Time to hit the #RoadToOmaha!
🎥 @LIU_Baseball pic.twitter.com/GgocYVXXDj
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 1, 2022
Simply put, 2022 was one of the best seasons in program history for the LIU Sharks. They set a program record with 37 wins, they captured the NEC regular season title and the NEC Championship with a 7-0 win over Bryant.
Their season came to an end in the NCAA Regional at College Park where they lost to No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 Wake Forest.
They had a lot of standout individual performers as well.
RHP Josh Loeschorn (11-3, 3.06 ERA) and E.J. Exposito (13 HRs, .864 OPS) were selected in the MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves, respectively. Both of those players were standout performers and also came over from LIU Post when they were a Division-II program. The same can be said for Gio Ciaccio, who was second on the team with an .896 OPS and first with 45 RBIs.
Coach Dan Pirillo said, “They came up as Division-II players and got drafted. I think they brought a work ethic and a demeanor that spread throughout the team. They never relented. They brought a pro mentality. And they learned that from the guys before them like Rob Griswold.”
Loeschorn was second-team All-American and won NEC Pitcher of the Year. He came one win shy of Sal Campisi’s 1964 program record of 12 single-season wins by a Division-I pitcher.
Those two were far from the only impact players.
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In fact, Michael Edelman was the key cog in their lineup and he led the team in AVG (.319), OPS (.898), runs (57), hits (76), doubles (12), total bases (115) and stolen bases (27). They had Gio Ciaccio provide plenty of punch. He batted .305 with .896 OPS and 20 stolen bases. Third baseman Chris Wasson batted .284 scored 43 runs and drove in 32 runs. 1B Luke Turner, who missed about 5 weeks of the season, batted .351 over 114 at bats with an .875 OPS.
They all graduated and will be tough to replace, and you can add catcher Colin Adams to that group who started 53 games and did a great job of handling their power arms.
Fortunately, they do return LF Seth Surrett and DH Carleton Harper who both batted over .300 as regulars and their presence will be critical.
Regarding the returners, Pirillo said, “It’s interesting…we have a good group, I like the kids we brought in. It’s a work in progress. I think we have a lot of talent, we can play with a lot of teams. Any time you bring in 16 new players, you have to work on chemistry and camaraderie,” he said before their fall game against Hofstra.
He went onto add, “I don’t know if either of these teams had the most talent last year but we both played well at the end. That’s all culture in the clubhouse and dugout. A big point for us is getting to that level as quickly as we can.”
The pitching staff will face an uphill battle, there’s no sugar coating losing a pitcher like Josh Loeschorn who pitched 97 of their 516 innings. They also graduated Nick DeSalvo who was second team All-NEC and compiled a 3.68 ERA over 61.1 IP. He signed a pro contract with the New Jersey Jackals. Their closer, Josh Gainer, compiled a 3.10 ERA over 40.2 innings with 7 saves and graduated. Nick Torres, who had a 3.14 ERA over 51.2 innings also graduated, as did Ryan Neuweiler (53.1 innings) and Jalen Wade (4 wins, 69.1 IP).
They will lean on RHP Alec Huertas and LHP Chris Buehler to pick up some of those innings atop the rotation.
It was a dream season for the Sharks who have an incredible amount of momentum for the program and it will certainly help them recruit both on a local and national level. They will open up the 2023 season on February 17 at Winthrop. Their first game on Long Island will be March 8 against Stony Brook and their NEC opener will be on March 17 against Maryland Eastern Shores.
