Creighton University
25-14, 0
Seton Hall
21-18, 0
Defensive Lapse Proves Costly as Baseball Falls to Seton Hall, 5-4
5/1/2015 8:47:00 PM | Baseball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Despite leading for most of the battle, the Creighton Baseball team suffered a 5-4 loss to Seton Hall on Friday, May 1.
The loss dropped Creighton to 25-14 on the season and 8-4 in BIG EAST play, while the Pirates moved to 21-18 overall and 6-4 in conference action.
Creighton's offense came in a consistent stream with single runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Seton Hall, however, scored in bunches with two in the fourth and three in the eighth.
After reaching on a fielder's choice for the second out of the third inning, sophomore Daniel Woodrow got Creighton going with a steal of second. Sophomore Nicky Lopez took advantage by bouncing an RBI single into right to give the Bluejays a 1-0 lead.
Creighton's second run was a bit easier as junior Brett Murray lifted a one-out single to right, then junior Ryan Fitzgerald pulled an RBI double into the right-center field gap to give Creighton a 2-0 edge in the fourth inning.
Seton Hall got even with two in the bottom of the inning, thanks in large part to an RBI triple from Sal Annunziata.
The Bluejays grabbed their lunch pales and went back to work in the fifth. Woodrow dropped a two-out bunt single down the third base line, then Lopez was hit by a pitch. This time the two-out RBI came from junior Reagan Fowler, lifting a single into right.
Creighton added another run in the sixth as junior Matt Gandy drove a two-out triple into right, then sophomore Kevin Connolly bounced an RBI single up the middle.
The 4-2 lead remained in tact until the bottom of the eighth as Seton Hall used two hits, a leadoff walk and a costly dropped fly ball to take a 5-4 lead.
Creighton could not pull a rabbit out in the top of the ninth as closer David Gerber was saddled with his second loss (0-2) of the season. Gerber allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits in one-third of an inning.
Seton Hall reliever, Joe DiBenedetto picked up the win (2-0) with 1.1 innings of scoreless ball.
Connolly led the Bluejay offense with three hits and an RBI, while Fowler finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
The Bluejays and Pirates will continue their three-game series on Saturday, May 2. First pitch of tomorrow's contest is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DiBENEDETTO, Joe (2-0)
L: Gerber, David (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Fitzgerald, Ryan 1
3B: Gandy, Matt 1
RBI: Lopez, Nicky 1 ; Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Fitzgerald, Ryan 1 ; Connolly, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodrow, Daniel 2 ; Murray, Brett 1 ; Gandy, Matt 1
SB: Woodrow, Daniel 1 ; Lopez, Nicky 1 ; Connolly, Kevin 1
HBP: Lopez, Nicky 1 ; Lamb, Kevin 1
Batting:
3B: ANNUNZIATA, Sal 1
RBI: RUHLMAN, D.J. 1 ; ANNUNZIATA, Sal 2 ; BOYD, Tyler 1
SH: JENKINS, Derek 1
SF: BOYD, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WEIGEL, Zack 1 ; RUHLMAN, D.J. 1 ; GRIMM, Kyle 2 ; ANNUNZIATA, Sal 1
SB: RUHLMAN, D.J. 1
