Senior Josh Prevost is hoping to extend his baseball career beyond Seton Hall. His sights are set on this June's MLB Draft.
For now, though, Prevost is excited for the season ahead and his role as the "Friday guy" in the Pirate's pitching rotation.
"Pitching on Fridays is the reason I came back to school," Prevost said.
"I prepared myself last year to be a starter."
Prevost made his college debut as a freshman in 2011, coming in relief versus Monmouth. That season, he earned honors as a Big East Academic All-Star. In his sophomore campaign, he made eight relief appearances.
Last season, he saw his first bit of action as a starter, starting nine games, while making 15 appearances in a relief role. He went 5-2 on the year, and his strong play earned him a spot on the 2013 New Jersey College Baseball Association All-Second Team.
His accolades haven't stopped there.
On Monday he was named the Big East Pitcher of the Week following his start on Friday at Oklahoma, where he pitched six innings, striking out five, and earned his first of what he hopes will be many wins this season.
"I want to get somewhere close to 10 wins," he said.
Beyond his own goal to be the team's ace on the mound, he has high expectations for the team this season.
A freshman in 2011, he was part of the team that won the Big East Championship, and says he wants to win another. He said he feels this team can return to that stage.
"We've got a good core of upperclassmen-a lot of returning guys to the lineup," Prevost said. "The offense the past few years has been really effective and good for us."
Prevost is looking at a shot at regionals this season and further.
"Hopefully we can go to the super regionals," he said. "Freshman year we made it to the regionals-I've already been there and I'd like to go one step further at least."
The Hall failed to qualify for regionals last season, and for Prevost, the disheartening announcement stood out as much as the 2011 conference title.
"When we weren't picked to go to regionals, we all just sat here for two hours-just because we had such a connection between all of us," Prevost said. "We didn't want to leave each other or say goodbye to the seniors."
But if baseball doesn't work out for the senior marketing major, he wants to stay in the sports field in some kind of capacity. He's even considering coaching. "I like coaching; I'm big on basketball as well as baseball," he said.
At 6-foot-8, the Belle Mead, N.J., resident had a high school athletic career that included a Central Jersey Group IV State Championship and the Delaware East Championship in basketball and MVP of the Somerset County Final as a senior in baseball.
During his time at The Hall, he said he's learned a lot from playing baseball.
"The skills you learn in baseball transcend over every aspect of your life," he said.
He said one of those skills is teamwork, something he will be asked to provide as a veteran player on the team.
"Leading by example is probably the best thing I could do to show the way," he said. "Show the younger guys it's a lot easier than they think and not to overthink any game, any pitch-just have fun out there."
Neal McHale can be reached at neal.mchale@student.shu.edu.
