Stroudsburg, PA – Nine innings was not enough to settle the match-up between the Pace University baseball team and No. 12 East Stroudsburg University. In the 15-inning affair, Pace came out on top, 9-7, improving to 19-8 overall, and remaining 10-3 in the Northeast-10.
Both offenses found success at the plate early as 11 runs came across the plate in the first four innings. Pace tallied five while East Stroudsburg had six and after four innings of play, the Setters trailed by one, 5-6.
Down 6-7 in the top of the eighth, Pace tied the game at seven behind a Mason Baronian single to left field. With neither side scoring in the ninth, extra innings began in Stroudsburg, PA.
Both pitching staffs found their groove in extra innings as Pace and East Stroudsburg failed to bring a run across in the first five innings of extras bringing the game into the 15th inning with the score still tied 7-7.
In the top half of the 15th, two runs came across home plate for Pace with Luke Rivara and Dylan Koch driving home a run each with back-to-back singles. In the next half inning, Sean Costello came out of the bullpen and earned his sixth save of the season, finally bringing an end to Pace's longest game of the 2024 season.
In a statement win against a top 15 team in the country, the Setters pitching once again was the difference maker. After giving up seven runs in the first seven innings, the Setters allowed no runs in the final eight.
Cristian Rodriguez took the helm of the mound in extra innings tossing five shutout innings with four strikeouts. The southpaw pitcher provided confidence for the Setters in multiple high-leverage situations as he escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 12th inning. Rodriguez earned his second win of the year in his longest outing of the season.
The Blue and Gold totaled 18 hits in the match-up with Luke Rivara (3-for-6, 2 RBIs), Dominic Rivara (3-for-8, 2 runs, 1 RBI), and Koch (3-for-4, 1 RBI) leading the way. The Setters managed to draw a season-high nine walks on the day.
Up next for Pace is a home match-up against Caldwell University tomorrow with the first pitch set for 3:00 p.m.
