Pirates Welcome Creighton For Final Homestand

South Orange, N.J. - After being on the road the last two weekends, the Seton Hall baseball team returns home this weekend for a critical BIG EAST series against Creighton that opens on Friday at 6 p.m. at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium.

Saturday's game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Sunday's game will start at 12 p.m. Senior Day will take place following Saturday's game.

Seton Hall sits at 25-22 and 7-8 in the BIG EAST with six league games left to play. Currently fifth in the league standings, the Pirates are just one game back of Georgetown for fourth place in the BIG EAST standings. The top four teams qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. Creighton is currently third in the BIG EAST with a record of 9-6.

Pitching Probables (subject to change)
Friday: Nick Payero (Monroe, N.J.) vs. Dominic Cancellieri
Saturday: Dan Frontera (Red Bank,. N.J.) vs. Ryan Windham
Sunday: TBD vs. Justin Kleinsorge

News & Notes

The Pirates have won three of its five BIG EAST series this season.
Seton Hall trails the all-time series against the Bluejays, 9-23, but won the last meeting, 10-9.
The Pirates and Bluejays split the last time the two times squared off in South Orange in 2021.
The Hall has won six of its last nine games at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium and its 12-7 in South Orange this season.
The Pirates are coming off of a series at No. 9 UConn where they scored 18 runs but couldn't come out with a win.
Daniel Frontera had arguably his best start of the season on Saturday, allowing no earned runs and just three hits in nearly six innings with five strikeouts.
Senior Oscar Murray (Brentwood, Calif.) continued his breakout season against the Huskies going 6-for-12 and reaching base in eight of his 15 plate appearances.
After going 5-for-13 from the plate last weekend at UConn, redshirt Junior Devin Hack (Somerville, N.J.) is now hitting .450 (27-for-60) against BIG EAST competition.

What a Difference a Year Makes

After a disappointing 2022 campaign that saw the Pirates miss its first BIG EAST Tournament since 2010, Seton Hall had nowhere to go but up in 2023.
With a new assistant coaching staff, including Seton Hall greats Giuseppe Papaccio and Ryan Ramiz, the Pirates have improved drastically on the mound and at the plate.
With 25 victories this season, Seton Hall has its most wins since winning 30 games in 2018.
As a team, Seton Hall has already hit more home runs (32), scored more runs (300) and stolen more bases (86) than last season.
32 home runs are the most for the Pirates since the 2001 squad hit 38 round trippers.
The last time Seton Hall scored more than 300 runs as a team was 2016 when the Pirates finished with 305 runs.
After posting a 6.38 team ERA in 2022, the Pirates' arms have a 4.76 staff ERA this season.

Viera Named to Brooks Wallace Award Watch List

Junior Max Viera (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List on April 18 as one of the nation's top shortstops.
Viera is returning to his freshman All-American form this season as he leads the team with 38 RBI, 15 doubles and 60 hits while hitting .331 and stealing 21 bases.

Back To Stealing Bases

Seton Hall is back to stealing bags at high clip this season as the Pirates rank second in the BIG EAST and 34th in the country with 86 stole bases.
Hack leads the Pirates in swiped bags with 24 and he's a perfect 24-for-24 on the season.
Viera and redshirt junior Will Gale (Scotch Plains, N.J.) are tied for second on the club with 22 stolen bases.

Young Guns

The Pirates have some young arms on the pitching staff that have been impressive in their freshman campaigns.
Leading the way is Michael Gillen (Rochelle Park, N.J.) who ranks second on the team with 15 appearances and is posting a 0.40 ERA in 22.2 innings.
Gillen owns an eye popping strikeout-to-walk ratio of 25-to-2.
Freshman Ryan Reich (Sellinsgrove, Pa.) has appeared in 13 games and is tied for third on the team with 31 strikeouts.
Freshman Anthony Ehly (Glenside, Pa.) has been strong in midweek games where he has made four starting, going 1-0 with a 2.29 ERA in 19.2 innings.