Seton Hall's Matt Toke drove in five RBI in Friday's 21-5 elimination game win.
No. 2 Seton Hall Rallies With Tournament Record 21 Runs In Win Over No. 4 Georgetown
No. 2 Seton Hall 21, No. 4 Georgetown 5 (PDF)
MASON, Ohio – No. 2 Seton Hall extended its stay at Prasco Park in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep in a 21-5 rout of No. 4 Georgetown, setting a tournament record for runs. The Pirates will go on to play the loser of the St. John’s-Butler game.
The previous record was held by West Virginia in a 20-8 win over Pittsburgh in seven innings in game seven of the 2009 tournament. In 1987, Seton Hall had scored 18 runs in a tournament game against Villanova.
Seton Hall was led by Matt Toke who went 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBI. Toke hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. Mike Alescio went 3-for-5 with three runs and four RBI. Rob Dadona went 3-for-6 with three runs and two RBI. As a team, the Pirates went 21-43 (.448) with 20 RBI and 10 walks.
Georgetown finishes the 2018 campaign 25-30. The Hoyas had two players hit home runs in the top of the fourth inning: Michael DeRenzi and Sammy Stevens. DeRenzi’s homer sent in three RBI. He finished 2-for-4. Stevens finished 1-for-2, he also walked twice.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Ricky DeVito (6-2) earned the victory for the Hall as he allowed three hits but four earned runs and walked one and struck out six. Georgetown’s Jeremiah Burke got the loss (3-2).
Georgetown struck first in the first inning. Alex Bernauer grounded out at first base but sent in Jake Bernstein from third. Seton Hall got back three runs in the bottom of the inning, as Sebastiano Santorelli scored on an Al Molina single up the middle. Toke scored Molina and Mike Alescio with a two-out single, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead.
In the second inning, Seton Hall scored six runs after DeVito had limited Georgetown to just one hit in the inning, a leadoff single by Freddy Achecar III. The Pirates scored all six runs on two outs. Alescio had a two RBI double, then Ryan Ramiz followed it up with a repeat performance. Toke homered scoring Ramiz. Toke’s homer ended Burke’s outing and reliever Nick Morreale got the last out of the inning, a swinging strikeout of Tyler Shedler-McAvoy after walking Casey Dana.
Seton Hall would score two in the third then once in the fourth and six more in the sixth. The Pirates added one more in the seventh and two in the eighth in a game that lasted three hours and four minutes.
It was Seton Hall’s first tournament win since the Pirates defeated Georgetown in the 2015 tournament, 5-1, also in the Friday afternoon elimination game.
Seton Hall (28-19) will play at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in the second elimination game of the tournament. The Pirates will play the loser of Friday’s nightcap between No. 1 seed St. John’s and No. 3 seed Butler.