Head Coach Marc Marizzaldi has announced the following changes to the baseball staff.

Mike Zito and Caiden Wood have been added to the coaching staff. 

Prior to Seton Hill, Zito spent two seasons at Chatham serving as Assistant Baseball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator.  In Zito's first year with the Cougars, he helped lead the program to the second-best season in school history while also leading the Cougar offense to program bests in batting average, OPS, runs, hits, home runs, and slugging percentage.  Angelo DeLeonardis became only the second Chatham player ever to earn All-PAC 1st Team honors after hitting .343 and setting a new program single season stolen base record (25).  Benny Dottle and Peter Tadic also earned All-PAC 2nd Team honors.  Dottle was also named to the ABCA Region 7 All-Defense Team while Tadic set new program single season records in home runs (6) and RBI (38).  In his second season, four Cougars earned All PAC honors.  

Zito moved to Chatham after spending two years at Division I Belmont University as the Director of Baseball Operations.  At Belmont, Zito created and distributed scouting reports on all opposing team's pitchers and deployed the use of Synergy and TrackMan analytics and video.  Zito also worked as a graduate assistant with Student Athlete Services, monitoring academic progress for the men's and women's golf and men's tennis teams. 

Zito played college baseball at Washington and Jefferson College.  The former team captain was part of two PAC championship teams, and in 2019 he helped lead the Presidents to a Division III College World Series berth after regional and super regional championship victories.  In 2021, Zito finished third in the country in saves on his way to Second Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region honors.  He still ranks fourth in program history in single-season saves and sixth all-time in career saves.  

Prior to returning to Seton Hill, Wood spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at Salem University.  In his only season at Salem, the Tigers won the USCAA Small College World Series Championship.

Wood was a five year member of the Griffin baseball team.  In his five seasons, he finished with a 20-5 record with nine saves and a 3.58 ERA.  He struck out 153 in 140 innings of work.  Opponents hit .248 off of Wood over his career.  Caiden was 6-1 with a 1.07 ERA in 17 appearances during the 2021 season.  

"I'm excited to have Caiden back on the Hill.  He's been able to experience some different levels of baseball, both as a player and a collegiate coach, since leaving the Hill.  Nobody toed the rubber as many times in the Griff uniform than Caiden, so I think his experience & knowledge will add tremendous value for the pitchers in our program."

"Mike rose to the top of a really strong applicant pool this summer. The positive recommendations from his baseball circle were overwhelming.  His existing recruiting presence in this region, and his development-focused passion are two of his many standout qualities."

"Both of these new coaches competed in a world series as players. They value winning and know what sustained success at the collegiate level looks like.  I'm pretty pumped to have them in our dugout!"

Recent graduate Matthew Blanchard will join current assistant Derek Reddy as a volunteer coach.

Blanchard spent the previous two seasons as a pitcher on the Seton Hill roster.  During his senior season, he finished with a 2-2 record and a 2.66 ERA.  Matthew threw 40.2 innings while striking out 30.  

Blanchard began his collegiate career at Bryant and Stratton College where he pitched for two seasons.  He was a second team all OCCAC selection in 2023.  He struck out 91 hitters in 79 innings over his two seasons.  

Former staff member and SHU alum Richard Pitzer will return after a one year absence to again coordinate Video & Analytics for the program.  Pitzer spent the 22-24 seasons as a student intern with the Griffins.