Pirates Primed for BIG EAST Championship This Week

Thursday, May 24, 2018
Prasco Park – Mason, Ohio
2018 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 SETON HALL vs. #3 BUTLER

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Butler
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Thursday,
May 24
6:30 p.m.

SHANE
MCCARTHY
(3-4, 4.48 ERA)
RHP

Ryan Pepiot
(6-0, 2.77 ERA)
RHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Friday, May 25, 2018 – Prasco Park – Mason, Ohio

2018 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

#2 SETON HALL vs. #1 ST. JOHN'S

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

St. John's
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Friday,
May 25
TBD

RICKY
DEVITO
(5-2, 1.33 ERA)
RHP

Kevin Magee
(5-3, 2.41 ERA)
LHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

#2 SETON HALL vs. #4 GEORGETOWN

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Georgetown
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Friday,
May 25
TBD

RICKY
DEVITO
(5-2, 1.33 ERA)
RHP

Jeremiah Burke
(3-1, 1.91 ERA)
RHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall charges into the 2018 BIG EAST Championship winners of 13 of their last 17 games. The Pirates have earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face No. 3 Butler in the first round on Thursday at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm and the game will be streamed by the BIG EAST Digital Network and shown on the Fox Sports Go app. Win or lose, The Hall will face either No. 1 St. John's or No. 4 Georgetown in the second round on Friday.

The Hall is coming off a doubleheader sweep of Georgetown in Baltimore on Saturday. The series, originally scheduled to be played at the Hoyas' home in Rockville, Md., was besieged by heavy rain which necessitated a move to a turf field in Baltimore. The Pirates edged Georgetown, 5-3 in seven innings in game one, thanks in large part to a clutch two-run, two-out double by Matt Toke in the top of the seventh. In game two, Mike Alescio, Al Molina and Casey Dana all hit home runs in a 12-run, 17-hit offensive outburst. The Pirates won, 12-1, to complete the BIG EAST regular season with a 13-4 record, its best since the conference's realignment prior to the 2014 season.

2018 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2018 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep will be co-hosted by Xavier University at Prasco Park in nearby Mason, Ohio. Prasco Park becomes the ninth location in the history of BIG EAST baseball to play host to the league's postseason championship series. The tournament will be held May 24-27, 2018.

Prasco Park is only the second ballpark to host the BIG EAST Baseball Championship not on the East Coast. TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, home of the 2014 and 2016 championships is the other. The park is about 20 miles north of Cincinnati and a 30-minute drive from Xavier's campus.

Prasco Park has a total seating capacity of 1,250, plus standing room space. There will be no charge for admission or concessions for BIG EAST Championship fans in attendance. Located on the campus of Prasco Laboratories, the park opened on June 19, 2008 and has become one of the premier amateur baseball destinations in America. Last year Xavier hosted Seton Hall in the first game of a three-game series at Prasco Park, a contest that was broadcast on FS1.

THINGS TO KNOW:
DEVITO BIG EAST PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Sophomore Ricky DeVito was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday. The hard-throwing right-hander is the fifth Pirate in conference history to earn the prestigious distinction, and the first since Josh Prevost in 2014. In six BIG EAST starts, spanning 36.0 innings, DeVito allowed only three earned runs. In BIG EAST-only games, he led the conference in ERA (0.75) and wins (four), while ranking second in opposing batting average (.176), third in strikeouts (40) and fourth in innings pitched.

SEVEN PIRATES EARN ALL-CONFERENCE
Seniors Matt Leon and Ryan Ramiz, as well as sophomore Ricky DeVito were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team by the conference on Wednesday. Mike Alescio, Billy Layne, Jr., Shane McCarthy and Al Molina were named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Seton Hall's seven honorees are the most since 2014.

MOLINA HONOR ROLL
Senior Al Molina was named to the BIG EAST Baseball Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Molina was instrumental in the Pirates sweeping Georgetown last weekend in Baltimore. In game two, he erupted for three hits, including his third home run of the season, and drove in a pair of runs. For the doubleheader, Molina led the Pirates with five hits and a .625 batting average.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
It is the eighth straight season that Seton Hall has qualified for the BIG EAST Championship. The Pirates have made 24 tournament appearances total with a record of 34-40 all-time. The Hall has won the event three times, most recently in 2011. However, Seton Hall has dropped its last five BIG EAST Championship games. It's last first round win came in 2014, a 1-0 shutout of St. John's by Seton Hall's last BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Josh Prevost.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP
Seton Hall enters the 2018 Championship as the No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 Butler in the first round on Thursday. The Pirates will face either No. 1 St. John's or No. 4 Georgetown on Friday in the double-elimination tournament. The Hall will bat last on Thursday. The Pirates swept their regular season series in Indianapolis against Butler, April 20-22.

GEOREGTOWN SWEEP
Last weekend, the Pirates ended the 2018 regular season in strong fashion with a doubleheader sweep of Georgetown in Baltimore. The matchup was scheduled to be a three-game series in Rockville, Md., but heavy rain forced a schedule adjustment. The Hall edged the Hoyas, 5-3, in game one, and routed Georgetown, 12-1, in game two.

LOCKDOWN LEON
Senior Matt Leon was one of only four BIG EAST players to be unanimously selected to the All-Conference First Team. The Pirate closer has put together arguably the greatest single-season performance for a relief pitcher in Seton Hall history. Named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice, and BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 19, Leon broke Seton Hall's single-season record for saves, and has climbed to second on the Pirates' career saves and appearances list. This season, the right-hander enters the BIG EAST Championship as the conference leader in saves, appearances, games finished and games in relief.

THE MIZ
Ramiz was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2017, but took his game to a new level in 2018. Named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on April 16, he orchestrated one of the great "turnarounds" to a season in recent history. Ramiz was just 4-for-33 to start the season (.121), but has batted .376 in the 36 games since. In conference-only games, he leads the BIG EAST with a .429 batting average and a .528 on-base percentage. Ramiz also ranks among the conference's top-10 in hits, doubles, walks and RBIs.