Seton Hall
Game Preview: Seton Hall eyes an upset in the first game of the Big East Tournament (5/23)
Date: May 22, 2019By: Ronny Castaneda
After a roller coaster regular season, the Pirates managed to grab the four-seed in the Big East Tournament. The Hall (25-26 Overall, 9-9 Big East Conference) will take on the first-seeded Creighton Blue Jays (35-11 Overall, 14-4 Big East Conference) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
Seton Hall had a 3-12 start to the season, and it seemed like the Pirates would enjoy the regular season and head home early with no postseason play. However, a five-game win streak was enough to breathe life back into the ball club as they went on to finish 16-17 before beginning Big East play.
In their last meeting against the Blue Jays, the Pirates could not compare to the juggernaut offense of Creighton, as they were swept in the three-game series. Seton Hall only managed to score one run in each game while Creighton put up a total of 19 runs over the series. The sweep for Creighton over Seton Hall included their 11-1 victory to win game two, before they completed the sweep of the Pirates the next day.
The play of junior Jake Holton has been instrumental for the Blue Jays. Holton leads the Big East with a whopping .412 batting average to go along with 52 RBIs and 13 home runs. Teammate Will Robertson, is also making a name for himself with 56 RBIs and 11 homers on the season.
The Pirates were able to brush the sweep off and come back scorching hot in Big East play as they went on to win each of their next three-series. This hot streak included taking two games in Cincinnati against the second-seeded Musketeers. The Pirates have received helped throughout the season from unexpected players like Alex Clyde, Casey Dana, and Steve Grober.
As of late, the leading Pirate has been Tyler Shedler-Mcavoy. The outfielder is the lone Seton Hall hitter batting above .300 with 36 RBIs on the season. Shedler-Mcavoy also earned back-to-back Big East player of the week honors after batting .474 with a team high of nine RBIs and four stolen bases within the week.
Pitching for the Pirates has also seen its woes throughout the season. After being named Big East Player of the Year last season, Ricky DeVito hasn’t lived up to the honor this season. DeVito has produced a 3.86 ERA in 11 games played, going 2-5 on the season. Junior Noah Thompson and freshman David Festa have been more consistent with Thompson leading the team in strikeouts and Festa showing signs of a promising start as a freshman.
In their most recent matchup, the Pirates had already clinched a spot in the postseason tournament. The team needed to steal one game away from the St. John’s Red Storm to clinch the three-seed. Seton Hall failed to do so and were swept, including a heartbreaking 7-6 loss, which saw the Johnnies score four runs in the ninth. The Pirates lost that game off a walk-off hit.
The Pirates will need to brush their recent woes off if they want to make some noise in this tournament. It won’t be easy for the Pirates, as they look to take home some hardware from Mason, Ohio.
Tune-in to 89.5 FM WSOU at 2:15 for coverage of the game. The pregame show will be hosted by Dalton Allison and Michael Daly, while Chris Russo and Jose Feliciano will have the call from Prasco Park.
Ronny Castaneda can be reached at ronald.castaneda@student.shu.edu.
