St. John’s could not make it back-to-back Big East championships on Sunday, falling to Seton Hall 4-2 in the title game.
The Pirates got six innings of one-run ball from Tournament Most Outstanding Player Joe DiRocco, who was pitching on three-day’s rest after beating West Virginia to open the tournament.
Seton Hall, who closed the regular season with three straight wins to finish in the top-8 and qualify for the tournament, will find out where they are headed for the NCAA tournament on Monday.
The Pirates’ Zack Granite led off the game with a single to center and would score on Sean Gusrang’s double. Granite would score again in the third inning when he walked stole second, tagged up to third base and scored on a wild pitch from Red Storm starter Kyle Hansen.
Seton Hall, seeded fifth, beat regular season champ UConn twice to advance to the finals. St. John’s, who finished the regular season in second place, lost to Louisville Saturday morning but avenged that loss later the night to eliminate the Cardinals.
St. John’s cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the top of the fifth, but Seton Hall came back with two more in the bottom half.
Seton Hall closer Ryan Harvey got the final four outs for the save that sent the Pirates to their third Big East championship and first since 2001.
With BIGEAST.org