Despite dropping the first two games of the series to Florida Atlantic, Seton Hall looked to close out and head back to South Orange with a win under its belt.
Graduate student Matt Toke carried the heat from Saturday’s shootout with a single to right field that gave Tyler Shedler-McAvoy an early score. A series that had seen each team sputter throughout continued Sunday afternoon until Florida Atlantic once again opened the game with a third inning breakout.
The baseball team’s defense could not find its groove as two players walked and another stole second base. A few wild pitches by Cole Patten led to his replacement during the third inning by left-handed pitcher Mark Anderson. What seemed to be a solution for the Pirates' struggles led to a homerun that put Florida Atlantic ahead by a score of 6-1.
A quick fourth and fifth inning for the baseball team gave the Owls a chance to extend their lead, as they scored an additional 2 runs at the bottom of the fifth and seventh innings, which gave Florida Atlantic a suffocating edge at 10-1. The Pirates could not get the offense moving again until late in the ninth.
Shedler-McAvoy made something out of nothing and reached on a fielding error to make it to first. Mike Esposito walked and Steve Grober and Thomas Holdorf hit singles to right field to cut the lead to 7. An additional single from freshman Dane Hoggard sent Grober home but was deemed not enough as the Pirates drop another game with a score of 4-10.
Seton Hall went into the series hoping to make a mark against a strong Florida Atlantic team, but unfortunately could not get it done. They dropped their fourth straight game and extended the Owls’ all time series lead to 9-2. While the offense connected throughout, the defensive side was proven to be unprepared. The baseball team is scheduled to play their next game on Saturday, Mar. 6 when they host the University of Albany.
Baseball drops second game of Florida Atlantic series after resilient effort
After game one tested the resilience of Florida Atlantic and Seton Hall's defensive play on the diamond, game two on Saturday turned into a shoot-out with both sides hitting double digits in runs.
Dysfunctional offenses by both sides allowed just a single score within the first two-and-a-half innings, where the Owls took a 1-0 lead going into the third inning. Florida Atlantic opened the scoring fest at the bottom of the third inning, scoring eight runs off five hit to establish an early 9-0 lead over the Pirates.
A slow yet graceful comeback began with a hit to right field by Jerry Huntzinger, followed by a walk and two more singles by veterans Matt Toke, Casey Dana, and Tyler Shedler-McAvoy to put the Pirates on the board for two. Seton Hall were not done there, though, as they continued to run the score up at the top of the fourth inning. They crawled back and scored an additional seven runs thanks to RBIs from Dane Hoggard (1), Will Gale (2), Toke (3) and a score by Huntzinger off an FAU error.
The Pirates allowed another run in the fourth that put Florida Atlantic back on top. With how high scoring this game was, one would be surprised at the sporadic play by each team. The additional two and a half inning drought was followed by a second boom for Florida Atlantic's offense. Four runs added at the bottom of the seventh inning and an extra three runs in the eighth helped the Owls regain another lead over the Hall.
Seton Hall took the deficit with caution and loaded the bases early in the ninth. With Mike Esposito, Toke and Dana on base, Steve Grober hit a line drive to right center field giving the Pirates another run. However, another four runs on four hits wasn't enough for Seton Hall as they fell to Florida Atlantic by a score of 17-14.
Despite the loss, the baseball team improved from their first game on Friday. Toke and Gale took charge as the Pirates never seemed to lose a step. Saturday’s game totaled more runs than the past three games combined regardless of it coming in a loss. Seton Hall fell to 1-3 on the season and are scheduled to tae on Florida Atlantic in their third game of their three-game series on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
Sixth inning collapse sees baseball drop first game to Florida Atlantic
After a win and a loss in their two-game series against Hofstra, the Pirates got away from the N.J. cold and arrived in sunny Boca Raton, Fla. for a three-game series against Florida Atlantic on Friday.
A quick, scoreless first inning saw the Pirates get just one hit through Huntzinger. Grober gave the Pirates an early 1-0 lead in the second inning after a line-drive down center field brought Casey Dana home.
Seton Hall saw a dry spell after their initial score, not seeing a single hit until the top of the seventh inning. This paved the way for a quick score at the bottom of the third for FAU as Jackson Wenstrom hit a homer to center field to tie the game at one a piece.
Strong defensive presences were evident in this game, though. Both teams totaled a single hit through the fourth and the fifth innings until the Owls exploded for five runs at the bottom of the sixth inning.
Another solo homer, this time from FAU senior Bobby Morgensen, RBIs from Nolan Schanuel and Jared DeSantolo, and a score by DeSantolo himself put the Owls at the high ground with a 6-1 lead going into the seventh. Graduate student Matt Toke was able to get himself a walk after failing to convert on his previous 9 at-bats and eventually went on to score the final run of the game.
For an experienced Pirates team, they still have two games against FAU on Saturday and Sunday to make up for their first-game loss. Seton Hall did not commit many errors on the defensive side and looked as if they had been playing for months. The offensive game was a little off, although a solid showing from Casey and Status Pokrovsky, as the Pirates look to bounce back Saturday at 4 p.m.
Thomas Donnelly can be reached thomas.donnelly@student.shu.edu.
