Baseball Picked 11th In BIG EAST Preseason Poll
1/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall baseball team was picked to finish 11th in the BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll released by the conference office. Connecticut received nine first place votes, 117 votes overall, to be tabbed the preseason conference favorite. St. John's, the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament Champions, were picked to finish second with two first place votes, 107 overall, while last season's regular season champions Louisville Cardinals, earned one first place vote, 105 overall, to finish third.
In addition to their nine first place votes, a pair of Connecticut's upper classmen took the honor of Preseason Pitcher and Player of the Year in senior right-hander Matt Barnes and junior outfielder George Springer, respectively.
Despite the Pirates preseason prediction, head coach Rob Sheppard returns 22 players from a year ago including senior shortstop A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) and all three of the team's weekend starters on the mound in senior Joe DiRocco (East Hanover, N.J.) and sophomores Frank Morris (Levittown, Pa.) and Jon Prosinski (Skillman, N.J.).
In 2010, Rusbarsky started all 50 games for the Hall at shortstop breaking the all-time single-season assists record as well as setting a new career record in the same category. On the mound, DiRocco led the team with 14 starts and 62 strikeouts in 82 innings of work, while Prosinski, led the team with a 4.04 ERA and was second with three wins including two on the road against Louisville and Connecticut.
2011 Preseason BIG EAST Baseball Coaches' Poll
1. Connecticut (9) 117
2. St. John's (2) 107
3. Louisville (1) 105
4. USF 87
5. Pittsburgh 82
6. Rutgers 75
7. Cincinnati 56
Notre Dame 56
9. West Virginia 38
10. Villanova 31
11. Seton Hall 25
12. Georgetown 13
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year:
George Springer, OF, Connecticut
Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year:
Matt Barnes, RHP, Connecticut
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Pos. Name, Class, School
P Matt Barnes, Sr., Connecticut *
P Matt Iannazzo, Jr., Pittsburgh
P Kyle Hansen, So., St. John's
P Randy Fontanez, Sr., USF
P Andrew Barbosa, Sr., USF
C Erick Fernandez, Sr., Georgetown
C Kevan Smith, Sr., Pittsburgh
1B Mike Nemeth, Sr., Connecticut *
2B Ryan Wright, Jr., Louisville *
SS Steve Nyisztor, So., Rutgers
3B Grant Buckner, Sr., West Virginia
OF George Springer, Jr., Connecticut *
OF Stewart Ijames, Jr., Louisville
OF Jeremy Baltz, So., St. John's *
DH Kevin Vance, Jr., Connecticut
DH Ryan Kapp, Jr., Rutgers
* - unanimous selection
