Seton Hall baseball remained on fire this weekend, taking two of three games from Hofstra to secure their second-straight series win in South Orange. With those two wins, the Pirates improved to 10-9 on the season and have now won six of their last eight games.
The strong stretch comes after last weekend’s series win over Brown from March 13 to 15, and a dominant 14-1 game over Wagner on March 17. The Pirates continue to build momentum with conference action starting on April 2, when they host St. John’s.
The Hall opened the weekend with a 5-4 win on March 20. SHU jumped out early with two runs in the first inning, as junior infielders Gabe Cavazzoni and Ryan Frontera each delivered RBI doubles.
Hofstra got on the board in the third with an RBI single from the Pride’s JJ DeVito, then took a 4-3 lead in the seventh behind another RBI single from DeVito and a two-run double by Tyler Cox.
But the Pirates answered right back: After tying the game in the bottom of the seventh, SHU took the lead for good in the eighth.
Junior infielder Frankie Scrivanic drove in graduate infielder Ty Acker with a base hit to give the Pirates a 5-4 edge. Graduate right-handed pitcher John Higgins closed the game with a perfect ninth inning, earning his sixth save of the season.
Game two on Saturday went the other way, as Hofstra’s offense exploded for a 16-8 win. The Pride scored three runs in the first inning and broke the game open with four runs in the sixth and seven in the seventh.
SHU showed fight throughout the game, however; The Pirates tied the game at 3-3 in the second inning behind RBI hits from Scrivanic and Cavazzoni. Scrivanic finished Saturday with three RBIs, while junior infielder Nick Tomasetto and Cavazzoni had two hits each. Yet, defensive errors and Hofstra’s late rally were too much for SHU to slow down.
The Pirates responded on Sunday, taking the rubber match 6-2 behind a strong performance on the mound from sophomore southpaw Mason Christopher.
TheHall broke the game open early with four runs in the second inning. Sophomore outfielder Magnus Krieger delivered a key two-run double, while Scrivanic and sophomore infielder Tommy Manzo added RBI plays to extend SHU’s lead to 4-0.
Christopher controlled the game from there, allowing just three hits, no walks, and two runs over the next six innings while keeping Hofstra’s lineup quiet. Right-handed pitcher Stephen Curry and Higgins came out of the bullpen late and closed out the game for the series win.
With back-to-back series wins and a 6-2 record over their last eight games, the Pirates are starting to find their rhythm as the season moves forward.
The Hall will return to Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field at Owen T. Carroll Field on Wednesday for a matchup against Princeton. SHUwill then head to an alternate site in Vestal, New York next weekend to face Fairfield on March 28,followed by a game against Binghamton on March 29.
Jaden Highsmith is the assistant editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at jaden.highsmith@student.shu.edu.
