Players Mentioned
Pirates Head to Butler to Finish Regular Season
5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game 54: Thursday, May 19 - 3:00 p.m. ET
Shane McCarthy – RHP (HALL) vs. Nick Morton – LHP (BU)
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| Live Video | Live Audio | Radio | Live Stats | |||||||||
| BIG EAST Digital Network | None | None | ButlerSports.com | @SHUBaseball | ||||||||
Game 55: Friday, May 20 – 1:00 p.m. ET
Zach Prendergast – RHP (HALL) vs. Bobby Napoleon – LHP (BU)
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| Live Video | Live Audio | Radio | Live Stats | |||||||||
| Fox College Sports | None | None | ButlerSports.com | @SHUBaseball | ||||||||
Game 56: Saturday, May 21 – Noon ET
Cullen Dana – LHP (HALL) vs. Jeff Schank – LHP (BU)
| GAME MEDIA | ||||||||||||
| Live Video | Live Audio | Radio | Live Stats | |||||||||
| None | None | None | ButlerSports.com | @SHUBaseball | ||||||||
PREVIEW
Seton Hall will complete the 2016 regular season with a key series at Butler this week. The Pirates need to win two of three games in Indianapolis to guarantee a trip to their sixth straight BIG EAST Tournament. The Hall will face the Bulldogs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Seton Hall bounced back in a big way last weekend, winning two of three games against St. John's at Owen T. Carroll Field. On Friday, sophomore Shane McCarthy allowed just two earned runs over eight innings as the Pirates edged St. John's, 4-3. Zach Schellenger worked a perfect ninth to earn his fifth save of the year. Senior Chris Chiaradio had three hits, including an RBI triple, to pace The Hall's offense. On Saturday, Seton Hall brought a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning, but the Red Storm erupted for six runs, including a grand slam, to defeat the Pirates, 8-3. Zach Prendergast received a no decision after allowing just two runs over six innings. Senior Zack Weigel had three hits including his first career home run in the loss. On Sunday, freshman Cullen Dana tossed his first career complete-game shutout in Seton Hall's 7-0 series clinching victory. Dana scattered just five hits, struck out seven and didn't issue a walk in the win. Weigel had three more hits. For his efforts, Dana was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week, while Weigel was named to the Honor Roll.
On Tuesday, the Pirates collected a season-high 21 hits in a 9-3 rout at NJIT. Six players recorded three hits apiece as Seton Hall reached 35 wins for the third time in four years.
SERIES INFORMATION
Seton Hall and Butler will meet for only the seventh, eighth and ninth times in history when they wrap up the 2016 regular season this week in Indianapolis. Butler has won four of the prior six meetings, including two of three games at Owen T. Carroll Field last year. The Bulldogs won two of three the year prior in Indy. Zack Weigel led The Hall with a .364 batting average against Butler last year. Zach Prendergast didn't allow an earned run over seven innings in a start in last year's series. Shane McCarthy allowed only one earned run over eight innings in a hard-luck loss.
Butler enters this series with a 4-11 record in the BIG EAST. They're coming off a 7-4 loss to Ball State on Tuesday and have dropped nine of their last 11 games. Michael Hartnagel ranks among the BIG EAST leaders in batting average and hits.
THINGS TO KNOW
TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
Seton Hall controls its destiny entering the final series of the year at Butler. If the Pirates win two games, they will clinch a berth in the 2016 BIG EAST Championship in Aberdeen, Md. If The Hall wins only one game, it has to hope that Creighton sweeps St. John's this weekend, which would force a three-way tie for the final two spots. In that scenario, Georgetown and Seton Hall would advance based on the multiple-team tie-breakers. The teams would be determined based on their record against one another and all three would be 3-3. The next tie-breaker would be the three teams' records against Creighton and Xavier, which are the top two teams in the league currently. Georgetown is 2-4, while Seton Hall and St. John's would be 1-5. Georgetown clinches, and Seton Hall, based on their head-to-head series victory, would advance as well.
PIRATES DOWN NJIT
Seton Hall collected a season-high 21 hits in a 9-3 rout at NJIT on Tuesday. Six Pirates had at least three hits. The Hall used seven pitchers, with the victory going to starter Luke Cahill.
35 WINS
With a victory at NJIT on Tuesday, Seton Hall improved its record to 35-18 overall. It's the third time in the last four years that the Pirates have reached 35 wins in a season.
PIRATES WIN CRUCIAL SERIES
Seton Hall won two of three games against St. John's last weekend in a crucial series for its BIG EAST Championship hopes. The Pirates edged the Red Storm, 4-3, on Friday behind Shane McCarthy's fifth win. They lost on Saturday as St. John's rallied for six runs in the ninth inning, but took the rubber game on Sunday behind a complete-game shutout from Cullen Dana.
AMAZING ARDENTE
Matt Ardente's strong freshman season continued on Tuesday at NJIT. The right-hander pitched two hitless innings of relief while striking out four and walking just one. For the season, he has a sparkling 1.38 earned run average in 26.0 innings of work. That mark is currently the eighth-lowest for a single-season in Seton Hall history.
DANA NETS PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Freshman Cullen Dana was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Dana tossed his first career complete-game shutout in Seton Hall's 7-0 victory over St. John's on Sunday. The left-hander scattered just five hits, struck out seven and didn't issue a walk. He improved to 6-2 with a 2.81 earned run average.
WEIGEL NAMED TO HONOR ROLL
Senior Zack Weigel collected at least two hits and one RBI in all four games last week and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Weigel batted a team-high .625 and helped the Pirates to three wins in four games last week.
200 APPROACHING
Senior Zack Weigel needs just two more hits to reach the 200-hit milestone for his career. He collected 10 hits last week alone and has increased his season batting average to a team-best .326.
THE VERDONKINATOR
A looming presence on the mound, the 6-foot-9 Dylan Verdonk has proved impressive in his freshman campaign. He has yet to allow an earned run in five appearances this year and opponents are batting just .172 against him.
I AM SPEED
Senior Derek Jenkins currently leads the nation with 51 stolen bases. He's only the third Pirate to reach the 50 mark in a single season. He needs eight more to break Marteese Robinson's single-season record of 58. For his career, he now has 121, which ranks second on Seton Hall's career list.
