After Seton Hall baseball played five solid innings, it was one inning that allowed St. John’s to pull away from an eventual 8-2 win at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field at Owen T. Carroll Field.
The Pirates set the tone early and looked in control right from the start. Junior infielder Gabe Cavazzoni led off the bottom of the first with a single to left, then immediately applied pressure by stealing second. After a pop out, junior infielder Ryan Frontera flew out to center, but fellow junior infielder Nick Tomasetto came through with two outs, driving a triple into right center to score Cavazzoni and give The Hall an initial 1–0 lead.
On the mound, starting sophomore right-handed pitcher and Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Steven Svenson worked through early traffic but kept St. John’s from breaking through. He hit a batter in the first and again in the third, but each time the Pirates' defense backed him up. In the third, after the Red Storm’s Rob Mansour reached on a hit by pitch and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, Svenson induced two groundouts to strand him at third and keep the Pirates’ 1-0 lead intact.
St. John’s did not record its first hit until the fourth inning, but when it came, it mattered. The Red Storm’s Adam Agresti turned on a pitch and sent it over the left field wall to tie the game at 1–1, shifting momentum toward St. John’s.
The Pirates had chances to respond but could not get anything going. Across the second, third and fourth innings, SHU went down in order each time, with St. John’s Liam O’Leary settling into a rhythm and keeping the Pirates’ hitters off balance.
The game turned completely in the sixth.
St. John’s Jayder Raifstanger opened the inning with a double down the left field line. Agresti followed with a single to the left, moving him to third. After a walk loaded the bases, the Red Storm’s Will Cowan delivered the decisive blow, lining a triple down the right field line that cleared the bases and gave St. John’s a 4–1 lead. The Johnnies’ Ayden Frey followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5–1, capping a four-run inning that broke the game open.
SHU responded in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore outfielder Aiden Dill tripled to right field and scored on a Frontera groundout, cutting the deficit to 5–2. However, the Pirates were unable to build on the momentum.
Agresti added to his standout day in the eighth, launching his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to center field that extended the Johnnies’ lead to 7–2.
St. John’s then tacked on another run in the ninth after loading the bases on hit batters and scoring on a sacrifice fly.
The Pirates’ offense struggled to find consistency after the first inning, managing limited hits and failing to capitalize on scoring chances, while O’Leary remained steady throughout on the mound for St. John’s.
For the Pirates, it was a game that stayed within reach early but slipped away quickly in one inning that proved decisive.
The Hall will get a rematch against St. John’s on Saturday afternoon, when they return to South Orange to host the Johnnies for a doubleheader.
Colin Comerford is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports Section. He can be reached at colin.comerford@student.shu.edu.
