For eight innings, it looked over.
Then, for a few chaotic minutes in the ninth, it felt like anything but.
Seton Hall baseball nearly erased an eight-run deficit in a stunning late surge, but ultimately fell one run short as St. John’s held on for a 13–12 win at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange on April 4.
The Red Storm seized control almost immediately, turning a quiet start into a first inning avalanche. With two outs and nobody on, St. John’s erupted for four runs, all coming in a flash.
Shaun McMillan opened the scoring with a solo home run, and moments later Dylan Fitzsimmons drove a ball out to center for a two run shot. Will Cowan followed with another home run, stunning the Pirates and handing St. John’s a 4–0 lead before SHU could even settle in.
The Hall answered quickly. Junior infielder Gabe Cavazzoni sparked the bottom of the first with a triple to right field, and sophomore outfielder Aiden Dill brought him home on a groundout to get SHU on the board.
An inning later, the Pirates showed signs of life again. Sophomore outfielder Magnus Krieger and junior infielder Frankie Scrivanic reached base, and junior infielder Shea Grady delivered an RBI single. Sophomore infielder Tommy Manzo added a sacrifice bunt that plated another run, trimming the deficit to 5–3 and keeping the game within reach early.
But each time the Pirates edged closer, St. John’s had an answer.
The Johnnies’ Jayder Raifstanger extended the lead with an RBI double in the second, and Adam Agresti added to his strong day with a solo home run in the third. While the Pirates remained within striking distance, they struggled to build sustained offense as St. John’s starting pitcher Evan Chaffee settled into a rhythm and limited opportunities through the middle innings.
The turning point came as the game moved into the later frames.
St. John’s continued to add on, capitalizing on a SHU error in the fifth before executing small-ball in the sixth. The Red Storm’s Jon LeGrande drove in a run with a double, and Fitzsimmons added a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 9–3. Then in the seventh, the Red Storm delivered what appeared to be the knockout blow.
A two run single from LeGrande, followed by a passed ball and a defensive error, helped St. John’s plate four more runs in the inning. By the time the dust settled, the Red Storm had built a 13–3 lead, and the game seemed firmly out of reach.
But The Hall never stopped swinging.
In the eighth, the Pirates began to chip away. Junior infielders Ryan Frontera and Nick Tomasetto each reached base, setting up a sacrifice fly from Scrivanic and an RBI single from Grady to make it 13–5. It was a small push, but it set the stage for what followed.
The ninth inning turned the ballpark into chaos.
SHU loaded the bases with no outs and immediately put pressure on the St. John’s bullpen. Walks forced in runs. At bats grew longer. The crowd grew louder. Then Cavazzoni delivered, lining a two run single to right field that brought the Pirates within striking distance and sent a jolt through the dugout.
The inning kept unraveling for St. John’s. Graduate outfielder Joe Marini added another RBI, and more walks brought additional runs across. One by one, the deficit disappeared. What had been a 10-run game was suddenly a one run game after SHU scored seven runs in the inning.
With the tying run on base and the winning run looming, SHU had completely flipped the momentum. The Pirates, once buried, now stood on the edge of an improbable comeback.
But it stopped just short.
St. John’s finally recorded the final out, escaping with a 13–12 win and silencing a comeback that had nearly become one of the most dramatic of the season.
Cavazzoni led the charge for the Pirates, finishing with a triple and a clutch two run single in the ninth. Grady added multiple hits and RBIs, while Krieger also reached base multiple times as the Pirates showed resilience throughout.
A game that looked lost early turned into one that was nearly stolen late. And while the Pirates walked off the field one run short, they also left with something to build on, proving they can fight until the very last out.
For SHU, the loss will sting—a sting made worse by their 15-3 loss in the game that directly followed, which gave St. John’s the sweep of The Hall in the Saturday’s doubleheader and the series.
The Pirates will host Rutgers next in South Orange on Tuesday afternoon in a New Jersey Clash.
Colin Comerford is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports Section. He can be reached at colin.comerford@student.shu.edu.
