The Seton Hall Pirates opened up a 3 game weekend series in Tucson, Arizona against the #22 Arizona Wildcats with a 9-1 victory. The Pirates ace RHP Josh Prevost faced off against the Wildcats’ RHP James Farris. Prevost turned in another masterful performance, going 8 innings while striking out 7 and scattering 5 hits. Prevost improves to 3-0 with wins over Richmond, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Seton Hall continued the glorious trend of scoring in the 1st inning by putting up 4 runs on the board. Designated hitter Tyler Boyd cleared the bases with a triple, while shortstop D.J. Ruhlman brought home Boyd with an RBI single. Seton Hall first baseman Sal Annunziata continued to swing a hot bat by going 3-5 with 2 runs scored. Third baseman Kyle Grimm, catcher Dillon Hamlin, and Boyd all had 2 hits in the Pirates’ first win over a ranked team this season. Hamlin also contributed 2 RBI’s in the 9th on a triple off of Arizona pitcher Tyger Talley. The only run for Arizona came on an RBI single in the 5th by Jordan Berger. Sam Burum pitched a scoreless 9th for the Pirates who improved to 5-3 on the season, and Arizona fell to 6-3. The Pirates will be back in action March 1 against the same Arizona Wildcats, with LHP Anthony Elia (1-1) of the Pirates, squaring off against Arizona RHP Cody Hamlin (2-0) who is coming off a complete game against Alcorn State. After a sweep of Richmond, and a win over Arizona it looks like Seton Hall could be nationally ranked at some point this season, and is looking more and more like the front runners in a very competitive Big East Conference. Until next time, Hazard Zet Forward.
Seton Hall
Pirates Fail to Rebound
After a crushing defeat at #6 Villanova last week, Fuquan had this to say to the fans, students and alumni of Seton Hall:
We will bounce back for sure #Shumbb
— Fuquan Edwin (@FuquanEdwin) February 8, 2014
Senior Fuquan Edwin has done a pretty good job of keeping his promises to bounce back, like he has done against DePaul and Xavier. Sadly, this time it was not meant to be, with the Pirates losing to the Marquette Golden Eagles 77-66.
Despite jumping out to an 8-0 start, it was pretty much downhill for the Pirates. The highlight of the game was the lack of rebounding by the Pirates, coupled with 10 turnovers very early into the first half. Fuquan had one of his worst statistical games of the season, finishing with only 9 points and 3 rebounds. Senior Brian Oliver lead the Pirates with 15 points. Marquette has always had Seton Hall’s number, winning 13 of their 15 meetings, and swept the home-and-home series between the two schools for the past two seasons. Now the Pirates are 4-7 in the Big East, sitting in the cellar of the conference, ahead of only Butler and DePaul.
Next game is tonight 9 tonight at the Prudential Center against their Hudson River rival St. John’s. After all, the Pirates want revenge for their close loss at St. John’s earlier in the season. Hopefully Fuquan’s promise was just a game early; until then, Hazard Zet Forward.
Pirates to Play in 2014 Paradise Jam
Then Senior Patrik Auda will likely start in the Paradise Jam next Fall
As “Pirates”, part of the duty that comes with the name is the expectation of terrorizing the Caribbean. Later this year, Seton Hall will have that opportunity, playing in the 2014 Paradise Jam preseason tournament November 21-24. Held annually at the University of the Virgin Islands, Seton Hall will be playing against potential opponents Clemson, Gardner Webb, Illinois State, Louisiana State, Nevada, Old Dominion, and Weber State.
True to their name, the Seton Hall Pirates should be able to pillage and plunder their competition. None of their potential opponents are in the AP Top 25, and none besides Seton Hall (14 Isaiah Whitehead, 47 Angel Delgado) and LSU (60 Elbert Robinson) have any ESPN Top 100 Recruits. No doubt Seton Hall will open up as heavy favorites, followed by LSU, with the rest falling somewhat randomly into place. Their exact schedule and match-ups will not be released until much closer to November.
This will be the second time since its 2001 inception that Seton Hall has appeared in the tournament, previously making the semifinals in 2010 and being eliminated in a close loss against Xavier. Xavier would go on to lose to eventually champion Old Dominion, who has the chance to be the first team to claim more than one title in the tournament. Clemson has also previously appeared in the tournament back in 2005, losing to Wisconsin in the title game, as well as placing 3rd in 2010.
I cannot wait to see what the Whitehead-lead Pirates can do in 2014; this will be a great way to showcase their collective ability against much weaker teams and take home the gold. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.
Pirates End Musketeers’ Streak
Once again, after a close defeat to first-time opponent Butler, Fuquan took to Twitter to make another promise:
SMH so sad right, but will bounce back for sure #Shumbb
— Fuquan Edwin (@FuquanEdwin) January 30, 2014
And once again, bounce back they did. Seton Hall jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a close game. Xaiver rallied back, lead by Junior C Matt Stainbrook, even gaining a one point lead by half-time. The Pirates pulled off an 68-60 win, sitting comfortably in 5th place in the Big East standings. Surprising no one, Fuquan lead the Pirates in scoring with 18 points, building an even bigger resume for the upcoming NBA Draft.
In what was a strange turn of events, there seems to be some confusion on what exactly is going on with Senior star PG Brian Oliver. While it was clear he was not court-side, there were conflicting reports on if he even made the trip to Cincinnati with the team, or remained back in South Orange. Even as of the writing of this article, the whereabouts of Brian Oliver are unknown to the general public. Hopefully more details will emerge shortly. Either way, despite the win, the team still needs Oliver to succeed.
The Xaiver Musketeers previous won 13 straight games at home, boasting one of the best home court advantages (185-26 all time at home) in all of the NCAA. In what has become a fantastic trend, the Pirates ended their third opponents’ extended home winning streak this season, with the others being against Providence (13 games) and Georgetown (16 games). Seton Hall will need more of this upset magic when they take on #9 Villanova at the Pavilion in Philadelphia next Friday. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.
Blue Beard Army 