Baseball Announces 2015 Schedule
1/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Coming off a 39-win season and a third place finish in the newly re-constituted BIG EAST Conference, the Seton Hall baseball team announced its 2015 schedule on Wednesday.
In all, the Pirates will play at least 56 games, including 11 games against 2014 NCAA Tournament teams and 24 games at Owen T. Carroll Field.
As is typical with college baseball teams in the Northeast, the Pirates will play the majority of their early season, non-conference games on the road. Seton Hall will open the year with 18 of their first 19 games away from Owen T. Carroll Field. However, over the last two years, the Pirates have been one of the best teams in the nation on the road. Their combined 37 road wins over the last two seasons is tied for the fourth-most in the country.
To begin the 2015 campaign, Seton Hall will travel to the University of North Carolina for a three-game set, Feb. 13-15. The Tarheels are coming off a 35-27 campaign, and are the first of four Seton Hall opponents that made the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Pirates have faced UNC 66 times in their history, but have won only 11 games. Most recently, Seton Hall dropped two games at North Carolina, when they were the top-ranked team in the country, to begin the 2013 season. The Tarheels are ranked #24 in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Top-40 Poll.
Seton Hall will remain on the road and travel to Old Dominion University the following weekend. The Monarchs are coming off their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000 and a 36-26 record. The Pirates have never defeated Old Dominion in four all-time prior meetings. The teams haven't played however, since 1992.
The weekend of Feb. 27-March 1, Seton Hall will play both the University of Hartford and the University of Virginia twice in Charlottesville, Va. The Pirates will face the Hawks on Friday, the Cavaliers on Saturday and both teams on Sunday. Hartford is coming off a 31-23 season, while UVA won 53 games in 2014 and finished as the College World Series runner-up. Seton Hall is 2-1 all-time against the Hawks, but haven't played them since 2000. The Pirates snapped an eight-game losing streak to Virginia with a 5-2 victory in Charlottesville in 2012. The Cavaliers are ranked #3 in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Top-40 Poll.
On Wednesday, March 4, Seton Hall will host Manhattan for its 2015 home opener at Owen T. Carroll Field.
The Pirates will head back on the road to begin a three-game series with former BIG EAST rival the University of South Florida on Friday, March 6. In their first season as part of the American Athletic Conference, USF went 27-31 overall. Seton Hall is just 7-11 all-time against the Bulls, but has won the last four games, including a three-game sweep at Owen T. Carroll Field in 2013.
Over Spring Break, Seton Hall will travel to Punta Gorda, Fla. for the Snowbird Classic, March 10-15. The Pirates will play five games in six days at a neutral site against Florida International, Saint Joseph's, Lehigh, Western Michigan and an opponent to still be determined.
Starting on Wednesday, March 18, Seton Hall return home to play 10 of its next 11 games at Owen T. Carroll Field. The Hall will host Saint Peter's for a mid-week game before hosting the University of Connecticut and Fordham University as part of the Strike-Out Cancer Classic. The Pirates will face both the Rams and Huskies twice over the weekend of March 20-22. Seton Hall has won five of its last six games against Fordham, including a 5-0 victory in 2012. The Pirates have won 44 of 77 prior meetings against UConn, a former BIG EAST member, including two of three games at Owen T. Carroll Field in 2013.
After single games vs. Princeton on March 24 and Lafayette on March 25, The Hall will face Fairleigh Dickinson in a split-location series over the weekend of March 27-29. Seton Hall will host games on Friday and Sunday, but travel to Teaneck for Saturday's contest. The Pirates have won 16 of their last 17 games against the Knights, including a three-game sweep of last season's split-location series.
The Hall will face Rider for a mid-week contest on Tuesday, March 31 before opening BIG EAST play at Xavier University on Easter weekend, April 2-4. Xavier, the defending BIG EAST champions, ended the Pirates' season with a 5-3 come-from-behind victory in the BIG EAST Tournament last May. The Pirates swept the Musketeers in a three-game series at Owen T. Carroll Field during the regular season. Xavier was picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST in the 2015 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Seton Hall will return home to face Wagner on Wednesday, April 8 before heading back on the road to take on local rival St. John's, April 10-12. The Red Storm finished second in the BIG EAST last season and took two of three games from Seton Hall at Owen T. Carroll Field during the regular season. Former Pirate Josh Prevost however, threw a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 Seton Hall victory over St. John's in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament last May. St. John's is the preseason favorite to win the BIG EAST in 2015 and is ranked #29 in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Top-40 Poll.
After a mid-week home game vs. Monmouth on April 14, the Pirates will remain at Owen T. Carroll Field for a three-game series with Butler University, April 17-19. The Bulldogs have been picked to finish sixth in the BIG EAST in 2015 and won two of three games over Seton Hall in Indianapolis last season.
Seton Hall will play mid-week games at Monmouth on Tuesday, April 21 and home vs. Lehigh on Wednesday, April 22 before renewing its long rivalry with Rutgers, April 24-26. Over the three-game series, the teams will play one game in South Orange, one in Piscataway and one at a neutral site. The Pirates have won three of their last four meetings with the Scarlet Knights, including two in their last series, in 2013. The Hall is 42-44 in 86 previous meetings.
On Wednesday, April 29, Seton Hall will travel to Saint Peter's before returning home to host Creighton, May 1-3. The Pirates are just 1-3 against the defending BIG EAST regular season champions, including a 2-1 loss in the second round of the BIG EAST Tournament last May. The Bluejays are picked to finish second in the BIG EAST in the 2015 Preseason Coaches' Poll and feature BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year Reagan Fowler. It will be Creighton's first-ever trip to South Orange.
May 8-9, the Pirates will travel to Villanova University for a single game on Friday and a double-header on Saturday. The Hall has swept the last two series with the Wildcats, including a three-game set at Owen T. Carroll Field in 2014. Villanova was picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST in the 2015 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Finally, the Pirates will conclude the 2015 regular season with a three-game series vs. Georgetown at Owen T. Carroll Field, May 15-17. Seton Hall has won the last five series against the Hoyas, including two of three games last season in Maryland. The Hoyas are picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST in the 2015 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The 2015 BIG EAST Championship will be played at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., May 20-24. Last season, the conference had its marquee event played in Brooklyn's MCU Park on Coney Island. Once again, the top four teams in the final BIG EAST regular season standings will qualify to compete, with the winner of the double-elimination tournament gaining an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
