PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Saint Joseph’s University baseball team will be the No. 4 seed in this week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament.
They will open play Thursday afternoon against the top seed and host school, Virginia Commonwealth University. The winner of this tourney gets an automatic berth into NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Tournament.
Saint Joseph’s had to put together some dramatic performances just to earn a berth in the tournament. A four-game sweep of La Salle this past weekend at Smithson Field allowed the Hawks to slide into the fourth and final slot in the field, winning a tiebreaker with the Explorers.
“Couldn’t be more proud of our players and our coaches,” said Saint Joseph’s head coach Fritz Hamburg. “Obviously, it was a huge challenge with La Salle. They were really hot coming into the weekend. Our guys just did a great job, that’s all I can say. They stayed the course and things went our way.”
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The Hawks are 21-17 heading into the tournament, and Hamburg said every player on the roster is a reason why they are still playing.
“There’s some guys that have performed very well in the field,” he said, “but every one of them is big as far as this program goes. They all have a role in our success.”
Senior outfielder Brendan Hueth leads the team with a .382 average. Junior catcher Andrew Cossetti has slugged two team-bests: 14 home runs while scoring 37 runs. Junior infielder Nate Thomas tops in RBI with 38.
On the mound, senior right-hander Ian McCole has been the workhorse for the Hawks, starting nine games with a 4.10 ERA. He has twice gone the distance en route to a 2-3 record, and in 59 ⅓ innings, he has piled up 54 strikeouts while issuing just 11 walks.
In addition to the Hawks and VCU, Dayton and Rhode Island will be in the double-elimination tourney field.
Hamburg said every team is playing really good baseball right now.
“I think everyone going in feels great about where they are,” he said. “I’m glad that we feel great. Quite frankly, I’m only concerned about our program. I feel like we are in the best spot we’ve been all year, by far. That’s what makes the opportunity to go to the tournament even that much more exciting.”
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The VCU team is riding an 18-game winning streak.
“They have some power, they have some speed, they hit for average, they pitch well,” Hamburg noted. “Not maybe as dominant from a strikeout-to-walk ratio as some of their staffs in previous years, but they are at the top of the league pitching-wise. I think they are just a really well-rounded, solid ball club.”
The Hawks and VCU will get underway at noon on Thursday. The winner advances to play on Friday, while the loser will play later that day in an elimination game.