Pirates Face Monmouth & Wagner This Weekend

March 22-23, 2019
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – MU Baseball Field

SETON HALL (4-12) at MONMOUTH (6-11-1)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Monmouth
Probable Starter

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Friday,
March 22
3:00 pm ET

RICKY
DEVITO
(0-0, 2.00 ERA)
RHP

Rob Hensey
(0-2, 4.91 ERA)
LHP

None

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SETON HALL (4-12) vs. WAGNER (5-12)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Wagner
Probable Starter

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Saturday,
March 23
3:00 am ET

NOAH
THOMPSON
(2-1, 4.22 ERA)
RHP

Eric Ligda
(0-2, 7.58 ERA)
RHP

None

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PREVIEW:
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend with a pair of games against local opponents in West Long Branch, N.J. The Pirates will face host Monmouth on Friday, and Wagner on Saturday. Both games will begin at 3:00 p.m.

The Pirates are coming off a 3-3 record over the past week. The first five contests were played in Port Charlotte, Fla. as part of the Snowbird Classic. The Hall won its opener, 12-1 over Bucknell last Tuesday, but dropped their next two contests against Kansas and Saint Joseph's. The Pirates bounced back with a 7-4 win over Harvard on Friday, but lost to the Crimson in the Snowbird finale on Saturday, 6-2. For his efforts last week, junior Matt Toke was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

Most recently, Seton Hall defeated Wagner, 11-7, in Staten Island on Tuesday. Freshman Brennan O'Neill picked up his first collegiate pitching win, and the Pirate offense belted out 13 hits, three of which came from Toke.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall owns a 37-8-1 all-time record against Monmouth, but the Hawks have won the last two meetings, including a 10-3 win at Owen T. Carroll Field last year. Monmouth enters the weekend with a 6-11-1 record, and is coming off a 6-6 tie at Richmond on Tuesday.

The Pirates are 34-8 all-time against Wagner and have won eight of the last nine meetings, including an 11-7 victory in Staten Island on Tuesday. The Seahawks are 5-12 this season and beat Saint Peter's on Wednesday.

THINGS TO KNOW:
TOKE NAMED TO HONOR ROLL
Junior Matt Toke was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Toke hit safely in all five games of the Snowbird Classic last week and batted a team-best .556 with 10 hits in 18 at bats over that span. He also belted a two-run home run in Seton Hall's victory over Bucknell on March 12.

PIRATES DOWN WAGNER
Freshman Brennan O'Neill picked up his first collegiate victory and the Pirates' offense belted out 13 hits as the Pirates downed Wagner, 11-7, on Tuesday. Toke had a team-best three hits, while both Connor Hood and Tyler Shedler-McAvoy knocked in three runs apiece.

STREAKS
Seton Hall enters the weekend with a pair of impressive individual streaks ongoing. Junior Matt Toke has recorded a hit in six straight games, and is batting .565 over that span. Meanwhile, sophomore Casey Dana has reached base in a team-best nine straight games.

SAVING THE DAY
Junior Corey Sawyer has settled in nicely as the Pirates' new closer. The left-hander enters the weekend with a 1.59 earned run average and teams are hitting just .167 against him. Sawyer currently leads the BIG EAST Conference with three saves.

DEVITO RETURNS
After some rest, junior Ricky DeVito made his return to the Pirates' rotation on March 15 against Saint Joseph's and looked every bit his dominant self. The right-hander allowed only one run over five innings, walked only one and matched his career-high with nine strikeouts.

PIRATES GO DEEP
After hitting just one home run through their first nine games, the Pirates belted a total of four in their next two games. At Florida International on March 10, both Casey Dana and Sebastiano Santorelli went deep. Two days later, Christian Del Castillo and Matt Toke hit homers against Bucknell.

NEAR CYCLE
Against Bucknell on March 12, junior Christian Del Castillo was just a single shy of the cycle. The outfielder finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBIs, two runs scored, a home run, a triple, a double and a sacrifice fly.

MILLER EMERGES
After pitching just 1.1 innings (three appearances) as a freshman in 2018, sophomore Sean Miller broke out with a career-best performance at FIU on March 10. The right-hander entered in relief and proceed to throw five scoreless innings, without allowing a single hit. He struck out a career-high six batters and walked two.

FESTA DAZZLES
Making his first career start, freshman David Festa stymied Florida International for five innings. The tall right-hander allowed only one hit over five scoreless innings, while striking out a career-high eight batters and walking three in a no decision. Festa's ERA is just 2.45 in five appearances so far this season.

STRANGE OUTCOMES
In a statistical anomaly, Seton Hall played three straight games with a result of 7-4 at the Snowbird Classic last week. Seton Hall lost to Kansas on March 13, 7-4. Two days later, the Pirates played two games, losing to Saint Joseph's, 7-4, in the morning, before beating Harvard, 7-4, in the afternoon.