4 Pirates Named Preseason All-BIG EAST; Hall Picked to Finish Second

NEW YORK – The Seton Hall baseball team picked up three first place votes and tied for second place in the BIG EAST preseason poll with St. John's and Xavier, the league office announced Wednesday.

Additionally, four Pirates were tabbed to the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad; senior first baseman Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.), senior outfielder Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.), senior pitcher Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas) and sophomore pitcher David Festa (Verona, N.J.). Both the preseason poll and preseason team were voted on by the league's head coaches.

Despite the three-way tie for second, the Pirates' three first-place votes were the most of any team in the conference. Only one point separated the top four teams. Head coach Rob Sheppard, who enters his 17th season leading the program, brings back seven position players and three pitchers from a squad that finished 25-28 overall and 9-9 in the BIG EAST last season.

Toke hit .290 with a career-high four home runs and 29 RBI last season and was named second-team All-BIG EAST. A standout defensive first baseman, he finished with only one error in 398 defensive chances. The Three Bridges, N.J., native was also named to the 2018 BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team as a sophomore.

Shedler-McAvoy, a first-team All-BIG EAST selection last season, started all 53 games for the Pirates as a junior where he batted a team-best .324 with two home runs and 37 RBI, all career-highs. He also led the Pirates in hits (66), triples (6), RBI and stolen bases (22). The Allendale, N.J., product finished as the BIG EAST's top base stealer in 2019 and he tied for fifth in RBI and second in triples.

Festa recorded 58 strikeouts to 25 walks in 53.0 innings pitched for the Pirates as a freshman. Opponents hit only .249 against him in 14 appearances, including 10 starts. Thompson was the 2019 Seton Hall's Freshman Male Athlete of the Year.

Thompson made 13 appearances, all starts, and tallied 73 strikeouts to 29 walks in 64.1 innings pitched for the Hall last season. A 2019 BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team selection, Thompson was the Pirates' regular "Saturday" starter and turned in a .206 opponents' batting average.

The program's annual First Pitch Dinner will take place in Bethany Hall on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 at 6 p.m. Seton Hall baseball alum and Digmi CEO Ray Navarrette will be the evening's guest speaker. The cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with a cash bar, followed by dinner at 7 p.m. For more information and to register, please visit www.shu.edu/firstpitch or call 973-275-6445.