Pirates Begin Spring Break at FIU This Weekend

March 8 - 10, 2019
Miami, Florida - FIU Baseball Stadium

SETON HALL (1-6) at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (6-6)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

FIU
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Friday,
March 8
7:00 pm

DAVID
FESTA
(0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP

Logan Allen
(1-1, 2.25 ERA)
LHP

None

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Saturday,
March 9
6:00 pm

NOAH
THOMPSON
(1-1, 3.86 ERA)
RHP

Nick MacDonald
(0-1, 2.87 ERA)
RHP

None

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Sunday,
March 10
Noon

TYLER
BURNHAM
(0-1, 5.40 ERA)
LHP

Christian Santana
(1-1, 2.19 ERA)
RHP

CUSA.TV

None

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend with a three-game series in Miami against Florida International University. All three games will have live stats, but only Sunday's contest will be streamed live on CUSA.tv.

Poor weather interrupted Seton Hall's weekend series again last week, as a three-game set in Charlottesville against Virginia was shortened to just a doubleheader. The Pirates split the doubleheader with both teams getting shut out. Behind the supreme pitching of Noah Thompson, the Pirates blanked the Cavaliers in game one, 3-0. Thompson pitched a career-high 8.1 scoreless innings, scattering just two hits, and striking out six batters for the win. Connor Hood, Sebastiano Santorelli, Tyler Shedler-McAvoy and Matt Toke all had two hits apiece for The Hall.

In game two, the Pirates were shut out by Virginia, 4-0. Seton Hall's bullpen tossed 6.2 scoreless innings, but the Pirates were unable to overcome an early deficit.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall and Florida International have met 30 times in the past, with the Panthers picking up 19 of the victories. Most recently, FIU won three of four games in Miami in 2016. The Hall was able to salvage the final game of the series, 2-1, behind the strong pitching of recent Pirate MLB draftee Cullen Dana. The only current Pirate to play in that series was then freshman Sebastiano Santorelli, who played in three games and went 0-for-6 with an RBI.

Florida International enters this weekend with a 6-6 overall record. Last weekend, they won two of three contests at Jacksonville State. Most recently, they're coming off a split of a pair of mid-week contests against Florida A&M at FIU Baseball Stadium. The Panthers fell to the Rattlers, 3-2, on Tuesday, but defeated them 8-6, on Wednesday. FIU was picked to finish fifth in the 12-team Conference USA in 2019. Both Austin Shenton and Logan Allen were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

THINGS TO KNOW:
THOMPSON PITCHER OF THE WEEK
For the second time in three weeks, junior Noah Thompson turned in a career-best performance last weekend. The 6-foot-4 right-hander tossed 8.1 scoreless innings, scattering just two hits, in a win at Virginia. Thompson struck out six and walked only one. It was his second career victory.

TRADING SHUTOUTS
Last weekend, Seton Hall both won and lost via shutout against Virginia in Charlottesville. The Hall blanked the Cavaliers, 3-0, in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday, before being shut out, 4-0, in game two.

STRONG BULLPEN
Seton Hall has had one of the best bullpens in the nation so far this season. The Pirates have a bullpen ERA of just 2.78 for the season, but over their last four games, they've got even better. In the four games since the Ohio State series, Pirate relievers have pitched to a 0.82 earned run average. Corey Sawyer and freshmen David Festa and Nick Payero have yet to allow a run.

CLYDE EXCELING
Playing his first collegiate baseball, freshman Alex Clyde has excelled in his starting opportunities so far this season. The middle infielder has played both shortstop and second base and has yet to commit an error. Offensively, his seven hits leads the Pirates and his .350 batting average is second-best.

PICKED SECOND
Fresh off their second place finish in 2018, the Pirates were picked to finish tied for second in 2019 according to the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Hall is tied with Creighton for second place with 25 points. St. John's is predicted to win the conference and received 36 points, including six of seven first place votes. Expected to finish fourth is Xavier with 24 points, followed by Butler (17), Georgetown (13) and Villanova (7).

DEVITO, DANA PRESEASON HONORS
Junior Ricky DeVito has been named 2019 BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year. He was also a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Teammate Casey Dana was Seton Hall's other honoree named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.

GETTING NOTICED
Junior Ricky DeVito is gaining national attention as a 2019 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft top prospect. Baseball America released its top-100 draft prospects and listed DeVito as No. 58. The same publication had him as their No. 26 college baseball senior. The Pirates have had 16 pitchers drafted in the last 10 years, but none in the first two rounds since Jason Grilli went fourth overall in 1997.

ROAD WARRIORS
With Owen T. Carroll Field undergoing major renovations, the Pirates will play all of its games away from South Orange in 2019. Its three BIG EAST "home" series will be played at venues in New York. Seton Hall will host Creighton at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, April 18-20. The Pirates will host both Butler and Georgetown at Jack Kaiser Stadium at St. John's University. The Butler series is April 26-28 and the Georgetown series is May 10-11.

NEW STAFF
Seton Hall has welcomed two new members to its coaching staff for 2019. Replacing Giuseppe Papaccio at volunteer assistant coach is Tyler Smarslok, while the new Director of Baseball Operations is Bruin Campbell.