Boston College Athletics
Baseball Prepares For Crucial Series With Seton Hall
April 05, 2002 | Baseball
April 5, 2002
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College baseball team (14-11, 5-2 BIG EAST) returns to action this weekend for an important three-game series with BIG EAST rival Seton Hall (13-13, 4-3 BIG EAST) at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J. At the present time, the Eagles are one game behind conference lead Connecticut while the Pirates are two games out.
Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Boston College, 19-11, but the Eagles earned its first series sweep against the Pirates last season at Shea Field. The Eagles won all three games last season by a combined total of five runs. This season, Seton Hall is a perfect 5-0 at home, while Boston College is 5-8 on the road.
Boston College looks to rebound from a difficult 4-1 loss to Ivy League foe Brown on Wednesday. The game was called at the start of the eighth inning due to inclement weather conditions in the Boston area. The five hits registered by the Eagles on Wednesday was the second lowest output of the season (One hit against California on February 24). Prior to the Brown loss, the Eagles had swept a doubleheader against conference foe Pittsburgh. Seton Hall enters this weekend's series having won 11 of its last 14 games after losing 10 of its first 12 games.
The Eagles' conference success has not gone unnoticed, as the last two weeks the team has had a player named BIG EAST co-Player of the Week. Junior first baseman Vinny Scavone and freshman third baseman Jason Delaney have both had incredible weekends for Boston College when they have earned the award. Scavone is tied for the team lead in home runs (five) and is second in RBI with 24. Delaney was coming off an incredible BIG EAST week, which was capped off by a three-run home run and a grand slam in the second contest against Pittsburgh. He leads the team with a .425 batting average and is tied for second on the squad with 34 hits.
The 1-2 connection of freshman Chris Lambert and senior Mark Sullivan are a combined 10-1 on the season. Since moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation, Lambert has been pretty much untouchable. In 26.2 innings of work, he has a team-leading 1.35 ERA while only allowing 13 hits, five runs and striking out 32 opposing batters. Sullivan has been the team's workhorse on the mound, as he has thrown a team-leading 46.2 innings and has struck out 41 batters.
Breaking Down The Opponent
Seton Hall is led by one of college baseball's greatest coaches in Rob Sheppard. In his 30 years with the program, Sheppard has compiled an all-time record of 963-501-11, and he has had 28 winning seasons while coaching the Pirates.
This year's Seton Hall squad is made of strong hitting and a balanced pitching staff. Starting at the top for the Pirates is left fielder Casey Grimm, who has started and played in all 26 games. He leads the team with a .364 batting average, .602 slugging percentage and 32 hits, while he is second on the team in home runs (five) and RBI (21). Designated hitter Todd Crawford has been providing a great deal of pop to the batting order, as he has belted eight home runs and driven in 23 runs. As a team, Seton Hall has a batting average of .270 and a slugging percentage of .406.
The Pirates pitching staff has been up and down this season, but that has been due in most part to a difficult non-conference schedule. Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Isaac Pavlik has been seeing time as a starting and relief pitcher for the Pirates. While he is only 1-3, he has a solid 3.65 ERA, four saves and has 41 strikeouts. Chris Noonan and Brett Hoffman have given Sheppard two solid weekend pitchers.
Probable Pitching Rotation
Game One
Chris Lambert (5-0) - Boston College vs. Jake Haggerty (1-0) - Seton Hall - Seven Inning Game
Game Two
Mark Sullivan (5-1) - Boston College vs. Chris Noonan (3-3) - Seton Hall - Nine Inning Game
Game Three
Kevin Shepard (2-1) - Boston College vs. Brett Hoffman (1-0) - Seton Hall - Nine Inning Game
