Pirates Head to Florida Atlantic for Weekend Series

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall will continue its Spring Break trip in Florida this coming weekend, March 9-11, against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton. The weekend begins with Friday's game, which is a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. The Pirate Sports Network will provide a free live audio stream of all three contests.

The Pirates are coming off a successful week in Kissimmee, Fla., which saw wins in three of four games, including two as part of the Kissimmee Irish Classic. The Pirates opened the tournament with a 14-9 victory over Seattle on Friday, collecting a season-high 13 hits. On Saturday, the Pirates dropped a heart-breaking 9-8 affair to Notre Dame as the Irish scored two in the bottom of the ninth. The Hall bounced back however, to defeat Youngstown State, 11-3, on Sunday morning. Matt Toke and Al Molina each drove in three runs, with Toke connecting on his second home run of the year. In a mid-week game on Tuesday, the Pirates made it four wins in their last five games with a convincing 10-4 win over Central Michigan.

For their efforts, Matt Toke was named BIG EAST Player of the Week, and Ricky DeVito earned Honor Roll status for a second straight week.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall and Florida Atlantic have only played five prior times in history with the Owls owning a slim 3-2 edge in the series. The last time these two teams hooked up was during the Pirates BIG EAST championship year of 2011, and Seton Hall won two of three games in Boca Raton.

Florida Atlantic is coming off a 35-win season in 2017 and is predicted to finish third in Conference USA this season. Three players were named Preseason All-Conference selections, shortstop Tyler Frank, outfielder David Miranda and starting pitcher Jake Miednik, with Frank also being named a Preseason All-American.

The Owls have played a strong schedule so far and enter the weekend with an 8-4 record. They have already played at No. 1 Florida and a four-game series at Oregon. They defeated Miami, 5-4, on Feb. 28. Florida Atlantic is ranked No. 5 in the RPI entering the weekend.

THINGS TO KNOW:
RECENT NEWS
Sophomore Matt Toke was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday, while teammate Ricky DeVito earned Weekly Honor Roll status for a second straight week. Toke batted a team-best .600 for the week and reached base 11 times in three games. DeVito didn't allow an earned run over six innings in a victory over Youngstown State on Sunday.

LAST SERIES
Seton Hall won two of three games last weekend at the Kissimmee Irish Classic. The Pirates erupted for season-highs of 14 runs and 13 hits in a 14-9 victory over Seattle on Friday. On Saturday, the Pirates led 4-0, 6-3, and 8-7 in the ninth inning, but Notre Dame came back all three times, and scored two in the bottom of the ninth to edge the Pirates, 9-8. Sunday morning, The Hall bounced back with an 11-3 win over Youngstown State.

MID-WEEK MATCHUP
On Tuesday, the Pirates bats continued their hot streak, bursting out for 10 runs in a 10-4 victory over Central Michigan in Kissimmee. Four Pirates drove in at least two runs, while Seton Hall utilized seven pitchers on a "staff" day to limit the Chippewas' offense. Starter Tyler Burnham picked up his first career victory.

WATCH LIST
For the second time in the last three seasons, senior Mike Alescio has been named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, which honors the top collegiate baseball catcher in the nation. Alescio is off to a hot start this season, batting .333 with five RBIs and a team-best three stolen bases.

HITTER TO WATCH
Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Matt Toke has been on fire at the plate. In his last six games, he is batting .500 with seven RBIs. He also has nine walks, resulting in a .655 on-base percentage over that period. Dating back to last season, Toke has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games.

PITCHER TO WATCH
Sophomore Corey Sawyer has been a revelation out of the bullpen so far this season. The left-hander leads the team with six appearances and 8.2 innings pitched in relief, and still has yet to allow a run. He has eight strikeouts and only two walks, and opponents are batting just .138 against him. Sawyer has already pitched ore innings and struck out more batters than in all of his freshman season.

MILESTONE TRACKER
Seton Hall head coach Rob Sheppard needs just eight wins to reach 400 for his career. Senior Ryan Ramiz needs 13 hits to reach 150 for his career. Senior Matt Leon needs just four strikeouts to reach 100 for his career.

BURGEONING OFFENSE
After struggling to begin the season, the Pirates' offense has broken out over their last four games. Since the calendar turned to March, Seton Hall is batting .313 as a team and has averaged 10.8 runs and 10.5 hits per game. The Pirates have also been significantly more patient. In its first six games of the year, The Hall's season-high for walks was four. In the four games since, the Pirates have walked a minimum of eight times per contest.

AROUND THE CONFERENCE
Butler was also playing in a tournament at the same Osceola County Stadium Complex in Kissimmee as Seton Hall. Butler went 2-1 with a pair of wins over Saint Peter's to improve to 10-1. St. John's split a double-header at UC-Davis. Creighton dropped two of three games at Central Arkansas. Xavier, Georgetown and Villanova were all swept last weekend by their respective opponents.