Seton Hall Downs Creighton Baseball, 8-6

South Orange, N. J. -- Creighton Baseball suffered an 8-6 loss to Seton Hall in the series opening game on Saturday, April 12.

The loss moved Creighton to 19-10 on the season and 2-2 in BIG EAST action, while Seton Hall climbed to 13-21 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

The game turned on a pair of big innings as Creighton plated five runs in the second, but Seton Hall answered with six runs in the fifth.

The Bluejays seemed to take control of the game with five unearned runs in the second, taking advantage of two errors and two walks to load the bags with a 1-0 edge. Back-to-back sacrifice fly pushed the Creighton lead to 3-0, then junior Tate Gillen capped the frame with a two run blast to left field to make it 5-0.

Seton Hall pushed across a single run in the fourth, but turned four singles and four walks in the fifth into a 7-5 advantage.

Creighton inched closer with a run in the eighth, but left the bags full to remain down one run at 7-6. 

Seton Hall took advantage of three hit batters in the eighth to surge back up by a pair at 8-6.

The game came to an anticlimactic end as what appeared to a hit batter to load the bases for Creighton was overturned to a strikeout that ended the contest.

Bluejay reliever Ian Koosman took the loss (3-3), allowing six runs on three walks and three hits in one inning of work. Seton Hall starter Ryan Reich, meanwhile earned the win (1-6) as he allowed five unearned runs on three hits over six innings. Pirate reliever John Downing picked up his second save of the season as he allowed one run on four walks and three hits in three innings.

The Bluejays and Pirates will complete their three-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 13 beginning at 9:00 a.m.