Weigel Leads Baseball to 7-4 Win at Xavier. 1-0 in league

[Halldan1]

The junior goes 3-for-5 and drives in three RBIs as the Pirates open BIG EAST play with a victory.

Zack Weigel

April 2, 2015



SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- Junior Zack Weigel (Oak Park, Ill.) went 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Seton Hall baseball team won its sixth straight game with a 7-4 victory at Xavier to open the BIG EAST portion of its schedule on Thursday.

Starter Zach Prendergast (Horsham, Pa.) improved to 4-2 on the season with seven innings of three-run baseball. Freshman Matt Leon (Bethlehem, Pa.) came on in the ninth to get the final out and earned his first career save.

Seton Hall (13-10, 1-0) got on the board right away in the top of the first inning. Weigel singled to lead off and advanced to third on a double by Kyle Grimm (Bergenfield, N.J.) with one out. With D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.) at the plate, Weigel scored on a passed ball to plate the game's first run.

In the second, the Pirates scored two more with two outs. With one out, Tyler Boyd (Succasunna, N.J.) was hit by a pitch and moved to second when Chris Chiaradio (Teaneck, N.J.) walked. Joe Poduslenko (Glen Mills, Pa.) followed with a groundout that advanced both runners into scoring position with two outs. Weigel then reached on an infield single which drove in a pair of runs and extend The Hall's lead to 3-0.

The Pirates scored for a third straight inning in the top of the third on Sal Annunziata's (Bronx, N.Y.) third home run of the season. Annunziata finished the contest 2-for-5.

Xavier (8-21, 0-1) however, chipped away at Seton Hall's lead, and with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, cut the Pirates advantage to 4-3. But Seton Hall's offense wasn't done either and it put up a three-spot in the top of the eighth. Xavier walked the bases loaded with one out, and a fourth walk, issued to Poduslenko, forced in Seton Hall's fifth run. Weigel followed with a fielder's choice, which was the second out of the inning, but also scored a run. A final run came in on a throwing error by the pitcher to give The Hall a commanding 7-3 lead.

Chiaradio walked three times in the game and scored a pair of runs.

Grimm had two more hits today for Seton Hall, improving his team-leading batting average to .367.

Seton Hall will resume its three-game series at Xavier this afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.



This post was edited on 4/3 7:42 AM by Halldan1

http://www.shupirates.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/040215aaa.html

 

[catholicman]

A 3pm game on Good Friday, by two Catholic schools? Unbelievable.

 

[Flnj86]

Today's game was postponed by rain, Seton Hall will play a double header on Saturday beginning at noon.

 

[hallgrad80]

I guess God didn't like them playing on Good Friday so he took matters into his own hands.

 

[jcalz88]

Originally posted by hallgrad80:
I guess God didn't like them playing on Good Friday so he took matters into his own hands.

haaa

 

[NYC Pirate]

Sorry I have been unable to post early in the season. I have been keeping track of the Baseball Team and will be able to give some more updates in the next couple of weeks.

Here's what we know so far. After a very slow start, the Baseball team seems to be headed back in the right direction. In many ways the weather has been a huge factor and did not allow for the Pirates to secure any solid OOC wins. The batters could never get going in those early games unlike last year where they came out of the shoot with some impressive wins on the road. The other area of concern early was stabilizing the pitching rotation. A couple of the veterans struggled early and some positive changes were made. Shane McCarthy looks to be the next Pirate that is going to be a factor on the mound. Zach Prendergast is the other bright spot in the rotation in the current turn around.

Some of last year's best hitters are getting back on pace in the last few weeks. This is worth watching now that they are back in conference play. Good weather is always a positive for the hitters in the Northeast.

It's going to be tough for this season's squad. An at large bid doesn't seem to be a possibility at this point because of their OOC record. So they will probably need to win the conference tournament unless they finish with an unbelievable closing record. They should have a realistic chance to win the BigEast Tournament, but this year's tournament gives a huge advantage to Creighton, playing their home park with crowds of plus 10,000.

They will need some lights out pitching and traditional Seton Hall Baseball to get an NCAA bid. Not impossible.

 

[Flnj86]

Freshmen Zach Schellenger is pitching very well in recent games.

 

[Halldan1]

Unbeaten Teams Share BIG EAST Baseball Weekly Awards

St. John's Robbie Knightes, Seton Hall's Joe DiBenedetto named Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

Joe DiBenedetto, Seton Hall
April 6, 2015

NEW YORK - After opening weekend of BIG EAST baseball which was adjusted a few times due to weather, two teams came out undefeated with St. John's scoring 21 runs in a three-game sweep of Butler and Seton Hall outlasting Xavier in three tight games. This week's Player and Pitcher of the Week come from the Red Storm and Pirates as the two teams won six combined league games on the road.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Robbie Knightes, St. John's, 3B, So.
In a 3-0 sweep for the Red Storm on the road against Butler, Knightes batted .500 (7-for-14) and knocked in seven RBI, to lead the BIG EAST and account for one third of St. John's runs scored this weekend. Knightes registered three multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games adding one double, two runs and eight total bases. The sophomore collected four ninth-inning RBI on the weekend. Knightes went 2-for-5 with three RBI, including a go-ahead two-run single that capped a four-run ninth-inning rally in game one, helping St. John's win 7-5. Knightes was 3-for-5 with two RBI in game two, adding an insurance run with a ninth-inning RBI single. He finished the weekend 2-for-4 with two RBI, including what proved to be the decisive RBI single in the ninth inning.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Joe DiBenedetto, Seton Hall, LHP, So.
Sophomore Joe DiBenedetto was instrumental in the Pirates winning close games in a 3-0 BIG EAST opening weekend. DiBenedetto's stat line for the weekend was 0.00 ERA, two saves and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief work. Seton Hall's closer recorded saves in both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday at Xavier, helping the Pirates win 4-2 in game one (seven innings) and 5-2 in game two. During the first game, DiBenedetto preserved a two-run lead for the win coming in with bases loaded in the bottom of the final inning with just one out. He earned the save by inducing a pair of fielder's choices. In the second game, DiBenedetto worked the entire ninth inning and struck out two of the batters faced with a total of 11 pitches.


BIG EAST Baseball Weekly Honor Roll
Tyler Houston, Butler, OF, Fr.
Second in the conference in batting this week, hitting at a .563 clip (9-for-16) with five runs scored, two doubles, one triple and two RBI in close games in a three-game series against St. John's. Went 4-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored, nearly hitting for the cycle as he ended the game with two singles, a double and a triple although the Bulldogs lost 7-5.

Daniel Woodrow, Creighton, OF, So.
In four games, went 7-for-16 (.438) with two multi-hit games including a four-hit, two steal performance in the win against Georgetown in the final game of the series.

Nick Collins, Georgetown, C/DH, Jr.
Led all players in the BIG EAST in batting at .600 going 9-for-15 with four runs, three doubles, a home run and five RBI. His five RBI came on just five hits in a non-league game against George Mason where he finished one triple shy of hitting the cycle.

Zach Weigel, Seton Hall, OF, Jr.
Led Seton Hall with a .500 average going 6-for12 with three RBI, two runs, two doubles a stolen base and eight total bases. Two multi-hit games for the weekend, going 3-for-5 on Friday with 3 RBI and 2-for-4 on Sunday in game two. He reached base at least twice in all three games.

Emmanuel Morris, Villanova, C/OF, Jr.
With four RBI, one run, a double and a triple Morris went 7-for-14 (.500) and knocked in key runs in three of the four non-league games this week for Villanova.

http://www.bigeast.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/040615aaa.html