Baseball Begins BIG EAST Title Defense; Hosts Rutgers This Weekend
3/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SETON HALL Weekly Notes - Rutgers (.pdf)
March 23-24, 2012
RUTGERS (9-9, 0-0) at SETON HALL (9-10, 0-0)
Owen T. Carroll Field
South Orange, N.J.
Game 20: Fri., March 23 - 2:00 p.m. - Owen T. Carroll Field
Tyler Gebler (RHP) vs. Jon Prosinski (RHP)
Live Video Stream: CLICK HERE
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
Game 21: Fri., March 23 - 6:00 p.m. - Owen T. Carroll Field
Rob Smorol (LHP) vs. Rick Mangione (LHP)
Live Video Stream: CLICK HERE
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
Game 22: Sat., March 24 - 1:00 p.m. - Owen T. Carroll Field
Rob Corsi (LHP) vs. Jose Lopez (RHP)
Live Video Stream: CLICK HERE
Live Audio Stream: 89.5 FM WSOU CLICK HERE
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
SETON HALL STATUS
Seton Hall will begin its BIG EAST title defense this weekend when Rutgers comes to Owen T. Carroll Field for three games to kick off the conference schedule. The Pirates are coming off a sweep of three games at the Strike Out Cancer Classic, but a loss to Saint Peter's on Tuesday. Last Friday, Jon Prosinski threw a complete-game shutout against Fordham in a 5-0 victory. On Saturday, Seton Hall came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Maine, 6-4. Ryan Sullivan had a pair of RBIs. On Sunday, Jose Lopez gave up just one hit over six innings as the Pirates shutout NJIT, 3-0. Sal Annunziata had two RBI's in the victory. Tuesday, the Pirates had a four-game winnings streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to Saint Peter's. Brian Gilbert made his first start of the season and took the loss with two earned runs over five innings.
SETON HALL - RUTGERS SERIES
Friday's game will mark the 80th meeting between New Jersey and BIG EAST rivals, Seton Hall and Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights hold a slim all-time, 41-38, all-time series lead, but have won the series with the Pirates in each of the last two years. Seton Hall took two out of three in 2009. In fact, Rutgers has won four of the last five series with the Pirates. Last year, Rutgers defeated Seton Hall, 4-1, in the series opener in Piscataway. The Pirates responded in the second game of the twin bill with a 3-2 victory in 13 innings. Joe DiRocco pitched eight and two thirds innings, giving up just two earned runs, while striking out nine and not walking a batter. Seton Hall dropped the rubber match, 9-5. Sean Gusrang knocked in two RBIs for the Pirates in the losing cause.
STRIKE OUT CANCER CLASSIC SUCCESS
Seton Hall swept its three games in the 2012 Strike Out Cancer Classic. The Pirates shut out Fordham, 5-0, behind the masterful pitching of Jon Prosinski. The right-hander pitched a complete game shutout. Seton Hall came from behind to defeat Maine, 6-4, on Saturday. On Sunday, Jose Lopez pitched six innings of one-hit baseball in a 3-0 victory over NJIT.
PROSINSKI MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Junior Jon Prosinski was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 Strike Out Cancer Classic for pitching nine innings of scoreless baseball in a 5-0 victory over Fordham on March 16. The right-hander also struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
STREAKING GRANITE
Sophomore leadoff hitter Zack Granite has now hit safely in 12 straight games. Over that stretch, the centerfielder has banged out 14 hits and has increased his batting average by 27 points.
LOPEZ DOMINATES
Freshman Jose Lopez improved to 2-0 on the young season with a dominating performance over NJIT in the Strike Out Cancer Classic finale. Lopez gave up just one hit in six scoreless innings, while striking out seven and walking just one batter. Lopez's ERA is now a miniscule 1.42.
SULLIVAN, HARVEY HONORABLE MENTIONS
Ryan Sullivan and Ryan Harvey were named Honorable Mentions for their performances at the 2012 Strike Out Cancer Classic. Sullivan was 5-for-11 with two runs scored, three RBIs and one stolen base, while Harvey pitched four innings of scoreless ball in relief, giving up just one hit and striking out four.
HONOR ROLL FOR PROSINSKI
Junior Jon Prosinski was named to the BIG EAST's Weekly Honor Roll on March 19. The right-handed ace threw a complete-game, shutout while scattering just five hits in Seton Hall's 5-0 victory over Fordham, at Owen T. Carroll Field. Prosinski struck out five batters and didn't issue a single walk in improving to 3-2 on the young season. For his efforts, he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Strikeout Cancer Tournament this weekend.
WSOU ANNOUNCES BROADCASTS
89.5 FM WSOU, Seton Hall Pirate Radio, will be the broadcast home all season long for the 2011 BIG EAST Champion Seton Hall Baseball Team. WSOU's broadcasters will be calling 20 games this season over the air and on wsou.net. There will be a combination of home games from Owen T. Carroll Field and select away games, including contests on the road at St. John's, Connecticut, and Princeton. And as always, all the weekly baseball action will be broken down and analyzed every Sunday night on Pirate Primetime starting at 7p.m.
FAMILIAR FACES
When Seton Hall welcomes Fordham to Owen T. Carroll Field this weekend, it'll welcome back Kevin Leighton, who played for Seton Hall from 1998-01. Leighton became Fordham's head coach in the offseason after six seasons as head coach at Manhattan. Earlier this season, Seton Hall welcomed Manhattan, who is currently led by former Pirate coach and player, Jim Duffy.
THAT'S THE WAY, JOSE
Freshman Jose Lopez surrendered only three hits and one run in seven innings in the Pirates 3-2 win over Akron in SHU's final game of the 2012 Snowbird Classic. In his first four collegiate appearances, Lopez has earned a win and a save, boasting a 2.08 ERA after allowing just three runs in 13.0 innings.
ATTA-BOYD
With a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, freshman Tyler Boyd lifted the Pirates to victory against Akron. The Succasunna native has posted a .308 average and knocked in four runs in his first eight games for Seton Hall.
CRIME DOESN'T PAY
The Pirates have had a pair of weapons emerge early in the season to help curb their opponents' aggressive base running. Junior Rick Mangione is tied for the BIG EAST lead in pickoffs with three while Dillon Hamlin is tied for tops in the conference with seven runners caught stealing.
BONUS BASEBALL
Seton Hall battled Michigan State in a pitcher's duel that remained scoreless for 14 innings. Chase Gray and Mike Betz combined to help the Pirates break through, and SHU tallied three runs in the top of the 15th. MSU responded with a rally in the bottom of the frame, coming back to take a 4-3 victory. Seton Hall is no stranger to goose eggs on the board in extras, having defeated Louisville 1-0 on May 5, 2011 on the strength of an RBI single by Mike Genovese in the home half of the 18th.
"STRIKE OUT" SUCCESS
With three consecutive wins in the 2012 Strike Out Cancer Tournament, Seton Hall improved its all-time record to 14-2 at the event. Hosting the tournament for the fourth time, the Pirates have recorded wins over seven different schools in the tournament's brief history, including this year's participants NJIT (5-0) and Fordham (2-0).
MANGIONE LOVES THE GREAT LAKES STATE
Junior Rick Mangione has excelled in a pair of starts against teams from the State of Michigan this season. He has given up just two earned runs over 11.1 innings with 14 strikeouts and just one walk against Michigan and Michigan State. On Feb. 18, Mangione gave up two earned runs over five innings. Most recently, he shut out Michigan State over 6.1 innings and struck out eight Spartans.
THEIVERY
Sophomore Zack Granite now has a team-leading 11 steals on the season. He needs just one more to match his team-leading total of 12 steals in 2011.
PIRATES OPEN HOME SLATE WITH WIN
Five pitchers combined to throw nine innings of shutout ball as Seton Hall baseball blanked Manhattan, 3-0, in its 2012 home opener on March 7. Senior Henry Warner received the start for Seton Hall, giving up just a pair of hits with three strikeouts over four innings of work to pick up his first win of the year. Mike Genovese, Giuseppe Papaccio and Tyler Boyd all knocked in an RBI for the Pirates.
ACE DELIVERS
Junior Jon Prosinski threw seven strong innings, while giving up just two earned runs in an 11-4 Seton Hall victory over Wright State on March 2. Prosinski improved to 2-1 on the season. He struck out three batters while walking only one.
WALSH GOES DEEP
Senior Will Walsh delivered Seton Hall's first home run of the season with a bomb to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning in a 10-8 loss to Wright State on March 4. Walsh is the career active leader for the Pirates with eight home runs. He led the team last year with four long-balls.
BENNY'S BRINGING IT
A major bright spot so far this season has been the pitching of senior Benny Mejia. The right-hander has made eight appearances and has a miniscule 0.71 ERA. Mejia has pitched 12.2 innings, given up just one earned run, while striking out eight and walking four.
SAVING THE DAY
After a rocky start to the season, junior Ryan Harvey has resumed his role as a dominant late inning pitcher for the Pirates. In his last two outings, Harvey has picked up a pair of saves while pitching three innings of scoreless ball to go with four strike outs.
BIGGIO'S NUMBER TO BE RETIRED
Seton Hall will officially retire #44 warn by future MLB Hall of Famer Craig Biggio from 1985-87. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 7 prior to Seton Hall's game with Notre Dame. The former Pirates' catcher helped lead the team to its first BIG EAST Championship in 1987 and batted .342 with 27 home runs and 148 RBIs in his three seasons in South Orange. A two-time First Team All-BIG EAST selection, he was named a First Team All-American in 1987 and was inducted in to the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
GRIMM OUTLOOK FOR OPPONENTS
Freshman Kyle Grimm has appeared in 15 games so far this season and has made 14 starts. The infielder currently leads the team with a .370 batting average. He is second on the team with 20 hits and seven RBIs.
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.
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.
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.
MORE COMPETITION
The BIG EAST Conference has announced the addition of Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, SMU and Temple 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 14 members.
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
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.
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.
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.
OWEN T. CARROLL FIELD
Owen T. Carroll Field, named after the legendary Seton Hall head baseball coach, is located on campus and seats 1,800 fans. The facility underwent a 6.5 million dollar renovation in 2006 that included a new Field Turf surface and light stanchions. In June of 2010, the Field Turf surface was upgraded once again.
"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 marked 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.
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