Pirates Dominate Butler In 8-1 Victory

Friday, April 25

South Orange, N.J.

4 p.m.

Seton Hall University

16-26, 3-7

Butler

14-27, 3-7

Butler

Seton Hall

Steven Svenson throws a pitch against NJIT

4/25/2025 7:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

South Orange, N.J. – The Seton Hall baseball team played a complete game in all phases in an 8-1 series opening win over Butler on Friday afternoon at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium.

On the mound, the Pirates allowed just one run and one walk as Steven Svenson tossed five scoreless innings, Daniel Frontera faced the minimum in the sixth inning and John Downing struck out five batters in a three-inning effort where he picked up his third save of the season. Despite committing an error, the Seton Hall defense turned two double plays.

At the plate, Nick Ferri logged a career-best four RBI and Justin Ford went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs driven in. While he didn't collect a hit, Kevin Milewski drew five walks in all five of plate appearances, tying the single game high in NCAA Division I baseball this season.

How It Happened

Svenson retired nine of the first 11 batters he faced including a one-two-three top of the second inning. Gabe Cavazzoni was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the third inning and he stole second to move into scoring position. After advancing to third on a double play, AJ Soldra and Kevin Milewski drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Ferri was the next batter and was down 0-2 in the count when he was hit by a pitch to bring home the game's first run.

Svenson retired the side in order in the top of the fourth and the Pirates' first of two double plays in the game helped him get out of the fifth inning unscathed. With one out in the home half of the fifth, Soldra reached on a bunt single, moved to second base on a balk and later moved to third on an errant pickoff throw by the pitcher. After Milewski walked to give Seton Hall runners on the corners, Ferri found himself in a productive spot once again and he delivered with a flyout to deep right center field that brought Soldra home and gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

Frontera came on in relief of Svenson and started the sixth inning where he got the first batter to ground out to third. The next Butler hitter reached on a single but he was quickly erased on The Hall's second twin killing of the contest. With two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth, Aiden Robbins was intentionally walked for the second time to get to Ford, who made Butler pay with a bases clearing triple that extended Seton Hall's lead to 4-0.

With some breathing room entering the seventh, the Pirates turned to their bullpen ace in Downing who struck out the side in his first frame. The Bulldogs scored their first run of the game on a two-out RBI single in the eighth that cut their deficit to two before Seton Hall added key insurance runs in the bottom half. With two outs, Ferri brought home two more runs on a double down the right field line that put the score at 6-1. Jimmy Brennan was the next batter and he put the game out of reach with a bases-clearing two-bagger that extended the Pirates' lead to 8-1.