The Seton Hall Pirates baseball team got back into the win column on Wednesday afternoon with an 11-7 win over Wagner.
Brennan O’Neill picked up his first win as a Pirate in just his second career start, allowing three runs and two hits over five innings and striking out two. O’Neill was boosted up by a red-hot Pirate offense, which cranked out 13 hits and 11 runs. Connor Hood and Tyler Shedler-McAvoy each drove in three runs.
The Pirates went right to work on offense in the top of the first inning. An RBI groundout by Christian Del Castillo scored Jerry Huntzinger, who led off with a walk and moved to third on two wild pitches. In the top of the second, an RBI double by Mike Esposito made it 2-0 Pirates.
Wagner cut into the deficit to make it 2-1 before the Pirates pulled away with four runs in the fifth inning. Hood and Matt Toke each had RBI singles and Shedler-McAvoy added a two run single to make it 6-1. From there, Wagner cut the Seton Hall lead to 6-3, 8-5, and 8-7 before the Pirates closed things out with three runs in the ninth.
Pirate relievers Blake Espinal, Sean Miller, and Hunter Waldis all struggled, giving up a combined total of four runs to the Seahawks and letting them back in the game. Luckily, the offense went to work in the ninth and Corey Sawyer shut Wagner down with one and one-third hitless innings and three strikeouts to earn the save, his third of the season.
The Pirates are back in action on March 22 when they take on Monmouth at 3 p.m.
Matthew Collins can be reached at matthew.collins@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @Matt98533108.
