Baseball Travels to James Madison This Weekend
3/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 5, 2014
Seton Hall Weekend Notes
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Game 10: Saturday, March 8 - 1:00 p.m.
#22 SETON HALL 15, JAMES MADISON 4 (F)
BOX SCORE (.pdf) / BOX SCORE (.html) / PHOTO GALLERY / RECAP
Game 11: Sunday, March 9 - 1:00 p.m.
JAMES MADISON 11, #22 SETON HALL 3 (F)
BOX SCORE (.pdf) / BOX SCORE (.html) / PHOTO GALLERY / RECAP
Game 12: Monday, March 10 - 1:00 p.m.
#22 SETON HALL 19, JAMES MADISON 4 (F)
BOX SCORE (.pdf) / BOX SCORE (.html) / PHOTO GALLERY / RECAP
SETON HALL STATUS
Seton Hall has now won six straight games after recording a second straight weekend road sweep. This time the victim was #22 Arizona. The weekend began with another masterful performance by Seton Hall ace Josh Prevost. The 6-foot-8 right-hander pitched eight innings and gave up just one earned run as the Pirates trounced the Wildcats, 9-1. Sal Annunziata went 3-for-5 to spearhead a 13-hit offensive attack. Saturday's game was interrupted by rain and suspended after three and a half innings with Seton Hall leading 1-0 on a solo home run by Tyler Boyd. When the game resumed on Sunday, the Pirates quickly increased their lead to 4-1 and eventually held on for a 4-2 win. Boyd finished with three RBIs and all four Pirate runs were scored with two outs. Arizona left 13 men on base. Seton Hall scored six times in the first three innings in game three, and the Pirates went on to romp the Wildcats, 11-2. D.J. Ruhlman went 4-for-5 in the victory, while Zack Weigel got on base six times. Chris Selden had a game-high four RBIs and Luke Cahill earned the victory with five innings of two-run baseball.
SETON HALL - JAMES MADISON SERIES
Seton Hall and James Madison will meet for a three-game series for the first time in history. The teams have met for only three games all-time. The Pirates lost at James Madison, 7-6, in 1997, and split with the Dukes on a neutral field in Tampa, Florida in 2007. Seton Hall is just 1-2 against James Madison all-time.
TAMING THE WILDCATS
Seton Hall swept a three-game series at the University of Arizona. The #22 Wildcats entered the series with a .359 team batting average, but could only muster five runs over the series. Seton Hall outscored Arizona, 24-to-5. Sal Annunziata, Zack Weigel and D.J. Ruhlman all batted higher than .450 for the series.
USED BROOMS
Seton Hall swept its second consecutive opponent with a three-game sweep at Arizona. Dating back to last season, the Pirates have not only won, but swept five of their last eight three-game series.
NATIONAL ATTENTION
Seton Hall made its 2014 national rankings debut on March 3 when Collegiate Baseball listed the Pirates as the 22nd-ranked team in the country. The Pirates also received votes in the NCBWA and the USA Today Coaches Polls. Last season, Seton Hall reached as high as #19 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
PREVOST, RUHLMAN HONORED
Senior Josh Prevost was named BIG EAST Baseball Pitcher of the Week on March 3 for the second time this season and teammate D.J. Ruhlman was added to the conference's Weekly Honor Roll. On Feb. 28, at #22 Arizona, he pitched eight innings, while giving up just one earned run against a powerful Wildcat offense that entered the series with a .359 team batting average. Ruhlman batted .462 with four runs scored and three stolen bases. In the Pirates' 11-2 victory in the series finale, he went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, a triple and his team-leading sixth stolen base of the season.
STRONG START
A year after its worst start in program history, Seton Hall is having its best start in 27 years. With Seton Hall's sweep of Arizona, the Pirates have improved their record to 7-2. It's the program's best start to a season since going 14-2 to begin the 1987 season. That historic year, the Pirates won their first BIG EAST Championship thanks to SHU Hall of Famers Marteese Robinson, Maurice Vaughn and Craig Biggio.
LETS GO STREAKING
Seton Hall has now won six straight games and has upped its record to 7-2 on the young season. During the streak, the Pirates have outscored their opponents, 54-to-11 and lowered their team earned run average from 7.92 to 3.74.
BOYD BOMBS
In Seton Hall's 4-2 rain-interrupted victory at #22 Arizona, junior Tyler Boyd connected on his first career home run. The blast broke a scoreless tie and gave the Pirates the lead for good. Later in the game, he added insurance in the form of a two-RBI double.
HITTING STREAKS
Sal Annunziata and Zack Weigel have both hit safely in six straight games. The duo ranks one and two on the team in batting average and has led an offensive charge that is now batting .303 as a team. Annunziata is fourth in the BIG EAST Conference with a .400 batting average. Weigel is seventh at .375.
THE EXTERMINATORS
Seton Hall squashed the Spiders in a three-game sweep, holding Richmond's offense to just two runs in each game. The Pirates won on Saturday, 8-2, behind Josh Prevost's first career complete game. The bats broke out in a 16-2 victory in the first game of Sunday's double-header and Seton Hall held on for a 6-2, eight-inning, win in the nightcap. The all-time series is now even at six wins apiece.
ANNUNZIATA, PREVOST HONORED
Junior Sal Annunziata was named BIG EAST Baseball Player of the Week on Feb. 24. Teammate Josh Prevost was added to the conference's Weekly Honor Roll. Annunziata batted .538 in the series with a team-best six RBIs, 12 total bases, five doubles and a .923 slugging percentage. Prevost threw his first career complete game in Seton Hall's 8-2 series-opening victory. He made just one significant error, allowing a fourth inning two-run home run which accounted for all of the Spiders' scoring. Prevost also struck out a career-high eight batters and walked only one.
ROGUE MOGUES
Mikael-Ali Mogues flashed his power potential in Seton Hall's 16-2 victory at Richmond on Feb. 23. The freshman crushed his first career home run and picked up his first career run scored and RBI. He was a defensive replacement at first base after the game had gotten out of hand.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Seton Hall erupted for 16 runs and 15 hits in a 16-2 victory at Richmond on Feb. 23. Every Pirate starter recorded at least one hit and 15 position players saw action in the game. Sal Annunziata had a monster game, going 3-for-4 with four runs scored, three RBIs and a career-high three doubles. Freshman Mike Caputo also had a three-RBI day. For the series, Seton Hall out-scored Richmond, 30-to-6.
BALANCED OFFENSE
In Seton Hall's 8-2 victory at Richmond on Feb. 22, eight of its nine starters recorded an RBI. Kyle Grimm would have made it all nine starters recording an RBI if Zack Weigel wasn't thrown out at the plate on his double in the third inning.
ENOUGH SNOW ALREADY!
Seton Hall's home opener against Lehigh, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26, was postponed due to inclement weather and a significant accumulation of snow on the field from prior storms. The Pirates' game at Rutgers on March 5 was also postponed. Now, Seton Hall's three-game home series scheduled for March 14-16 is in question.
THE CATALYST
Sophomore Zack Weigel has embraced his new role as Seton Hall's leadoff hitter. After going hitless at Oklahoma, he reached base 11 times in three games at Richmond. Weigel batted .600 in the series and with four walks and an HBP, he recorded a staggering .733 on-base percentage.
PIRATES TAKE ONE IN NORMAN
Seton Hall won one of three games in their season-opening series at the University of Oklahoma. The Pirates defeated the 28th-ranked Sooners, 7-5, on Feb. 14, before falling on Feb. 15 and 16.
BIG EAST BEST
Senior Josh Prevost was named BIG EAST Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 17. Teammate Dillon Hamlin was added to the conference's Weekly Honor Roll. Prevost receives the honor for the first time in his career. Prevost held 28th-ranked Oklahoma to just one earned run on five hits in Seton Hall's 7-5 opening day victory. Hamlin batted .556 in two games this weekend. On Friday, he recorded a career-high four hits (4-for-5), including his second career home run. The sixth inning blast broke a 4-4 tie and Seton Hall never trailed again.
A GRIMM REALITY
Junior Kyle Grimm had a strong weekend at Oklahoma. He is currently tied for the BIG EAST lead with four RBIs. Grimm went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in Sunday's loss and has recorded at least one hit and one RBI in all three games.
FRESHMAN FIREPOWER
Freshman Mike Caputo has started at second base in each of the season's first three games. Offensively, he's batting .444 with three RBIs. In Seton Hall's opening day win at Oklahoma, Caputo went 4-for-5.
OFF AND RUNNING
Seton Hall is again leading the BIG EAST in steals, and by a large margin. The Pirates have stolen 24 bases through the season's first nine games. Xavier is second in the conference with 15 steals. In Seton Hall's victory at Oklahoma on Feb. 14, it stole six bases.
NEW BIG EAST
On March 20, the new BIG EAST Conference was unveiled with 10 schools and FOX as the new media rights partner. The 2014 BIG EAST baseball conference will feature seven teams, Butler, Creighton, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Villanova and Xavier.
TRIO NET PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Junior Sal Annunziata and seniors Josh Prevost and Chris Selden were all named to the 2014 Preseason All-Conference Team. Prevost was a unanimous selection. Creighton nabbed both the Preseason Player of the Year, Mike Gerber, and the Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Tommy Strunc. The Bluejays also landed four players on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
PIRATES PICKED SECOND
The Seton Hall baseball team was picked to finish second, by only one point, among the seven teams of the BIG EAST Conference in the 2014 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The ranking and all-conference selections were made by a vote of the seven BIG EAST coaches. Creighton, Seton Hall and St. John's were the only schools to receive first-place votes. St. John's received the most first-place votes (three), despite placing third in the overall poll. Creighton and Seton Hall received two first-place votes apiece.
FIRST PITCH DINNER
On Thursday, January 30, the Seton Hall baseball team in conjunction with the Pirate Blue Athletic Fund hosted its first annual First Pitch Dinner at Maplewood Country Club. The event was a celebration of Seton Hall baseball past and present as several former Pirates spanning multiple decades attended the season-opening gala. Among those in attendance were two members of the 1964 College World Series Seton Hall baseball team, John Monteleone and John Sielski. Former Pirate All-American John Morris was the featured speaker.
PIRATES WELCOME 10
Seton Hall announced the addition of 15 newcomers to the team for the 2014 season. The Pirates will welcome Mike Caputo, Joseph DiBenedetto, Brett Ender, Matthew Fortin, Thomas Kelleher, Jackson Martin, Mikael-Ali Mogues, Anthony Pacillo, Joseph Poduslenko, Zachary Prendergast, Anthony Scafidi, Eric Spires, Ryan Testani, Greg Tripold and Nelson Valerio to the squad for the new year.
CBS SPORTS NETWORK BROADCASTS
CBS Sports Network has agreed to air at least four baseball games involving BIG EAST schools in 2014, two of which will feature Seton Hall. The lineup begins on Wednesday, April 23 when Creighton hosts Iowa at 7:30 p.m. The Bluejays will be home for another non-conference foe on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, April 29 when Nebraska comes to Omaha for a 7:30 p.m. start. The first of two BIG EAST baseball showdowns will air on Friday, May 2 when Creighton entertains Seton Hall to open a three-game series at 7:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network will have the Pirates again when they are home for St. John's for the opener of a three-game set on May 15 at 6:30 p.m.
