Seton Hall University
Massachusetts
Baseball Outruns UMass, 11-5
3/18/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Junior Zack Granite (Staten Island, N.Y.) went 4-for-4 with a career-high five steals as the Seton Hall baseball team defeated Massachusetts, 11-5, in the final game of the 2013 Strike Out Cancer Tournament on Sunday.
Granite, named Most Valuable Player of the three-day event, hit a tournament-best .556 and stole eight bases.
As a team, Seton Hall ran all over the Minutemen. The Pirates recorded 12 stolen bases, which in addition to Granite's five, includes a pair from Giuseppe Papaccio (Nutley, N.J.) and Derek Jenkins (Annandale, N.J.).
UMass (1-9) struck first with four runs in the top of the first inning off Pirates' starter Sam Burum (Robbinsville, N.J.). But the Pirates bounced back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Granite singled to lead off, and then stole second base. After Chris Selden (Allenhurst, N.J.) walked, Granite and Selden moved over on a double-steal. With one out, Papaccio singled up the middle to score the Pirates' first two runs. With two outs, Alex Falconi (Freeport, N.Y.) singled home Papaccio, and Mike Genovese batted in Falconi with an RBI single to make it 4-4.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Granite singled home Ryan Sullivan (Stony Point, N.Y.) with the go-ahead run.
Up 5-4, Papaccio led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. Sal Annunziata followed with a solo home run, his third of the season, to extend Seton Hall's lead to 7-4.
The Pirates struck for four more runs in the bottom of the seventh, fueled by a two-RBI single by Scott Kalamar (Bethlehem, Pa.). With the hit, Kalamar extended his on-base streak to 16 consecutive games.
Burum got the win after settling down nicely following a rocky first inning. The freshman went five innings without giving up an earned run and struck out two.
Mike Genovese (Livingston, N.J.) went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Papaccio also reached base three times, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk.
Seton Hall will return to the diamond on Wednesday, March 20 for a mid-week contest with in-state rival Saint Peter's. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
2013 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Zack Granite (OF) SHU - .556, 8 SB (MVP)
Michael Martin (P) MAN - 7.0 IP, 0 ER
Joe McClennan (P) MAN - 7.0 IP, 0 ER
Kyle Murphy (INF) MAN - .438
Giuseppe Papaccio (INF) SHU - .421, 6 RBI
Adam Picard (OF-P) UMASS - .333, 1 HR
Jon Prosinski (P) SHU - 6.0 IP, 0 ER
Chris Selden (INF) SHU - .500, 2 SB
