BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
LOUISVILLE, KY. - Louisville scored five times in the first inning and never looked back as the 19th-ranked Cardinals defeated the Seton Hall baseball team, 12-7, Saturday in Kentucky.
Seton Hall (18-16, 6-5) starter Ryan Harvey (Manalapan, N.J.) couldn't get out of the first inning, surrendering five runs, three earned, in just one third of an inning.
After combining for five runs the night before, Seton Hall and Louisville combined for seven runs in the first inning on Saturday.
The Pirates jumped on Louisville starter Jeff Thompson early. RBI singles by Giuseppe Papaccio (Nutley, N.J.) and Sal Annunziata (Bronx, N.Y.) gave Seton Hall a 2-0 lead before the Cardinals came to the plate. But when they did, they did a number on the Pirates' pitching. Five of the six batters Harvey faced reached base and by the time Henry Warner (Gladstone, N.J.) came on in relief, Louisville had grabbed a 4-2 lead.
Seton Hall went right back to work in the top of the second however, and RBIs by Zack Granite (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Mike Genovese (Livingston, N.J.) cut the Cardinals lead to 5-4.
Louisville (25-10, 8-3) however, added insurance runs in the bottom of the second and third, and after two innings of scoreless baseball with the score 7-4, broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Trailing 12-4, the Pirates mounted a comeback attempt in the top of the seventh. Seton Hall started the inning with five consecutive singles and hits by Will Walsh (New Milford, N.J.) and Giuseppe Papaccio scored runs. With one out, Sal Annunziata reached on a fielder's choice which plated a third Pirates' run of the inning. With the score 12-7 however, the Pirates' hit parade ended.
Connor Delepine (Middletown, N.J.) performed the best of the Pirates' five pitchers on Saturday. The junior pitched the final three innings for Seton Hall and didn't give up a run or hit.
Both Granite and Papaccio finished 3-for-5. Granite added two stolen bases and now has a career-best 14 on the season. Papaccio and Annunziata led the Pirates with two RBIs apiece.
Seton Hall will return to the diamond tomorrow when it will face Louisville for the rubber game this series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
