back bases-loaded walks from Milewski and Ali brought the runs in. 9-3 would remain the final score as the Pirates evened the series.
In Sunday’s rubber match, it was Villanova once again grabbing the early lead. However, after Pirates starter Cole Hansen allowed a run to score on a groundout in the first inning, he held the Wildcats hitless through the next four frames.
After trailing 1-0 throughout the first half of the game, Ford connected on his second home run of the season, as well as his second of the series, to tie the score at 1-1.
However, Villanova’s offense erupted for four runs in the sixth and seventh innings, which included two home runs, making the score 5-1.
Seton Hall came roaring back, scoring off of a throwing error and a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 5-3. Down to their final chance, the Pirates capitalized on subpar defense and erratic pitching in the ninth inning. Two walks with the bases loaded tied the score, followed by shortstop Joey Calabretti getting hit by a pitch to give the Pirates the lead.
On a wild pitch, Soldra then scored, giving Pirates reliever Daniel Frontera the opportunity to close out the game with a 7-5 lead and earn himself the win. This would be the final score, as the Pirates pulled off a scrappy win to close out their season on a high note and take the series two games to one.
The Pirates end the season falling just short of the Big East tournament, with an overall record of 24-30 and 10-11 in conference play. Heading into next season, the Pirates will hope to see continued success from second-year standouts Robbins, Milewski and the rest of their team as they push for postseason action.
Victor Lisboa can be reached at victor.lisboa@student.shu.eduPosted in: sports,