The Seton Hall baseball team kicked off its 2016 campaign down in Ft. Myers, Florida as they took on the Missouri Tigers. We talked to Jason Lowenthal of The Maneater, and he provided some fantastic insight on the Tigers. He told us, “Reggie McClain and Tanner Houck provide a reliable 1-2 punch in the rotation.” He also told us, “The offense will be exponentially better with Shane Benes finally back and healthy.” Jason was right on both fronts as the Tigers took down the Pirates 7-0 in the first game of this 4 game series. Both Reggie McClain and Shane Benes played big roles in this one.

The pitching match up featured RHP Shane McCarthy for the Pirates against RHP Reggie McClain for the Missouri Tigers. After both teams went down 1-2-3 in the first, the Tigers got on the board in the bottom half of the second inning. Shane Benes deposited a Shane McCarthy pitch over the wall in left center to give Missouri a 1-0 lead. The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth. Brett Bond would drive home 2 runs with a single up the middle to make it a 3-0 Missouri lead.

The Tigers struck again in the bottom of the 7th. First, Jake Ring would triple home Kirby McGuire to give Mizzou a 4-0 lead. Brett Bond would follow up a single that scored Ring and gave Missouri a 5-0 lead. Shane Benes and Trey Harris would each follow up with RBI singles of their own to open up the lead to 7-0. That would end up being the final score as the Missouri Tigers opened their season with a win.

Reggie McClain was simply superb for the Tigers. McClain tossed 7 scoreless innings, scattering 4 hits and striking out 4 while walking none to earn his first win of the season. At one point he retired 13 straight Pirates batters. Brian Sharp came on and pitched a scoreless 9th for the Tigers.

Shane McCarthy completed 5.1 innings while allowing 3 runs on 7 hits. McCarthy walked 1 and struck out 4 batters and fell to 0-1 on the young season. Anthony Pacillo relieved McCarthy and retired the two batters he faced. Ryan Testani pitched two innings while allowing 4 runs on 5 hits.

The Tigers were led by catcher Brett Bond who had two hits and 3 RBI’s. Third baseman Shane Benes had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s; he also had his first home run of the season. Trey Harris and Jake Ring each had an RBI as well for the Tigers.

Mikael-Ali Mogues had the best game for the Pirates as he was 2-4 with a double. Matt Fortin and Chris Chiaradio each had a hit for Seton Hall.

We would again like to thank Jason Lowenthal for providing his insight on the Missouri Tigers. We’ll keep in touch with him and get his thoughts on the rest of the series! Tomorrow the Pirates and Tigers will play a double header. The first game starts at 1 p.m. and the pitching match up will be RHP Zach Schellenger for the Pirates against RHP Tanner Houck for the Missouri Tigers. We will have full coverage of the games tomorrow. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.