Seton Hall Kicks Off Spring Break Trip at USC

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall baseball team has landed safely in California where they will spend the university's Spring Break facing top competition as the Pirates face USC in Los Angeles from Feb. 28-March 1, Fresno State in Fresno, Calif., on March 3 and Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif., on March 5-7.

Live stream, live audio and live stats information for the week can be found on the baseball schedule page on SHUPirates.com.

Here's the Hall's (3-3) projected rotation this weekend (subject to change):

Friday: RHP Ryan McLinskey (Pearl River, N.Y.) – 1-0, 3.72 ERA
Saturday: RHP Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas) – 0-1, 2.31 ERA
Sunday: RHP David Festa (Verona, N.J.) – 1-1, 3.48 ERA

Here are the notes you need to know for this weekend:

This will be the Pirates' first trip to California since participating in the Tony Gwynn Classic at San Diego State on Feb. 24-25, 2017.
This weekend's series marks the first-ever games between the Pirates and the Trojans.
Seton Hall has lost by a combined four runs in its four losses this season, including a pair of one-run defeats against No. 20 Wake Forest and Liberty.
The Pirates' 3-3 start is their best six-game start to a season since 2014 when the Hall began the season 4-2.
After being named BIG EAST Player of the Week last week, senior Connor Hood (Shrewsbury, Pa.) went 5-for-13 (.385) with three RBI at Liberty last weekend.
Ryan McLinskey picked up his first career victory in the opener against the Flames as he struck out a career-high eight batters, allowing only two earned run and walking one batter in 5.2 innings of work.
Noah Thompson also put forth a productive start in a game two loss, allowing only one earned run in 6.2 innings with six strikeouts.
This weekend will be a homecoming of sorts for freshman Jace Baqui (Wailuku, Hawai'i) who started his high school career at Kamehameba High School in Maui but finished at Capistrano Valley Christian in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.