DiRocco Named to ABCA All-America Third Team
7/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Standout pitcher and recent Seton Hall graduate Joe DiRocco (East Hanover, N.J.) was named to the 2011 ABCA/Rawlings Division I All-America Third Team.
It marks the first ABCA All-America recognition for a Seton Hall player since David Kim was named to the ABCA All-America Second Team in 1997.
DiRocco was also named to the 2011 ABCA All-East Region First Team.
The ace right-hander was instrumental in leading Seton Hall to its first BIG EAST Championship since 2001 and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. In two starts at the BIG EAST tournament, the DiRocco had two wins, a 2.57 ERA, struck out seven and walked four. After pitching Seton Hall to a 10-4 win over West Virginia in the opening round, he returned on only three days rest to lead the Pirates to a 4-2 victory over St. John's in the title game.
The First Team All-BIG EAST performer finished the BIG EAST regular-season posting a 3-1 record with a 1.63 ERA striking out 49 batters in 66.1 innings of work. He entered the 2011 post-season tournament ranked second in the conference with a .208 opposing batting average, third in innings pitched, fourth in ERA, strikeouts-looking (19), and pick-offs (2), seventh in earned runs allowed (12), and eighth in strikeouts.
Overall this season, the senior was 8-2 with a 1.97 ERA fanning 82 batters in 118.2 innings. He began his season with a two-hit eight inning shutout against Iowa in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge pitching the Pirates to their first win of the season. The outing earned DiRocco a place on the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge All-Tournament Team, and the InsidePitching.com Northeast Regional Performance of the Week. It also gave him his first of three BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week awards, which was the most awarded to a pitcher in one season since 2003.
One week removed from the Iowa performance, the four-year weekend starter threw 6.1 innings yielding only one run on four hits while striking out four to defeat then-number 24 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He was later named to his second conference Pitcher of the Week award for the outing.
DiRocco ends his career at the Hall with six BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week awards tying him for second place among all conference pitchers dating back to 1985.
On June 7, DiRocco was selected in the 21st round, 633 overall, by the Seattle Mariners in the 2011 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
