Pirates Close Regular Season at Georgetown

May 17 - 19, 2018
Rockville, Maryland – Shirley Povich Field

SETON HALL (25-18-1, 11-4) at GEORGETOWN (25-26, 8-7)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Georgetown
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Thursday,
May 17
7:00 p.m.

SHANE
MCCARTHY
(3-4, 4.55 ERA)
RHP

Kevin Superko
(1-4, 5.18 ERA)
RHP

GUHoyas
.com

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Friday,
May 18
4:00 p.m.

RICKY
DEVITO
(4-2, 1.43 ERA)
RHP

TBD

GUHoyas
.com

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Saturday,
May 19
1:00 p.m.

BILLY
LAYNE, JR.
(4-1, 3.57 ERA)
RHP

TBD

GUHoyas
.com

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall will wrap up the 2018 regular season with a three-game series in Rockville, Maryland this week against Georgetown. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. All three games can be heard live on WSOU FM or wsou.net.

The Pirates dropped two of three games in a hard-fought series against No. 17 St. John's last weekend at Owen T. Carroll Field. The Hall received strong pitching from Shane McCarthy, Andrew Politi and Matt Leon on Friday in a 4-3 victory. Leon worked a perfect ninth inning for his Seton Hall record 10th save of the season. On Saturday however, the Pirates were swept in a doubleheader, losing 2-1 in game one, and 6-3 in game two. Sophomore Ricky DeVito allowed only one unearned run, scattering just four hits, over 5.2 innings in the 2-1 loss. Junior Billy Layne, Jr. allowed only two earned runs over five innings in the game two setback. Senior Ryan Ramiz had a bases-clearing three-run double in the series finale.

In all likelihood, the Seton Hall will earn the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Championship in Mason, Ohio. Only if Georgetown sweeps the Pirates this weekend, will they fall out of the No. 2 spot. The regular season title is still a possibility for The Hall as well, albeit unlikely. The Pirates would have to sweep Georgetown and Butler would need to sweep St. John's in Queens.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall and Georgetown will resume their very long rivalry this weekend. The Pirates have dominated the all-time series, owning an 83-27 all-time advantage. The Hall swept the Hoyas in last year's series at Owen T. Carroll Field. The Pirates batted .350 as a team over the three-game series, with both Mike Alescio and Al Molina batting over .400. Shane McCarthy didn't allow an earned run over five innings in his start.

Georgetown enters this weekend with a record of 25-26 overall and 8-7 in the BIG EAST Conference. They're playing some of their best baseball of the season having won eight in a row prior to dropping two of three games against Butler in Indianapolis last weekend. The Hoyas have plenty to play for this weekend. There are three teams, including Georgetown, competing for two remaining spots in next week's BIG EAST Championship. The Hoyas, Butler and Creighton all have eight wins entering the weekend.

THINGS TO KNOW:
DEVITO NAMED TO HONOR ROLL
Sophomore Ricky DeVito was named to the BIG EAST Baseball Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. In game one of a doubleheader on Saturday, the right-hander quieted St. John's, one of the top offenses in the nation, not allowing an earned run over 5.2 innings pitched. He struck out six batters and walked only two. DeVito picked up the hard-luck loss in a 2-1 setback to the Red Storm.

PIRATES DROP ST. JOHN'S SERIES
For the first time in 2018, the Pirates dropped a BIG EAST Conference series. The Hall fell in two of three games against No. 17 St. John's last weekend, despite strong pitching in all three contests. The Pirates' pitching staff had an ERA of 2.67 for the series, but their offense batted just .140.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
In all likelihood, the Seton Hall will earn the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Championship in Mason, Ohio. Only if Georgetown sweeps the Pirates this weekend, will they fall out of the No. 2 spot. The regular season title is still a possibility for The Hall as well, albeit unlikely. The Pirates would have to sweep Georgetown and Butler would need to sweep St. John's in Queens.

CLINCHED
With last weekend's stellar performance at Creighton, Seton Hall became the second team to clinch a berth in the upcoming BIG EAST Championship. It is the eighth straight season that the Pirates have qualified for the conference tournament.

LOCKDOWN LEON
By recording his 10th save of the season in Friday's 4-3 victory against St. John's, senior Matt Leon broke Seton Hall's single-season record. He also moved into second place on the Pirates' career list. Additionally, his 84th career appearance moves him into a second place tie all-time at Seton Hall.

RAMIZ ON TOP
Senior Ryan Ramiz has been one of the hottest hitters in the BIG EAST Conference in the second half of the season. He leads the conference with a .427 on base percentage in all games, and in conference-only games, he leads with a .440 batting average. He also ranks among the Top-10 in doubles, walks and sacrifice flies.

LEAGUE LEADERS
In addition to Ramiz' exploits listed above, several other Pirates are on top of the BIG EAST statistical standings. In conference only games, Ricky DeVito leads with a 0.84 ERA and batters truck out looking (15). Matt Leon leads the BIG EAST in saves, appearances and games finished. Andrew Politi is tied for the lead with four wins. Mike Alescio leads the conference in defensive putouts, while Al Molina is tops in defensive assists.

400 WIN CLUB
With a victory over Xavier on April 13, Seton Hall head coach Rob Sheppard became only the second Pirate baseball coach to reach 400 career victories. Only his father, Hall of Famer Mike Sheppard, Sr., has more wins at Seton Hall, 998.

2018 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2018 BIG EAST Championship will be played a new venue, Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. Located near Cincinnati, Seton Hall played Xavier there for one game last season, with the Musketeers winning, 2-1. The title event will take place starting on Thursday, May 24 and will be played through the championship on Sunday, May 27.