Pirates Host Georgetown in Queens This Weekend

May 10 - 11, 2019
QUEENS, NEW YORK – Jack Kaiser Stadium

SETON HALL (22-23, 6-6) at GEORGETOWN (19-30, 5-7)

Date

Seton Hall
Probable Starter

Georgetown
Probable Starter

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Video

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Audio

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Friday,
May 10
3:00 pm

RICKY
DEVITO
(2-4, 4.08 ERA)
RHP

Jerry Burke
(2-8, 5.15 ERA)
RHP

LIVE
STATS

@SHUBaseball

Saturday,
May 11
Noon

NOAH
THOMPSON
(3-2, 5.01 ERA)
RHP

Nick Morreale
(4-3, 4.27 ERA)
RHP

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@SHUBaseball

Saturday,
May 11
TBD

DAVID
FESTA
(2-3, 4.26 ERA)
RHP

Jack Cushing
(4-4, 3.02 ERA)
RHP

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@SHUBaseball

PREVIEW:
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend for a three-game series against Georgetown at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, N.Y. The teams will play a single game on Friday with first pitch at 3:00 p.m., and then a doubleheader on Saturday with the first pitch beginning at Noon. Prior to the games on Saturday, Seton Hall will honor its graduating seniors with a Senior Day Ceremony. All three games will be produced by the Pirate Sports Network.

The Pirates are coming off one of their best weekend performances of the season, winning two of three games in Cincinnati against Xavier. On Friday, junior Ricky DeVito allowed only one run over seven strong innings as The Hall edged Xavier, 3-1. On Saturday, junior Tyler Shedler-McAvoy was a single short of the cycle as the Pirates routed Xavier, 11-3. On Sunday, The Hall dropped the finale, 7-5, despite out-hitting the Musketeers.

For his efforts last week, Shedler-McAvoy became the first Pirate to be named BIG EAST Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. DeVito was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

SERIES INFORMATION:
Seton Hall and Georgetown will resume their very long rivalry this weekend. The Pirates have dominated the all-time series, owning an 86-27 all-time advantage. The Hall closed the 2018 regular season with the Hoyas, sweeping them in a doubleheader on May 19. The Pirates also ended Georgetown's season, defeating them, 21-5, on the second day of the 2018 BIG EAST Championship. Matt Toke batted .667 with seven RBIs against the Hoyas last year. Sebastiano Santorelli batted .500. Ricky DeVito made two starts against the Hoyas, pitching to a 3.60 ERA with 10 strikeouts and only one walk.

Georgetown enters this weekend with a record of 19-30 overall and 5-7 in the BIG EAST Conference. They're one of two teams just one game behind The Hall in the standings, and a series victory would all but ensure that Seton Hall would finish above them in the final standings.

THINGS TO KNOW:
BACK-TO-BACK PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the first time in Seton Hall history, a Pirate was named BIG EAST Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. Tyler Shedler-McAvoy batted a team-best .474 last week with nine RBIs and four stolen bases, and led Seton Hall to wins in four of five contests.

DEVITO HONOR ROLL
Junior Ricky DeVito was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. The Pirate right-hander allowed just one run over seven strong innings at Xavier with eight strikeouts and only one walk. His performance enabled the Pirates to defeat the Musketeers, 3-1, in the series opener.

PIRATES WIN XAVIER SERIES
Seton Hall turned in one of its best weekend performances of the season, winning its series at Xavier in Cincinnati. The Hall edged the Musketeers, 3-1, on Friday, before routing them, 11-3 on Saturday. On Sunday, the Pirates fell in a close contest, 7-5. Xavier entered the weekend with a 9-3 conference record in sole possession of first place.

SENIOR DAY DOUBLEHEADER
On Saturday, the Pirates will play Georgetown in a doubleheader at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, but beforehand, Seton Hall will honor its graduating seniors. Managers Matt Carden and Mike Villafana will be honored as well as six players, Nick Dabrio, Chris Miranda, Matt Ponsiglione, Sebastiano Santorelli, Dylan Verdonk and Chris Villa.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS
The bottom five teams are separated by just two games in the standings and are vying for two spots in the BIG EAST Championship field. Although they haven't clinched yet, Creighton and Xavier with nine and 10 wins respectively, are all but given. Seton Hall is 6-6, while both Georgetown and St. John's are 5-7. Butler is 5-9 and Villanova is 4-8. The Pirates own the tie-breakers against both the Bulldogs and Wildcats.

STREAKING SHEDLER
No one in the BIG EAST has been hotter than Tyler Shedler-McAvoy over the last 14 games. The junior has had hits in 13 of the last 14 contests and is batting .444 over that stretch with team-highs of 15 RBIs and eight stolen bases. For the season, his 18 stolen bases lead the BIG EAST, and his .314 batting average is sixth-best.

STRIKEOUTS APLENTY
Seton Hall's 424 strikeouts currently lead the BIG EAST Conference with six pitchers topping 30 strikeouts already. Last season, the Pirates had 471 strikeouts, their most since 1985. That year, The Hall struck out a team-record 497. With at least six games remaining in the season, the Pirates would need to average 12.2 strikeouts per game to set the record. Currently, The Hall is averaging just 9.4 strikeouts per game. However, if Seton Hall makes the BIG EAST Tournament, two guaranteed more games would drop the needed average to 9.2 per.

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.