Credit: Seton Hall University Athletics
Seton Hall Takes Two of Three at Swig and Swine Classic
Published: Sunday, February 22, 2026
by Liam Page
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Seton Hall baseball was on the road this weekend for the Swig and
Swine Classic, and took two of the three contests against George Mason and Merrimack.
Seton Hall left Puerto Rico with a 1-1 record and improved to 3-2 this weekend, splitting
games against George Mason, while picking up the win versus Merrimack.
The first matchup against George Mason on Friday was highlighted with a five-run 6th
inning which pushed the Pirates past the Patriots. In the first four plate appearances,
the Pirates drew four walks to give them an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Patriots would respond in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to even the
score.
In the top of the fourth, Gabe Cavazzoni notched an RBI single to reclaim a 2-1 lead for the Pirates. In the fifth, the Patriots would take their first and only lead of the game off a sac fly and an RBI single making it 3-2 in favor of George Mason.
To lead off the top of the sixth, Joey Wilga hit his first home run of the season to even the score at three. After a HBP and a double from the Pirates, Shea Grady tallied a two-RBI single, giving Seton Hall a 5-3 lead. Later in the frame, Nick Tomasetto would knock in another with an RBI single, and a bases-loaded HBP would cap off the five run inning, putting the Pirates up 7-3.
George Mason would respond in the bottom of the seventh with three runs, but those
would be the last runs scored by the Patriots in the game, and an RBI double from
Cavazzoni would secure an 8-6 win in favor of the Pirates.
On Saturday, Seton Hall would get in a tit-for-tat extra innings slugfest against
Merrimack. In the top of the first, Aidan Dill put the Pirates on the board first
with a solo home run, his first of the season. Merrimack got off to a quick start
in the bottom of the first, as they put up four runs of their own.
After a quiet next two innings, Seton Hall would find their response in the top of the fourth. A double and a HBP got the frame started, and then Ryan Strnad picked up his first career RBI with a double, cutting the Merrimack lead to 4-2.
With two men in scoring position, a throwing error would allow both of them to score tying the game at four. Cavazzoni would then come through with an RBI sac fly, while Dill would pick up an RBI double to make the game 6-4 in favor of the Pirates.
A Merrimack solo homer in the bottom of the sixth would close the gap to 6-5, but the Pirates went back to work in the top of the seventh scoring three off of a two run home run by Tomasetto, his first of the season, and an infield RBI single from Jake Lopez giving the Pirates a 9-5 lead. Merrimack would respond immediately in the bottom half of the seventh, however, with three of their own to close the lead to one.
In the top of the eighth, Tomasetto would connect with an RBI double to extend the lead to 10-8. Merrimack would go silent in the eighth before rallying late in the 9th with a two out, two-RBI double to extend the game to extra innings.
Neither team would score in the 10th, but in the 11th, Dill would drive in Cavazzoni
on a fielder’s choice to first base to produce the eventual game winning run. The
Warriors had a man in scoring position in the bottom half of the inning but were unable
to score, giving the Pirates the 11-10 win.
Seton Hall’s other Saturday game against Ball State was canceled due to weather, leaving
one more match in the Sig and Swine Classic against George Mason.
This game was not as favorable to Seton Hall as their first contest against George
Mason was. The Patriots would score on a fielder’s choice in the top of the first,
with Seton Hall responding after Dill stole second and then driven home on an RBI
single from Tomasetto.
However, the rest of the game would go the Patriots way. George Mason would score next in the top of the fourth with an RBI single making it 2-1. They would add to that with multiple RBI singles in the top of the 5th, giving them a 5-1 lead. A two-RBI double would give the Patriots a commanding 7-1 lead in the top of the sixth before the Pirates finally got back on the score board with an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 7-2.
The Patriots would score three more in the top of the seventh off of a solo home run,
RBI single, and a fielding error to make it 10-2. In the bottom half of the inning,
Lopez would drive in two for the Pirates to make it 10-4. The Patriots would score
another in the top of the eighth off of a throwing error to make it 11-4. Neither
team would score in the ninth, with Merrimack taking it, 11-4.
Looking ahead, Seton Hall will return to South Orange for their home opener where
they host the Wagner Seahawks on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.
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