Big East Conference

BIG EAST Baseball Closes Out Regular Season This Weekend

5/19/2016 12:07:14 PM

NEW YORK – The BIG EAST baseball regular season comes to a close this weekend as Creighton takes on St. John’s in Queens, Villanova travels to Cincinnati for a tilt with Xavier and Seton hall is on the road at Butler. Both Creighton and Xavier have clinched spots in the BIG EAST Championship, but the two teams are vying for a shot at the regular season title and the No. 1 seed. Xavier has the tiebreaker over the Bluejays winning their series last week. St. John’s and Seton Hall have a shot at the final two spots, both teams need wins as to not get stuck in a three- or four-way tiebreaker. Although Georgetown’s regular season has come to a close, the Hoyas are not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
 
The games this weekend start Thursday and will end on Saturday. BIG EAST baseball fans can watch on various networks: CBSSN, FS1, FCS and BEDN.
 
SERIES NOTES
Creighton at St. John’s (5/19-5/21)
Creighton is tied for first in the league with Xavier at 11-4. The Bluejays are looking for wins in Queens so they can clinch the regular season title out right. St. John’s needs one win to clinch a BIG EAST Championship berth. The Red Storm has won both series in Queens, going 2-1 against Georgetown and Butler. Both St. John’s and Creighton suffered series’ losses last week, with the Red Storm losing to Seton Hall (1-2) and the Bluejays’ dropping a series to Xavier (1-2).  All three games of the series will be carried live as CBSSN will have Thursday’s game, Friday’s game will be on ESPN3 and the series finally will be on FS1.
   
Villanova at Xavier (5/19-5/21)
Xavier like Creighton is going for the regular season title. The Musketeers after a 2-1 series win against Creighton last weekend hold the tie-breaker over the Bluejays should they finish with the same record. Villanova took two from Georgetown last weekend. Players to Watch: Ace pitcher Hunter Schryver from Villanova - a 6-3 record, 2.77 ERA and 75 total K’s; Xavier’s offense – Joe Gellenbeck has a team-high 38 RBI with 10 homers.
   
Seton Hall at Butler (5/19-5/21)
Seton Hall is looking for wins, two being the magic number, to grab one of the last two spots in the tournament field. Seton Hall won the series against St. John’s last weekend, but sits one game behind the Red Storm at 7-8 and fourth in the standings. Two wins for the Pirates guarantees them a trip to Aberdeen, Md. Players to Watch: Seton Hall’s pitching core of Shane McCarthy, Zach Prendergast and Dana Cullen – McCarthy is the probably Thursday starter with a 5-4 record and, 80 K’s and a 2.38 ERA; Butler’s Tyler Houston has a team-best 28 RBI. If the season were to end today, Creighton, Xavier, St. John’s and Seton Hall would be the 2016 field. Thursday’s game is on BEDN, while Friday’s will be on FOX College Sports.
   
 
Georgetown is off this weekend, they are not eliminated from the tournament yet - at 8-10 there is a potential three-way tie with Seton Hall and St. John’s. Should this instance occur, Georgetown and Seton Hall would come out of the tie-breakers into the tournament. Georgetown also has the head-to-head tie-breaker over Seton Hall in a straight-tie.