Box Score (pdf)
CLEARWATER, FLA. - Mario Eramo hit a two-out RBI single to put the game away in the 13th inning, ending a long day for both teams, as the Seton Hall baseball team fell to Penn State, 3-2, in the second day of the three-day Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge in Florida.
Adding to the extra frames, the game began three hours after its original start time of 10:00 a.m. due to inclement weather in the area.
Jordan Steranka led off the bottom of the 13th inning for Penn State (2-0) with a double to right field. Pirates' freshman pitcher Henry Warner (Gladstone, N.J.) would then induce a pop-up to Ben Heath and strikeout Jack Greenberg before Eramo singled up the middle scoring Steranka for the, 3-2, victory. Warner (0-1) took the loss despite 4.2 relief innings allowing only one earned run and striking out six.
The Nittany Lions grabbed an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when Steranka drove in Heath Johnson on a groundout to the left side of the infield.
The Pirates (0-5) came back to tie the score at one in the visiting half of the third inning when sophomore Will Walsh (New Milford, N.J.) lined an RBI single through the left side scoring senior Chris Fontenelli (Toms River, N.J.), who led off the inning with a walk.
The Hall would take a, 2-1, lead in the top of the fifth when Fontenelli - who singled to lead off the inning - came around to score again, this time on an RBI base hit by junior A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) Johnson, however, drove in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth for Penn State with a sacrifice-fly to center field plating Steve Snyder.
Fontenelli finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs scored while senior Michael Rogers (Portland, Ore.) collected two hits to lead the Pirates offense.
Pirates' sophomore right-hander Benny Mejia (Paterson, N.J.) received his second no-decision after another strong outing allowing only two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in eight innings of work. His counterpart, Neal Herring, also received a no-decision surrendering two earned runs in six innings.
Jesse Alfreno (1-0) picked up the win pitching two scoreless innings in relief.
The Pirates will complete their play in the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge when they play Northwestern Sunday morning in St. Petersburg, Fla. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
