Pirates to Welcome Creighton to Staten Island

April 18 - 20, 2019
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK – Richmond County Bank Ballpark

SETON HALL (16-17, 2-1) vs. CREIGHTON (19-8, 2-1)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Creighton
Probable Starter

Live
Video

Live
Audio

Live
Stats

Twitter

Thursday,
April 18
1:00 pm

RICKY
DEVITO
(1-3, 4.13 ERA)
RHP

Mitch Ragan
(5-1, 4.68 ERA)
RHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Friday,
April 19
1:00 pm

DAVID
FESTA
(2-1, 3.55 ERA)
RHP

Denson Hull
(2-3, 7.71 ERA)
LHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Saturday,
April 20
1:00 pm

NOAH
THOMPSON
(3-1, 4.91 ERA)
RHP

Evan Johnson
(4-1, 3.89 ERA)
RHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend for its first home BIG EAST series of the season. With Owen T. Carroll Field renovations ongoing, the Pirates will host Creighton for three games at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, N.Y., Thursday through Saturday. All three games will be Pirate Sports Network (PSN) productions and all three will have a first pitch at 1:00 p.m.

The Pirates are coming off a hard-fought series at No. 19 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas last weekend. The Hall dropped both ends of a doubleheader on Friday, falling 5-1 in the opener, and 8-6, in the nightcap. On Sunday however, the Pirates bounced back with a 7-3 victory behind a 14-hit attack and some strong pitching by junior Noah Thompson.

On Monday, sophomore Casey Dana was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for a second straight week. He batted a team-best .444 in five games last week.

On Tuesday, The Hall defeated Monmouth, 6-3. Tyler Shedler-McAvoy had a two-run triple, and the Pirate bullpen limited the Hawks to just one run over seven innings of work.

SERIES INFORMATION:
The Bluejays have won 14 of the first 20 games between the teams, but 13 of the 20 games have been decided by two runs or less. Last year however, the Pirates won their first series with Creighton in Omaha. The Hall dropped the opener, 4-2, but defeated the Bluejays, 2-1, on Saturday, and 3-0, on Sunday. Tyler Shedler-McAvoy batted .400 for the series and Ricky DeVito allowed only one run over 6.2 innings in his start.

Creighton enters this weekend with a 19-8 overall record, and match Seton Hall with a 2-1 start in BIG EAST play. The Bluejays had their BIG EAST bye weekend first, and then won two of three games in Indianapolis against Butler last weekend. Jake Holton is a candidate for the BIG EAST Triple Crown. The junior leads the conference with a .392 batting average and ranks second in both home runs and RBIs. Creighton was tied with Seton Hall for second place in the Coaches' Preseason Poll.

THINGS TO KNOW:
BACK-TO-BACK FOR DANA
For the second straight week, sophomore Casey Dana was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Dana led the Pirates with a .444 batting average last week and hit safely in all five contests. On Wednesday at Princeton, Dana belted a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning to fuel Seton Hall's 7-3 victory.

PIRATES GROUND HAWKS
Junior Tyler Shedler-McAvoy had a two-run triple, and the Pirate bullpen allowed only one run over seven strong innings in a 6-3 victory at Monmouth, on Tuesday. Shedler-McAvoy reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with a two-RBI triple, two walks, a sacrifice bunt and two stolen bases. He also threw a runner out at the plate in a strong all-around performance.

HALL STEALS ONE AT TCU
Playing at No. 19 TCU, the Pirates were able to come away with a victory in game three of the series. On Sunday, The Hall downed the Horned Frogs, 7-3, behind a 14-hit offensive attack and strong pitching by Noah Thompson. Five Pirates had multiple hits, including a 3-for-4 performance by freshman Alex Clyde. Thompson allowed three runs over 6.2 innings with six strikeouts and only one walk.

OFFENSE IS UP
Seton Hall has collected at least 11 hits in seven of its last 11games. Overall, the Pirates have reached double-digits in hits 15 times this season. With its recent success, The Hall's batting average is now up to .258 on the season.

HOME RUNS APLENTY
Seton Hall has already belted 18 home runs this year, which through only 33 games, is already more than they hit in 2015 and 2016, and is only one shy of their total for 2017. Last season, The Hall hit 28 home runs, its highest total since 2007.

DANA'S DOMINANCE
Sophomore Casey Dana has been a force for Seton Hall over the last three weeks. Since March 24, he is 23-for-60 with four home runs, 14 RBIs and four stolen bases, and led The Hall with a .383 batting average. In that 16 game span, Dana has raised his season batting average from .208 to .301.

FABULOUS FRESHMAN
Freshman Steve Grober has been both a defensive dynamo and an offensive force so far this year. Since starting the season 3-for-22, he has batted .355 with 19 RBIs. Grober has had eight multi-hit games, raising his season batting average to .306, which is second-best on the team. In the field, he has committed just one error in 28 games at shortstop.

NO-HITTER
Seton Hall recorded a no-hitter for the third time in four seasons on March 30. Five Pirates combined to keep Iona hitless, Noah Thompson, Tyler Burnham, Nick Payero, Hunter Waldis and Sean Miller. Burnham earned the victory as he went the longest, 3.2 innings pitched. This no-hitter follows Shane McCarthy's perfect game in 2016, and Zach Prendergast's no-no in 2017.

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.