Milewski's Birthday Grand Slam Lifts Seton Hall to 12-8 Win at Xavier

Friday, May 2

Cincinnati, Ohio

12 p.m.

Seton Hall University

20-26, 6-7

Xavier

27-21, 11-5

Seton Hall

Xavier

Kevin Milewski stands at the plate against Creighton

Photo by: Beth Berardi

Milewski's Birthday Grand Slam Lifts Seton Hall to 12-8 Win at Xavier

5/2/2025 5:20:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Cincinnati, Ohio - Kevin Milewski, playing on his birthday, smashed two home runs, including go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth to lift the Seton Hall baseball team to a homer-happy 12-8 win at Xavier Friday at Hayden Field.

The game was scheduled to be the first game of a doubleheader, but incoming inclement weather and two in-game lightning delays that combined to last 80 minutes forced the postponement of game two. The new weekend schedule has the two teams playing single games on Saturday and Sunday, both at noon.

The Pirates, now winners of six straight games overall, hit a season-high five home runs in the contest, the most home runs they've hit in a game since hitting six at Xavier on April 28, 2023. Also going deep today were Aiden Robbins, Dylan Pacheco and AJ Soldra. For Milewski, it was his second-two home run game of the season and his five RBI are a new career high.

How It Happened

Robbins set the tone for the game, leading off the top of the first with an opposite field home run down the right field line on a 3-2 pitch, giving the Pirates an immediate 1-0 lead. It began a chain of a home run in each of the first three innings for The Hall. In the second inning with a man on second, Pacheco drilled a 2-1 pitch over the left center wall to make it a 3-0 advantage. Milewski then joined the party in the third inning with his first home run of the day, a left-center blast to make it 4-0.

In the bottom half of the third, Xavier took advantage of two Seton Hall miscues to post three unearned runs and pull within one at 4-3. The first lightning delay came with one out in the top of the fifth, and when play resumed, Xavier tied the score in the bottom of the fifth on a walk, double and sacrifice fly.

Soldra led off the sixth inning with Seton Hall's fourth home run of the day, an opposite field blast down the left field line to reclaim the lead, and the Pirates followed with three unearned runs as Pacheco hit a two-run single that ended him on third as a result of a fielding error and then scored when Xavier's catcher tried picking him off third but sailed the throw into left field.

Xavier chipped away at the Pirates' lead with a home run in the sixth, and a home run and RBI double in the eighth inning, following a second lightning delay that occurred in the seventh.

With the score tied at 8-8 in the top of the ninth, Robbins drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a single by Justin Ford. Soldra walked to load the bases and set the scene for Milewski, who hammered a 1-0 breaking ball well over the left-center fence for the grand slam and a 12-8 advantage.

Pitching his second inning of work, John Downing finished the win on the mound with two strikeouts to give Seton Hall its sixth BIG EAST win of the season and sixth straight win overall.