Baseball Heads to Tennessee for Weekend Series
2/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SETON HALL Weekly Notes - Tennessee (.pdf)
February 24-26, 2012
SETON HALL (2-4) at TENNESSEE (6-0)
Lindsey Nelson Stadium
Knoxville, Tenn.
Game 5: L, 2-9
Game 6: L, 2-3 (11)
Game 7: Sunday, February 26 - Noon
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SETON HALL STATUS
Seton Hall is coming off a 2-2 opening weekend performance at the 2012 Big Ten / BIG EAST Challenge. The Pirates started the season with a 6-3 victory over Penn State on Friday. Jon Prosinski gave up two earned runs in six innings to earn the win. Saturday brought a pair of losses, a 2-1 setback at the hands of Michigan and a 14-7 loss in the nightcap to Ohio State. Sunday, the Pirates bounced back with another 6-3 victory, this time over Northwestern. Freshman Kyle Grimm led the offensive attack by going 4-for-4, while Jose Lopez picked up the win in relief of Frank Morris. Morris was solid with four innings of work with only two earned runs given up. Senior Dale Anderson knocked in at least one RBI in all four games and leads the team with five so far this season. Seton Hall will be facing Tennessee for the first time on Friday.
SOLID START
At 2-2 Seton Hall is off to its best start since starting 2-2 in 2009. That year, the Pirates began the season with wins over Minnesota and Michigan State.
DRIVING IN RUNS
Senior Dale Anderson has driven in at least one run in all four games so far this season. The Canadian right fielder is currently batting .333 with a team-leading five RBIs.
GRIMM OUTLOOK FOR OPPONENTS
Freshman Kyle Grimm has appeared in all of the season's first four games and is making the most of his opportunities. The infielder currently leads the team with a .538 batting average and was a perfect 4-for-4 in the win over Northwestern. After starting the season 1-for-7, Grimm is perfect in his last six plate appearances.
SETTING THE TABLE
Zack Granite and Mike Genovese, regular leadoff and #2 hitters in the Pirates lineup, did a fine job of getting on base and creating havoc on the base paths in the Big Ten / BIG EAST Challenge. They combined for eight of the Pirates' 19 runs scored in the event. Granite also stole a pair of bases.
MIGHTY MANGIONE
Junior Rick Mangione made his fifth career start on Feb. 18 vs. Michigan and despite taking the loss in a pitcher's duel, pitched very well. The lefthander gave up only two earned runs over five innings while striking out six and walking just one.
FRESHMAN FIREBALLER
Freshman reliever Jose Lopez has been impressive in his first appearances in a Pirates uniform. The right-hander pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his first save in a 6-3 victory over Penn State and came on in relief of Frank Morris with two innings of scoreless ball to earn his first win against Northwestern.
OPENING DAY WIN
For the second straight year, Seton Hall opened the season with Penn State. Unlike last year, the Pirates opened with a victory. Behind the strong pitching of ace Jon Prosinski, the Seton Hall defeated Penn State, 6-3. Prosinski went six innings and gave up only two earned runs for the win. The Pirates improve to 11-28-1 on opening day dating back to 1973, including a 3-6 mark since 2004 when Rob Sheppard took over as head coach.
CUNDARI PITCHING COACH OF THE YEAR
Seton Hall's Phil Cundari has been named National Pitching Coach of the Year by the acclaimed college baseball newspaper, Collegiate Baseball. This prestigious award, now in its ninth year, is sponsored by EDGE charting software and web stats. Cundari was instrumental in guiding the pitching staff for last year's BIG EAST Champion squad that led the conference in earned run average and was second in strikeouts, opponent batting average, innings pitched and hits allowed. Seton Hall's ace, Joe DiRocco, was named an ABCA All-American and Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 BIG EAST Championship.
HALL CALLS FOR RAMOS
George Ramos Curvy, who starred on the diamond for Seton Hall during a historic career in the 1970's, will be the newest member of the baseball family to be inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame. Seton Hall's first African-American All-American, Ramos helped the Pirates advance to back-to-back College World Series appearances in 1974 and 1975, and saw the team post a 135-51-2 mark over his four seasons. Ramos earned American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Second-Team All-America honors in 1977, when he was also tabbed as the New Jersey Baseball Writer's Association Player of the Year.
SHEPPARD COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Rob Sheppard was named 2011 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year by FieldTurf. Award-winners were named in four categories, including two NCAA Coach of the Year winners, one NCAA Team of the Year winner, and the MLB Team of the Year. This year's winners are:
MLB Team of the Year - St. Louis Cardinals
NCAA Division I Coach of the Year - Rob Sheppard, Seton Hall
NCAA Division II Coach of the Year - Steve Lyon, Grand Valley St.
NCAA Team of the Year - University of Virginia Cavaliers
MORE COMPETITION
The BIG EAST Conference has announced the addition of Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU as future full members. Among these newcomers, only SMU is without a baseball program. With West Virginia and Pittsburgh leaving, the future BIG EAST Conference for baseball will have 13 members.
CUNDARI PROMOTED
Phil Cundari, Seton Hall's long-time Pirates' pitching coach, was promoted to Associate Head Coach this offseason. A Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Famer and long-time assistant coach, Phil Cundari, has served on the Pirates' coaching staff for the last 11 years and has two BIG EAST Championship rings to show for it.
PAPPAS PROMOTED
Mark Pappas, last year's volunteer assistant coach, was promoted to Assistant Coach after Jim Duffy left to take the Manhattan head coaching position. A player for the Pirates from 2005-08, he was a career .290 hitter with 101 runs scored, 92 RBIs, 34 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs. In his senior campaign, he led the team with 41 runs scored, nine doubles, and eight sacrifice flies. Coach Pappas will focus on hitting and fielding, both specialties of his during his playing days.
BLACKWELL JOINS STAFF
Jay Blackwell is in his first season as a volunteer assistant coach for Seton Hall. He brings more than 15 years of collegiate coaching experience and joins the Pirate after spending last year as an assistant baseball coach at Kean University. Blackwell received his first head coaching experience at Bloomfield College, where he was the head coach for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
PIRATES WELCOME 10
The Pirates will welcome 10 new members to the team this season. Sal Annunziata, Tyler Boyd, Chris Carroll, Daniel Ditusa, Anthony Elia, Alex Falconi, Kyle Grimm, Connor Kraus, Jose Lopez and D.J. Ruhlman will all don Seton Hall uniforms for the first time this spring. All are true freshmen.
"HALL" OF A COACHING STAFF
On January 7, 2011 Mike Sheppard, Sr. was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame following a stellar career at the helm of the Seton Hall Pirates baseball team. He held the position from 1973-2003 posting 28 winning seasons and 27 postseason berths including 15 BIG EAST Championships and two College World Series appearances. Eleven months earlier, current pitching coach Phil Cundari was elected into Seton Hall University's Hall of Fame as a pitcher. Cundari pitched for Sheppard's 1983-85 squads and began his coaching career during Sheppard's reign. Cundari enters his 13th season tutoring the pitching staff, while Sheppard remains a big part of the program as the head coach emeritus.
FOR a TEAMMATE
For the third straight season, the Pirates baseball team will honor David Bachner, a 2009 in-coming freshman who passed away on August 11, 2009, by hanging a t-shirt with his name and high school number in the dugout each game.
BASEBALL GOING RETRO
In the 1980's, the Seton Hall Pirates wore a light blue and black horizontal striped jersey. Last season, the Pirates brought them back by wearing them throughout the 2011 season. With Seton Hall winning the BIG EAST Tournament last season, you'll certainly see the retro uniforms again in 2012.
STRIKE OUT CANCER
March 16-18 will mark the fourth annual Strike Out Cancer Tournament hosted by Seton Hall. Each season, the Pirates have teamed up with American Cancer Society to host the four-team tournament and have raised over $2,500 each year through donations and merchandise sales.
FRIENDS OF JACLYN
This season, the Pirates will once again welcome Connor Mackay to their squad through the "Friends of Jaclyn" Organization. FOJ is a non-profit organization that connects children struggling with brain tumors with an NCAA team. Throughout the year, the team provides support and encouragement to the child and their family.
