Giuseppe Papaccio

Biography

An All-American shortstop for the Pirates and an MLB Draft selection of the Chicago Cubs, Giuseppe Papaccio enters his fourth season at his alma mater as associate head coach. Since Papaccio returned to South Orange, the Pirates have had the BIG EAST batting champion twice. Aiden Robbins paced the league in 2025 with a .422 batting average, while Devin Hack topped the conference in batting (.439) during the 2023 campaign. In addition, six position players have garnered All-BIG EAST honors during Papaccio's most recent tenure on the coaching staff. Robbins and Kevin Milewski earned honors in 2025, while Hack, Pokrovsky, Max Viera and Jonathan Luders picked up awards in 2023. The Pirates flexed their muscles during the 2025 season under Papaccio's tutelage, as their 44 home runs as a team were the most in a single season since 1999. Much of the offense came through All-BIG EAST First Teamer Aidan Robbins and Second Teamer Kevin Milewski. Robbins led the BIG EAST in batting average and posted the highest average by a Pirate since Dan Hummel in 1997. Milewski's 16 home runs also paced the club and were the most since David Kim, also in 1997. On top of that, outfielder AJ Soldra transferred into the program and was the lone Pirate to appear in all 54 games. Soldra was voted the best transfer in the BIG EAST by Baseball America, and his season culminated by being drafted in 16th round of the 2025 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his first season on staff, Papaccio guided th