Pirates Set For BIG EAST Championship Opener Against Creighton - Seton Hall University Athletics
MASON, Ohio - The Seton Hall baseball team's 10th consecutive trip to the BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by Jeep begins on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. as the
shupirates.com
The two teams split the series played earlier this month at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium
MASON, Ohio - The Seton Hall baseball team's 10th consecutive trip to the BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by Jeep begins on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. as the third-seeded Pirates clash once again with conference foe and No. 2 seed Creighton at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
The game will be broadcast by the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi on YouTube.
PROJECTED STARTERS (subject to change)
Thursday - RHP Ryan McLinskey (4-1, 2.85 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Tebrake (8-0, 2.67 ERA) Live Stream | Live Stats
NEWS & NOTES
- The Pirates' 10 consecutive appearances at the BIG EAST Championship is the longest active streak in the conference.
- Seton Hall finished league play with 16 BIG EAST wins, the most in the conference.
- The Pirates are 37-44 (.468) all-time at the BIG EAST Championship with three titles and five second place finishes.
- The Pirates' No. 3 seed this weekend is its highest positioning since claiming the No. 2 seed in 2018 when The Hall reached the championship game.
- Seton Hall, Connecticut and Xavier have each won three BIG EAST Tournament championships while Creighton won the last league title in 2019.
- Two of the Pirates' three BIG EAST Tournament titles have come in the first year of a decade (2001 and 2011).
- Rob Sheppard was the interim head coach for the 2001 championship while his father, Mike Sheppard, Sr., was recovering from triple bypass surgery before winning the 2011 title in his eighth season.
- The BIG EAST All-Conference teams were announced on Wednesday and the Pirates had six selections; graduate student Matt Toke (Three Bridges, N.J.), senior Jerry Huntzinger (Staten Island, N.J.) and junior David Festa (Verona, N.J.) made the first team and senior Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.), senior Tyler Burnham (East Brunswick, N.J.) and redshirt freshman Will Gale (Scotch Plains, N.J.) made the second team.
- Huntzinger leads the BIG EAST and ranks 17th in the country with 24 stolen bases.
- As a team, the Pirates lead the BIG EAST and rank 35th in the nation with 71 stolen bases.
- Huntzinger (24), Gale (16) and Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (15) each rank in the top three in the conference stolen bags.
- In BIG EAST play, Gale (.381) and Toke (.366) rank fourth and fifth respectively in batting average.
- In seven career BIG EAST Tournament games, Shedler-McAvoy is hitting .320 (8-25) with seven runs scored and three RBI.
- Toke is hitting .278 (10-for-36) with six runs, nine RBI, a double and two home runs in nine career BIG EAST Tournament games at Prasco Park.
- Of Dana's four career hits at Prasco Park, one was a double and two were home runs.
- After the coaching staff initially thought they were going to lose graduate student Connor Hood (Shrewsbury, Pa.) to a foot injury in the preseason, he battled back and returned in BIG EAST play where he's started 20 games at second base and is hitting .296 (21-for-71) with nine runs scored and seven RBI.
- Festa ranks second in the conference in ERA (1.81) and opponent's batting average (.172).
- In conference play, Burnham -- who struck out 14 batters and tossed a no-hitter vs. Georgetown on May 2 -- ranks sixth in both ERA (2.15) and opponent's batting average (.183).
- Out of the bullpen, junior Nick Payero (Monroe, N.J.) has picked up three wins vs. BIG EAST teams in five appearances while senior Sean Miller (Newton, N.J.) owns a 1.86 ERA with three saves in conference play.
- Last week at UConn, junior Justin Scotto (Tinton Falls, N.J.) came off the bench in three games and started one game in left field and he hit .500 (4-for-8) with a solo home run and two runs scored.