NEW YORK – St. John’s, the 2015 BIG EAST regular season and tournament champion, was picked to repeat as the league favorite for the 2016 season. Bolstered by the first-place pick, the Red Storm boasted both the Preseason Player of the Year, Alex Caruso, last year’s BIG EAST Tournament MVP; and Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Thomas Hackimer.
For the third-straight season, the voting for preseason favorite is split by just one vote, swinging in favor of St. John’s, who was the BIG EAST coaches’ decision for No. 1 with 34 total points, four first-place votes. Creighton, last year’s tournament runner up was picked second with 33 points, with Seton Hall a close third with 26 points. These three top teams have finished in the top three of the standings for the past two years.
Xavier was picked to finish fourth with 18 points, while the Butler, Georgetown and Villanova tied for fifth with 12 points each.
The Red Storm’s No. 1 pick was reinforced by a league-high five players selected to the All-BIG EAST preseason team. Four of the five were unanimous selections. St. John’s, Creighton and Seton Hall are all receiving votes in the
Collegiate Baseball Magazine’s Fabulous 40 Preseason Poll, released on Dec. 21.
Of the 15-member All-BIG EAST Preseason Team, eight were unanimous votes by the league’s seven head coaches, who could not cast ballots for their own players or team.
A second team ABCA All-Northeast Region selection and a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST honoree, Caruso, the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, finished the season with a league-best .382 batting average and a league-leading .480 on-base percentage in 56 games. The senior outfielder ranked tied for second in the league with 48 runs scored, while also ranking second with 30 walks and adding career-highs in both doubles (9) and RBI (23). In conference games only, Caruso batted a league-high .418 to go with a league-best .524 on-base percentage.
Drafted by the New York Mets in the 15th round of the 2015 MLB Draft, Hackimer earned second team ABCA All-America and first team ABCA All-Northeast Region honors last season and was also a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST honoree. The reliever went 4-1 with a 1.92 ERA to go with a league-leading and program-record 15 saves. Hackimer also led the BIG EAST with a program-record 35 appearances and ranked fifth with 55 strikeouts in just 51.2 innings of work. The senior already owns program-records for both career-saves (28) and career-appearances (96). On Tuesday, Hackimer was announced as a Preseason Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American, the only BIG EAST representative on the list.
In addition to Caruso and Hackimer, league favorite St. John’s returns preseason All-BIG EAST unanimous selections Robbie Knightes at third base and Michael Donadio in the outfield. Knightes, a 2015 All-BIG EAST selection, batted .305 in BIG EAST play with 18 hits and 11 RBI. Overall, Knightes was 12th in hitting with a .321 average. Donadio, hit .352 in conference play, was also a first team All-BIG EAST selection with 25 hits, 15 runs and nine RBI. Overall, he tied Caruso for second in runs scored in the conference. Additionally, the Red Storm returns preseason All-BIG EAST DH Troy Dixon, who accounted for eight runs, 10 hits and 11 RBI in league action and was voted to the league’s second team in 2015. The Red Storm did lose significant pitching with starters Ryan McCormick and Cody Stashak. McCormick was a ABCA All-American and the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year in 2015 accounting for 41.1 innings pitched and a 1.52 ERA and an outstanding 11-1 record. On the offensive front, the Red Storm lost First Team All-BIG EAST selection Zach Lauricella, who was second in the league in RBI with 45 total, Jarred Mederos, a First Team All-BIG EAST shortstop and Matt Harris, the Red Storm’s All-BIG EAST Second Team first baseman.
Creighton, picked for the second year in a row as the No. 2 team in the conference had three selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. The Bluejays were picked just one first place vote behind the Red Storm. Creighton returns All-BIG First Team selection and unanimous preseason honoree Reagan Fowler at first base who accounted for 14 RBI for the Bluejays in league action with 18 hits in 17 games. On the mound, unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection and unanimous preseason honoree Rollie Lacy returns for his sophomore season after accounting for a 4-0 BIG EAST record, 25 strikeouts and a 2.16 ERA. Overall, Lacy had a 6-1 record for the season. Fellow starting pitcher Matt Warren, a senior, also returns. Warren had 1.80 ERA with 13 K’s in 20 innings pitched in league play. Creighton also returns all of its infield with Ryan Fitzgerald at second, Nicky Lopez at short and Harrison Crawford at third base. The Bluejays’ only key loss was senior catcher Kevin Lamb who accounted for .419 hitting, 14 hits, four runs and one RBI in BIG EAST action.
The Seton Hall Pirates return key starting pitcher Shane McCarthy for his sophomore season after he led the league in overall ERA (2.19) and earned runs allowed (16) and was fourth in overall opposing batting average (.222). McCarthy is the Pirates’ lone representative on the Preseason All-BIG EAST list, however, the Pirates return fellow starter Zach Prendergast to the mount along with the offensive efforts of Zack Weigel and Joe Poduslenko.
Xavier was picked to finish fourth with 18 points, after finishing last in the standings in 2015 with a 3-15 BIG EAST record. The Musketeers however return a host of sophomores to the field for 2016 including unanimous preseason All-BIG EAST selection Daniel Rizzie at catcher. Rizzie was injured in 2015 and played just 14 games last year after being picked as a preseason all-conference selection. As his back up, now sophomore Nate Soria stepped up as catcher and was voted the 2015 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection after hitting .277 in league play with seven runs, 18 hits and five stolen bases and a total of 27 RBI. Joining Rizzie on the 2016 All-BIG EAST Preseason team is senior shortstop Andre Jernigan, who hit .205 in league action with six runs scored on 16 hits, four doubles and eight stolen bases.
Butler, Georgetown and Villanova all tied with 12 points each, tied for fifth in the preseason poll. Butler returns the batting of sophomore outfielder and preseason All-BIG EAST selection Tyler Houston who led the conference in overall runs with 52. On the mound for the Bulldogs, junior Jeff Schank returns, also an All-BIG EAST selection who was second in overall strikeouts with 72. Schank and Houston were second team all-conference selections.
Georgetown finished fourth in the standings in 2015 and returns starting pitcher Matt Smith as well as a host of infield positions. Smith, a senior, was an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree in 2015 and had 29 K’s in league action. The Hoyas will be without BIG EAST Player of the Year Nick Collins, who was a first team selection at both catcher and designated hitter and who was second overall behind Caruso in batting (.370) and led the conference in slugging (.540).
Villanova returns unanimous preseason All-BIG EAST second baseman Todd Czinege who was a first team All-BIG EAST selection in 2015 with a .313 league batting average with 12 runs and 15 RBI with seven doubles. The Wildcats also return the bats of seniors Adam Goss, Max Beermann, Eric Lowe and Kevin Jewitt.
Baseball season is just around the corner with league play beginning the weekend of April 8. The 2016 BIG EAST Baseball Championship will be played at the home of the Aberdeen Ironbirds, Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium, May 26-29.
Follow all the action for BIG EAST baseball this season with the hashtag #BIGEASTbase.
2016 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year – Alex Caruso, St. John’s, Sr., OF
Preseason Pitcher of the Year – Thomas Hackimer, St. John’s Sr., RP
Preseason All-BIG EAST *
^ Daniel Rizzie, Xavier, Sr., C
^ Reagan Fowler, Creighton, Sr. 1B
^ Todd Czinege, Villanova, Jr., 2B
Andre Jernigan, Xavier, Sr., SS
^ Robbie Knightes, St. John’s, Jr., 3B
Troy Dixon, St. John’s, Jr., DH
^ Alex Caruso, St. John’s, Sr., OF
^ Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Jr., OF
Tyler Houston, Butler, So., OF
^ Rollie Lacy, Creighton, So., SP
Shane McCarthy, Seton Hall, So., SP
Jeff Schank, Butler, Jr., SP
Matt Smith, Georgetown, Sr., SP
Matt Warren, Creighton, Sr., SP
^ Thomas Hackimer, St. John’s, Sr., RP
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. St. John's -- 34 points (4)
2. Creighton -- 33 points (3)
3. Seton Hall - 26 points
4. Xavier -- 18 points
T5. Butler -- 12 points
T5. Georgetown -- 12 points
T5. Villanova -- 12 points
^ - denotes unanimous selection
* - due to a tie in voting there are five starting pitchers on the 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST team