Although at the helm from inside the dugout, softball head coach Paige Smith wants to storm the field for a championship just as much as her players.
After playing their junior seasons away from home due to the construction of Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium at Owen T. Carroll Field, the Seton Hall baseball team’s seniors had the 2020 season vanish into thin air due to COVID-19.
While spring break travel was tempered slightly for many students due to coronavirus concerns, a spring break excursion continued as planned for the Seton Hall baseball team.
Facing the weight of high pre-season expectations, the Seton Hall baseball team started off strong on opening weekend by dispatching Illinois and Milwaukee in blowout fashion 10-2 and 17-1, respectively. However, the bats cooled off markedly during the team’s three game series with Liberty in Virginia this past weekend. The Pirates held of a late Liberty charge to win 5-4 in last Friday’s opener, but lost close games on Saturday and Sunday. Seton Hall lost 3-2 on Saturday and the Pirates fell by a final score of 5-3 on Sunday.
Almost a full two weeks into the baseball season, the Pirates have split their first six games to begin the 2020 campaign, going 3-3 with blowout victories over Illinois and Milwaukee and a walk-off loss to No. 20 Wake Forest. Seton Hall is now gearing up for a road trip to California, with seven games in nine days against USC, Fresno State, and Saint Mary’s.
The Seton Hall Pirates baseball team lost two out of three games this weekend against Liberty. The weekend began with promise after a 5-4 victory over the Flames on Friday afternoon but quickly turned south with back to back close losses on Saturday and Sunday. The stumbles against the Flames put the Pirates at 3-3 with ample time to go in the season, including the entirety of Big East play.
Excitement, upsets, and under appreciation are all things that seem to happen withing the Big East conference of the NCAA men’s basketball program. How- ever, if there was one thing these teams are not used to, it is one and done basketball players.
On a baseball team full of experience, David Festa adds to that despite being only a sophomore. The University’s reigning Freshman Athlete of the Year is one of the pivotal starting pitchers on a team with hopes of capturing the conference crown. Already holding the role of a weekend starter, it is known Festa is one of the most important cogs of the Pirate program after an impressive first season.
Whether it’s hitting fade-away game-winners to win a playoff series or winning back-to-back titles to end a 40-year drought of postseason success, basketball players are steadily gaining notoriety as they come closer to reaping the fruits of labor that baseball players have.
Isaac Pavlik wore the number 7 with the New Jersey Jackals, which was retired by the independent baseball franchise last Thursday. He is now only one of five players to have his number retired by the organization, including Hall of Fame member Yogi Berra. What is more remarkable about the former Seton Hall pitcher is that his jersey number is almost equal to the number of people he graduated with in high school.
Throughout the years, Major League Baseball’s playoff system has undergone numerous tweaks.
The Seton Hall baseball team swept its doubleheader today to come closer to a postseason berth, defeating Georgetown 7-1 in game one and 6-2 in game two. Today’s wins followed a narrow 6-5 triumph against Georgetown yesterday and completed a three game sweep of the Hoyas.
Freshman Nick Payero took a perfect game into the seventh inning as Seton Hall defeated Lafayette 7-1 at Kamine Stadium.
Baseball is a game of chess. Each pitch in every at-bat is a different way to attack the opposing team. Despite it taking a lot of physical skill to be a prominent player in the sport, the mental game is what widens the gap of the competition.
The Seton Hall baseball team capped off a three-game series against the Butler Bulldogs with a 9-4 win at Jackson Kaiser Stadium in Queens, New York on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of the set.
It is traditionally rare for a freshman to come in and get regular playing time with a college team. It is even rarer for that freshman to contribute on a regular basis. Yet, Steve Grober has done just that for the Seton Hall baseball team.
The Seton Hall baseball team fell to Creighton, 11-1, on Friday afternoon at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island.
After dropping their first two games at No. 19 Texas Christian, Seton Hall was able to wake up the bats to defeat the Horned Frogs, 7-3, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. The victory increases the Pirates’ record to 15-17.
The Seton Hall baseball team dropped both games of its doubleheader Saturday against Texas Christian University, bringing its season record to 14-17. This was the Pirates’ first meeting with TCU ever and their first meeting with a nationally ranked opponent this season.
In a transitional year for the Seton Hall baseball team, leaders and game changers have been relied on heavily to guide the team back to the Big East Championship. On top of the need for these standout players, Seton Hall are also juggling with the struggle of not having a home field for the entirety of this season. Christian Del Castillo, a junior outfielder, has emerged as one of the team’s instrumental components both offensively and defensively.
Solutions by The State News
