The baseball team has struggled much of this year, but did find their way into this week's Bigeast Tournament
at Omaha. They have at least given themselves a chance to take a shot at an NCAA bid. It's going to be tough especially with Creighton having the huge homefield advantage in their state of the art stadium. You may have some crowds in excess of 10,000 for their games. In addition St.John's seems like it may be their year with a very talented team. So it's going to be a difficult task for SHU this week. Georgetown is the last qualifier and they could be that quiet team that makes some noise.
The coaching staff has to decide how they are going to approach this year's tournament especially with a very tough first game against Creighton. I don't know in which direction they'll go for a starting pitcher in this one. If they feel that Freshman Shane McCarthy can handle the pressure of the big crowd he may be the guy. At minimum your getting him a ton of experience for the future. That's a tough call for the coach. Staying to form they will probably go with a more experienced pitcher. They just don't have that lightsout guy on the staff right now. So they'll have to manage their way through each and every game. Composure is what you want to see across the board. Limit the walks and keep the ball in play. The defense is pretty solid as usual.
The offense has to show up this week or they'll have no chance. You have started to see some improvement as the season has gone on, but they still struggle to have those typical Seton Hall big innings. Some of the SHU big guns have hit well in this park in the past and that bodes well. Jenkins and Weigel have to get on base and Grimm, Ruhlman and Annunziata have to use the spacious park to their advantage. The other players have to elevate and bring some more offense to the table.
Seton Hall is clearly an underdog this week. They should approach the games with no pressure on them. They should mirror what Xavier did last year in Brooklyn and swipe the bid. Go out to Omaha and make some noise and play with a chip on their shoulder. If they can elevate their mental toughness a notch they're going to be in this tournament. Go Pirates!
at Omaha. They have at least given themselves a chance to take a shot at an NCAA bid. It's going to be tough especially with Creighton having the huge homefield advantage in their state of the art stadium. You may have some crowds in excess of 10,000 for their games. In addition St.John's seems like it may be their year with a very talented team. So it's going to be a difficult task for SHU this week. Georgetown is the last qualifier and they could be that quiet team that makes some noise.
The coaching staff has to decide how they are going to approach this year's tournament especially with a very tough first game against Creighton. I don't know in which direction they'll go for a starting pitcher in this one. If they feel that Freshman Shane McCarthy can handle the pressure of the big crowd he may be the guy. At minimum your getting him a ton of experience for the future. That's a tough call for the coach. Staying to form they will probably go with a more experienced pitcher. They just don't have that lightsout guy on the staff right now. So they'll have to manage their way through each and every game. Composure is what you want to see across the board. Limit the walks and keep the ball in play. The defense is pretty solid as usual.
The offense has to show up this week or they'll have no chance. You have started to see some improvement as the season has gone on, but they still struggle to have those typical Seton Hall big innings. Some of the SHU big guns have hit well in this park in the past and that bodes well. Jenkins and Weigel have to get on base and Grimm, Ruhlman and Annunziata have to use the spacious park to their advantage. The other players have to elevate and bring some more offense to the table.
Seton Hall is clearly an underdog this week. They should approach the games with no pressure on them. They should mirror what Xavier did last year in Brooklyn and swipe the bid. Go out to Omaha and make some noise and play with a chip on their shoulder. If they can elevate their mental toughness a notch they're going to be in this tournament. Go Pirates!
John Fanta @John_Fanta 
