Seton Hall Faces Trio at Tony Gwynn Classic

February 24-25, 2017
** TONY GWYNN CLASSIC **
San Diego, California - Tony Gwynn Stadium

SETON HALL (2-2) vs. TENNESSEE (3-1)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Tennessee
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Friday,
Feb. 24
4:00 PM ET

SHANE
MCCARTHY
(0-0, 8.31 ERA)
RHP

Hunter Martin
(1-0, 5.40 ERA)
RHP

None

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

SETON HALL (2-2) vs. OREGON (2-2)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Oregon State
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Saturday,
Feb. 25
1:00 PM ET

CULLEN
DANA
(0-0, 10.38 ERA)
RHP

Matt Mercer
(0-1, 5.40 ERA)
RHP

None

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

SETON HALL (2-2) vs. SAN DIEGO STATE (3-2)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

San Diego State
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Saturday,
Feb. 25
5:00 PM ET

ZACH
PRENDERGAST
(0-0, 9.00 ERA)
RHP

Harrison Pyatt
(0-1, 9.00 ERA)
RHP

None

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall will return to the road this weekend for three games of the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego California. The Pirates will face Tennessee on Friday at 4:00 pm ET. On Saturday, they'll play a doublehader, facing Oregon at 1:00 pm ET and then host San Diego State at 5:00 pm ET. All three games will be available for audio consumption via the Pirates Sports Network at SHUpirates.com.

The Hall is coming off a split of a four-game season-opening series in Port St. Lucie, Fla. vs. Michigan last weekend. The Pirates scored a minimum of five runs in every game and batted .305 for the four games. On Friday, Rob Dadona went 2-for-4 with a double and a career-high three RBIs in Seton Hall's 5-4 victory. The Pirates were swept in a doubleheader on Saturday, however. In game one, Mike Caputo went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, but The Hall was edged in 10 innings, 8-7. Game two was suspended due to darkness and had to be finished Sunday morning. A nine-run first inning put Michigan in front early, but the Pirates chipped away before ultimately falling, 10-7. On Sunday, Seton Hall rallied from a 6-3 ninth inning deficit, and Joe Poduslenko's three-run home run gave it an 8-6 victory.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall has lost all three prior meetings with Tennessee, a three-game series early in the 2012 season.

San Diego State has won three of four all-time meetings with the Pirates. The teams most recently played a three-game series at the beginning of the 2013 season. That year, the Pirates began the season 0-9 before finishing the season 37-19.

This will be the first meeting between Seton Hall and Oregon.

THINGS TO KNOW:
PODUSLENKO PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Joe Poduslenko was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Feb. 20. The third baseman batted .333 and had a .500 on-base percentage in four games vs. Michigan. On Sunday, Poduslenko went 2-for-5 with four RBIs. His three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning turned a 6-5 deficit into an 8-6 lead for the Pirates.

SCHELLENGER PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Junior Zach Schellenger was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 20. The Pirate closer entered the game on Friday and earned the save in preserving a 5-4 victory. On Sunday, Schellenger entered the game with the Pirates trailing 6-3 in the eighth inning, and remained in the game after the Pirates took the lead in the ninth. He pitched a total of two innings and was perfect, striking out five of the six batters he faced to earn the victory.

SPLIT WITH MICHIGAN
Seton Hall opened the 2017 season with a hard-fought split of a four-game series with Michigan in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Pirates edged the Wolverines on Friday, 5-4, before dropping both ends of a Saturday doubleheader. On Sunday, The Hall rallied for five runs in the top of the ninth inning to turn a 6-3 deficit into an 8-6 victory.

COMEBACK KIDS
Trailing 6-3 to Michigan with one out in the top of the ninth inning on Feb. 19, the Pirates rallied for five runs to win the game, 8-6. Al Molina delivered a two-run single to cut the Wolverine lead to 6-5, and then Joe Poduslenko crushed a three-run home run over the left field fence to put The Hall in front.

LAST TIME IN CALIFORNIA
Seton Hall last traveled to California in 2013. The Pirates played seven games, dropping the first four before sweeping Pepperdine to finish the trip, 3-4. The Hall was swept by Tony Gwynn's San Diego State, and lost a mid-week game to San Diego, 2-1, on a two-run home run by Kris Bryant.

CAPUTO SHINES
Senior Mike Caputo had the best offensive weekend for the Pirates, recording a team-best .533 batting average and eight hits. During Saturday's doubleheader vs. Michigan, Caputo went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in game one, and 3-for-3 in game two. Caputo's .667 slugging percentage and .563 on-base percentage also led the team.

STERLING DEBUTS
A number of Pirates made successful Seton Hall debuts vs. Michigan last weekend. Junior transfer Al Molina batted .278 and scored five runs, while only making one error in four starts at shortstop. Matt Toke had a .400 on-base percentage. Connor Hood recorded his first hit. Ricky DeVito pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, while Corey Sawyer tossed a perfect inning. Matt Ponsiglione didn't allow a run in 1.1 innings.

MCCARTHY, ALESCIO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST
Juniors Shane McCarthy and Mike Alescio were named to the 2017 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. McCarthy was one of only four players to be named a unanimous selection. The right-hander led the BIG EAST in ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched. Alescio was a Johnny Bench Award List member and batted .310.

AUDIO STREAM
If you can't get to California for the Tony Gwynn Classic, be sure to tune in to the Pirate Sports Network at SHUpirates.com for a live audio stream of all four games. Matt Sweeney, Seton Hall baseball's sports information director, will provide the play-by-play.

PIRATES PICKED FOURTH
Seton Hall was picked to finish fourth in the seven-team BIG EAST Conference by the coaches in the 2017 preseason poll. St. John's and Xavier tied for the top spot, while Creighton was selected third, just one point ahead of the Pirates.

SCHELLENGER AMONG TOP COLLEGE PROSPECTS
Junior Zach Schellenger is currently listed No. 89 in Baseball America's list of the Top-100 College MLB Draft Prospects. The Pirates' closer saved six games and struck out 70 batters in only 45.2 innings last season.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The season will conclude at the home of Creighton and the College World Series, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha with the 2017 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep. The championship will be played on Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28.