Seton Hall Travels to Fort Worth for Series at TCU

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend when it takes a break from BIG EAST Conference play and heads to Fort Worth, Texas for a three-game series at Texas Christian University. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Games on Friday and Sunday will be streamed on the TCU website at GoFrogs.com. Saturday's contest will be shown on Fox Sports Southwest.

Seton Hall is coming off a strong showing last weekend in their first BIG EAST series of the season. The Pirates won two of three games on the road at Villanova. In the opener of a doubleheader on Saturday, The Hall was edged 6-5, despite three hits and two RBIs by freshman Steve Grober. In the nightcap, the Pirates bounced back with a 6-3 victory. Sophomore Casey Dana belted a home run, and Grober drove in three more runs. Starter David Festa allowed only one run over 5.1 innings with nine strikeouts. In the finale on Sunday, the Pirates rallied from a 5-0 deficit to outlast the Wildcats, 7-5, in 10 innings. Dana reached base four times and Matt Toke drove in three runs. The Pirate bullpen pitched seven scoreless innings.

The Pirates split a pair of midweek contests, falling at Rider, 11-8, and defeating Princeton, 7-2.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall and Texas Christian University have never faced off on the baseball diamond.

TCU enters this weekend with a 20-11 overall record, and is a strong competitor at its home field of Lupton Stadium. At home, the Horned Frogs have won 12 of 16 games so far in 2019. Last weekend, TCU won two of three games against Oklahoma in Norman. Most recently, they fell at Dallas Baptist, 11-6, on Tuesday.

The Horned Frogs have played a strong schedule all season long. In only their third game of the season, they routed No. 1 Vanderbilt, 10-2. They also won a road series at Long Beach State and at home against Texas.

The teams have not played a common opponent yet this season.

THINGS TO KNOW:
A LEGEND PASSES AWAY
On April 6, former Seton Hall student-athlete, coach and administrator Mike Sheppard, Sr. passed away at the age of 82. The skipper was the head coach of the Pirate baseball program for 31 years compiling 998 victories and guiding The Hall to four College World Series appearances. He was a member of several Halls of Fame and leaves a significant legacy on all who were fortunate enough to have known him.

DANA HONOR ROLL
Sophomore Casey Dana was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. The Pirate third baseman led Seton Hall in hitting last week with a .438 batting average, recording multiple hits in three of four contests. His leadoff double off the fence in the top of the 10th inning at Villanova on Sunday set the table for the Pirates to scoring the winning run.

PIRATES SPLIT MIDWEEK CONTESTS
Seton Hall split a pair of midweek road contests in New Jersey last week. The Hall led 8-2 at Rider on Tuesday, but the Broncs rallied to take an 11-8 lead before rain forced the end of the game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. On Wednesday, The Hall bounced back with a 7-2 victory at Princeton. The Pirates were trailing, 2-0, but erupted with a six-run sixth inning to take control.

GRAND SLAM
Trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning at Princeton, sophomore Casey Dana belted a grand slam over the left-center field fence to put The Hall on top, 4-2. Dana's granny is the first by a Pirate since Joe Poduslenko belted one on March 29, 2017. Coincidentally, Poduslenko's was also against Princeton.

HALL WINS NOVA SERIES
Seton Hall got off in BIG EAST play on the right foot, winning two of three games at Villanova last weekend. The Hall fell in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday, 6-5, but won the nightcap, 6-3. On Sunday, Seton Hall trailed, 5-0, but rallied to edge the Wildcats, 7-5, in 10 innings. It's the first time that Seton Hall has won a game after trailing by at least four runs since edging Rutgers on April 19, 2017. In that one, The Hall trailed 4-0, but won 10-9.

DANA'S DOMINANCE
Sophomore Casey Dana has been a force for Seton Hall over the last three weeks. Since March 24, he is 17-for-43 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and four stolen bases. In that 11 game span, Dana has raised his season batting average from .208 to an even .300.

TEAM OFFENSE THRIVING
Seton Hall has collected at least 11 hits in five of its last seven games, including the last three. Overall, the Pirates have reached double-digits in hits 13 times this season. With its recent success, The Hall is now batting a season-high .257 on the year.

FABULOUS FRESHMAN
Freshman Steve Grober has been both a defensive dynamo and an offensive force so far this year. Since starting the season 1-for-22, he has batted a team-best .397 with 16 RBIs. Grober has had eight multi-hit games, rising his season batting average to .329, which leads Seton Hall. In the field, he has committed just one error in 24 games at shortstop.