Baseball's Season Ends with Loss to Creighton
Pirates commit five errors and don't record a hit until the sixth inning as Creighton advances to the championship.
D.J. Ruhlman
May 23, 2015
BOX SCORE| BOX SCORE (.pdf) | PHOTO GALLERY
OMAHA, NEB. -- The Seton Hall baseball team committed a season-high five errors and didn't collect their first hit until the sixth inning as it was eliminated from the 2015 BIG EAST Championship with a 12-1 loss to Creighton on Saturday.
Seton Hall hasn't committed five errors in a game since a victory over Louisville on May 7, 2011.
A day after the Pirates needed only one pitcher to eliminate Georgetown, they used six in their second loss to Creighton in less than 72 hours. Starter
Anthony Pacillo (Lyndhurst, N.J.) took the loss. The sophomore pitched four innings and gave up seven runs, but only four were earned.
Zack Weigel (Oak Park, Ill.) and
D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.) collected two hits apiece for the Pirates. They combined for Seton Hall's lone run in the eighth. Ruhlman drove in Weigel to record his team-leading 30th RBI of the season.
Creighton (32-18) scored early and often against Seton Hall and received plenty of assistance from the Pirate defense. The Hall committed four errors over the first two innings as the Bluejays built a four-run lead with a pair of runs in both the first and second innings. For a second straight game, Seton Hall gave up a first inning home run. Creighton's Harrison Crawford launched a two-run shot off Pacillo.
The Bluejays scored a controversial run in the bottom of the fourth. With Kevin Connolly on third base, Daniel Woodrow hit a ball in foul territory to deep right field. Seton Hall right fielder
Ryan Ramiz (Freehold, N.J.) made the catch at the railing, but then was hit in the face by a young fan also trying to catch the ball. The shot stunned Ramiz and the advantageous Connolly tagged from third base and scored. The Seton Hall dugout vigorously argued for fan interference. The umpires huddled, but refused to overturn the call and Seton Hall found itself in a 5-0 hole.
In the fifth inning, Creighton struck for two more runs, aided by the Pirates' fifth error of the afternoon, off Pacillo and Seton Hall reliever
Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.).
The following inning, Creighton put the game out of reach as 10 men came to the plate in a five-run inning. The big blast came off the bat of Matt Gandy, who had a bases-clearing double, which extended the Bluejays' lead to an insurmountable 12-0.
Creighton will now play St. John's on Sunday. The Bluejays will need to defeat the Red Storm twice in order to win the BIG EAST Championship.
The loss brings an end to the 2015 season and gives the Pirates a final record at an even 25-25. It also spells the end of the collegiate careers for seven seniors who contributed mightily to 135 wins over the last four years.
Sal Annunziata (Bronx, N.Y.),
Tyler Boyd (Succasunna, N.J.),
Dan Ditusa (St. Charles, Ill.),
Anthony Elia (Flanders, N.J.),
Kyle Grimm (Bergenfield, N.J.) and Ruhlman.
LINE SCORE
SETON HALL (25-25) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1 4 5
Creighton (32-18) 2 2 0 1 2 5 0 0 X
12 15 1
Win - Keith Rogalla (4-2)
Loss -
Anthony Pacillo (3-4)
Save - None
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