VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova (14-32, 7-10) enter the last BIG EAST three-game series of the regular season versus Seton Hall (28-22, 10-8) starting on Thursday, May 18 with first pitch at 3:00 p.m. Game two of the series will start at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and the series will conclude Saturday with a senior day ceremony taking place before the 12:00 p.m. first pitch. Fans can watch all three games on FloSports and follow the live stats.
 

Projected Starters:
Thursday, May 18 | 3:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Villanova: Devin Rivera
Seton Hall: Nick Payero
 
Friday, May 19 | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Villanova: TBA
Seton Hall: Daniel Frontera
 
Saturday, May 20 | Senior Day | 12:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Villanova: TBA
Seton Hall: TBA
 

Back to BIG EAST Ball: This series will mark the 192^nd time that Villanova and Seton Hall will have gone head-to-head dating back to 1898. The two teams have matched up in conference play 121 times and have face on another in seven BIG EAST Championship games. The Pirates lead the Wildcats 113-78 all-time, 79-42 in BIG EAST ball and 4-3 in BIG EAST Championships. Seton Hall won the matchup in the series finale on the Pirates home turf on May 15, 2022, taking the close 3-2 victory. The Wildcats claimed game one in a 3-2 win on May 13 but dropped the series to Seton Hall who won the last two games with the game two final score going to the Pirates in a 5-4 result on May 14.

Last Time Out: The Wildcats come off 8-4 comeback win over Saint Joseph's in the last midweek game of the regular season on Tuesday May 16. The Hawks had started out strong with Nate Thomas hitting a grand slam in the top of the first to take the lead and break the Hawks career home run record. The Wildcats were slow to get the bats going but rallied two runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 4-4. Villanova took the lead in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single by Craig Larsen and a three-run bomb crushed by Steve Grober that ultimately led to the 8-4 victory.

A Reunion To Remember: Graduate third baseman Steve Grober reunites with his old team, this time on the other side of the field for this series matchup. Grober graduated from Seton Hall in the spring of 2022 and transferred to Villanova for his fifth year. At Seton Hall, he excelled on the field as their starting shortstop as well as a power hitter making his way on to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team during his time there. At Villanova, Grober has shifted over to third base and continues to start and show up on the field and at the plate with 37 putouts and 70 assists this season. He is also slashing .190/.277/.272 going 30-for-158 with 10 doubles and one home run while scoring 15 runs and 15 RBI for the 'Cats. Recently Grober put on a spectacular performance against St. John's in game one of the three-game series going 2-for-4 with a double in the top of the second and three-run homer in the top of the eighth to take the lead for the Wildcats. His home run ended up being the game winning hit for the 4-3 victory over the Red Storm.

Senior Send Off: The Wildcats have a large graduating class of nine graduate students and nine seniors who have left a lasting mark on the Villanova Baseball program, both on and off the field. In their time as Wildcats, this group has combined for seven weekly BIG EAST honors, 12 BIG EAST All-Academic Team selections and over 30 mentions on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll. On the field, our nine position players have made 570 starts in 630 games. As for the nine pitchers, they have made 219 appearances with 393.1 innings pitched. The members of the graduating class of pitchers are Zach Camp, Chic DeGaetano, Luke Dziados, Sal Fusco, Cabot Maher, Jack Povey, Brandon Siegenthaler, Stephen Turzai and Cole Vanderslice. The members of the graduating class of position players are Paul Cooke, Peter Giombetti, Steve Grober, AJ Hansen, Craig Larsen, Luke Mutz, Jack O'Reilly, Will Reiner and John Whooley.   


Perusing The Pirates

• Seton Hall enters the series after sweeping Creighton over the past weekend in their BIG EAST three-game series. The Pirates took game one 7-0, game two in a closer 4-2 and game three 11-6 over the 'Jays.
• Junior infielder Max Viera, senior catcher Oscar Murray, redshirt junior catcher Status Pokrovsky and graduate infielder Alex Clyde are the manpower driving the Pirates offense. Clyde has started all 48 games on the season with Viera starting 47. Pokrovsky has started 44 games and Murray has appeared in 46 games with 37 starts.
• Viera is slashing .326/.384/.492 and leads Seton Hall in hits (63), runs (41), doubles (15), RBI (43) and sacrifice flies (5) and is tied for first in doubles (11) and home runs (9). The redshirt junior also hit one triple and five home runs while causing some mayhem on the base path stealing 23 bases on the season. Behind the plate he has made 166 putouts, 13 assists and three errors.
• Murray has gone 48-for-145 while slashing the highest among his teammates with a .331/.467/.531 and leads the pirates in walks (28). Murray has also hit 10 doubles, two triple and five home runs while plating 37 runs and 26 RBI on the season so far. In the outfield he has made 59 putouts, one assist and two errors.
• Pokrovsky is a power hitter going 50-for-172 while slashing .291/.379/.477 and leads the team in home runs (8). The sophomore has hit six doubles and two triples while touching home 29 times and batting in 36 runners. In the outfield he has made 87 putouts, three assists and four errors.
• Clyde is another power hitter going 35-for-190 while slashing .326/.394/.405 and leads the team in triples (4). The sophomore has hit four doubles and one home run while crossing home 35 times and batting in 25 runners. In the outfield he has made 87 putouts, three assists and four errors.
• Graduate right hand pitcher Nick Payero and sophomore right-hander Daniel Frontera will headline the starting rotation for the Pirates. So far this season, Payero has appeared in 13 games with 7 starts, yielding an ERA of 3.63 over 57.0 innings while batters are averaging .232 against him. Payero has struck out 53, walked 18 and allowed 49 hits and 23 earned runs. Frontera has started all 12 games he has played in and has a 6.47 ERA over 48.2 innings while batters are averaging .292 against him. Frontera has struck out 30, walked 25 and surrendered 56 hits and 35 earned runs.

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