Cahill Named Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year
12/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Seton Hall junior Luke Cahill (Tinton Falls, N.J.) was named BIG EAST Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year on Tuesday and joins three other Pirates as a member of the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Collectively, the Pirates are picked to finish third in the seven-team league by the conference's coaches in the preseason poll.
Senior D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.), last year's Co-Player of the Year, was a unanimous preseason All-BIG EAST selection at shortstop. Sal Annunziata (Bronx, N.Y.) and Derek Jenkins (Annandale, N.J.) were also named to the preseason team.
Cahill is Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year with Creighton's Matt Warren. He becomes the second Pirate pitcher to earn the preseason recognition in the last three years. Graduate Jon Prosinski earned the distinction prior to the 2013 season. In 2014, Cahill was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and finished tied for second in the conference with 10 victories. An ABCA All-Region Second Team pick, he went 10-2 with a 2.65 ERA, the fifth-best mark in the BIG EAST. Cahill struck out 58 batters and walked only 15 in 78.0 innings pitched in a standout sophomore season. On May 10 vs. eventual BIG EAST champion Xavier, he threw a career-high eight innings, while giving up just two runs and striking out a career-best 11 batters.
Named BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year, Ruhlman was a candidate for the Brooks Wallace National Shortstop of the Year Award and semifinalist for the Gregg Olson Breakout Player of the Year Award. He finished second in the BIG EAST with a.351 batting average and also finished among the conference's top-five in slugging percentage, runs scored, hits and stolen bases. A First Team All-BIG EAST Conference and All-ECAC East Region pick, he was named NJCBA Player of the Year.
Annunziata was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2014, despite a deep crop of talented first basemen in the conference. Named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Feb. 24, he batted a career-high .330 and led the conference in RBIs, slugging percentage and total bases. He also ranked among the BIG EAST top-five in hits and doubles. Named to the NJCBA First Team, Annunziata led the Pirates with five home runs in 2014.
In 2014, Jenkins was a terror on the base paths for Seton Hall batting at the top of the lineup. Named to the All-BIG EAST and All-NJCBA First Team, he was twice named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Jenkins batted a strong .324 and stole 37 bases, the nation's second-highest total. A plus defensive player, he committed just two errors all season while starting the majority of games in center field for the Pirates.
St. John's was selected as the preseason favorite to win the BIG EAST title in 2015. The Red Storm received 32 points and three first-place votes. Creighton finished just one point behind St. John's in the voting for second place, and received two first-place votes. The Pirates finished just three votes behind St. John's and two behind Creighton with 29 points and two first-place votes for third place. Xavier received 22 points for fourth place and then there was a significant drop-off to the bottom three teams. Villanova was fifth with 12 points, Butler was sixth with 11 points and Georgetown rounded out the poll in seventh with 10 points.
2014 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year - Reagan Fowler, Creighton, Jr., 1B
Preseason Co-Pitchers of the Year - Luke Cahill, Seton Hall, Jr., SP; Matt Warren, Creighton, Jr., SP
Preseason All-BIG EAST
^ Dan Rizzie, Xavier, Jr., C
^ Reagan Fowler, Creighton, Jr. 1B
^ Todd Czinege, Villanova, So., 2B
^ D.J. Ruhlman, Seton Hall, Sr., SS
Robbie Knightes, St. John's, So., 3B
Nick Collins, Georgetown, Jr., DH
Sal Annunziata, Seton Hall, Sr., DH
^ Michael Donadio, St. John's, So., OF
Derek Jenkins, Seton Hall, Jr., OF
Zach Lauricella, St. John's, Sr., OF
Alex Caruso, St. John's, Jr., OF
^ Matt Warren, Creighton, Jr., SP
^ Ryan McCormick, St. John's, Jr., SP
Luke Cahill, Seton Hall, Jr., SP
Matt Hollenbeck, Georgetown, Sr., SP
Eric Stiene, Xavier, RS-Jr., SP
^ Joe Kuzia, St. John's, Sr., RP
^ - denotes unanimous selection
Preseason Coaches' Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. St. John's - 32 pts. (3)
2. Creighton - 31 pts. (2)
3. SETON HALL - 29 pts. (2)
4. Xavier - 22 pts.
5. Villanova - 12 pts.
6. Butler - 11 pts.
7. Georgetown - 10 pts.
