The Seton Hall Pirates kicked off a 3 game weekend series against their Big East foe, the Butler Bulldogs at Owen T. Carroll Field. The pitching matchup was RHP Zach Prendergrast vs LHP Jeff Schank for Butler. The Pirates got on the board in the 1st on an RBI groundout by Kyle Grimm which plated Zack Weigel and made it a 1-0 lead for Seton Hall. The Pirates added another run in the 2nd when Zack Weigel walked with the bases loaded to force in a run. The score remained 2-0 until the top of the 4th when Butler would answer with 4 runs and take a 4-2 lead. An RBI single by Garrett Christman and a 3 run homer by Austin Miller put Butler up 4-2.

The Pirates answered in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI groundout by Joe Poduslenko. In the 6th, Poduslenko hit a sac fly which scored Derek Jenkins and tied the score at 4-4. The Pirates would retake the lead in the 7th on an RBI groundout by Ryan Ramiz. Kyle Grimm added to the lead in the 8th with an RBI single to make the score 6-4. Anthony Elia came on in the 9th and recorded his 2nd save of the season and the Pirates took the 1st game of the series with a 6-4 win.

Zach Prendergrast worked 7 innings while allowing 6 hits and 4 runs. Prendergrast struck out 7 and walked only 1. His record improved to 5-3 on the season. Matt Leon came on and worked a perfect 8th inning and gave way to Anthony Elia who picked up his 2nd save. Danny Pobereyko took the loss for Butler. His record fell to 1-1.

The Pirates were led by Tyler Boyd and Ryan Ramiz who had 2 hits apiece. Kyle Grimm and Joe Poduslenko each had 2 RBI’s. The Bulldogs were led by Garrett Christman and Tyler Houston with 2 hits apiece. Austin Miller homered and plated 3 RBI’s.

The Pirates are back in action for game 2 of the series against Butler on Saturday at 1 PM. The Pitching matchup will be RHP Shane McCarthy (4-2) for the Pirates vs LHP Peter Nyznk (1-2) for Butler.

We will have a full recap of the 2nd game of the series. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.