Xavier Wins 2016 BIG EAST Baseball Championship, 8-7 Over Creighton
Box Score
ABERDEEN, Md. – It was a dramatic ending to the 2016 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep when Xavier reliever Garrett Schilling faced Creighton's Daniel Woodrow with two outs and the tying run on second base in the ninth. Xavier shortstop and BIG EAST Player of the Year Andre Jernigan threw Woodrow out at first base to give Xavier an 8-7 victory over Creighton and the tournament title, the second title for the Musketeers in three years.
Xavier catcher Daniel Rizzie went 5-for-5 on Sunday with a run scored and and two RBI and won the tournament’s Jack Kaiser Most Outstanding Player award. He went 8-for-14 with four runs, two doubles and six RBI over the four-day event, held at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium.
With the win, Xavier (30-28) earned the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The tournament selection show will air on ESPNU at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, May 30. Creighton (38-17), the runner-up, will hope to see its name called as one of the at-large teams. It was the second straight year the No. 1 seed won the BIG EAST tournament.
Creighton started the game getting their bats on the ball immediately, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding another in the second with a Kevin Connolly home run.
Xavier answered in the bottom of the third as third baseman Rylan Bannon sent a two-run homer to left field, scoring centerfielder Matt Fallon to cut Creighton’s lead in half, 4-2. Two batters later, Joe Gellenbeck homered to right field, scoring two more to even the score at 4-4.
The Musketeers took the lead in the fourth inning, when Rizzie singled to right scoring DH David Morton for a two-out RBI. Morton had led off the inning with a single to center field. Jernigan scored in the fifth for Xavier, crossing the plate on a Will LaRue sac fly to left.
After four scoreless innings, Creighton got back on the board in the seventh, as Harrison Crawford’s singled to left field scored Reagan Fowler who had walked on one out. Xavier got out of the inning with a 6-5 lead when Gellenbeck got the final out of the inning.
The Musketeers scored two insurance runs in the eighth, as LaRue led off the inning with a single through the right side. Morton followed with a single to third. A sac hit by Bannon scored LaRue from third and Rizzie doubled to left field scoring Morton.
Xavier went into the ninth frame with an 8-5 lead.
Creighton made it interesting when DH Matt Gandy led off with a double to left center. Gandy advanced on Crawford’s sac hit to second base then scored on a Brett Murray one-out single to left field. Murray scored three batters later leaving two men on with two outs. Xavier was able to get out of the inning with the play at first base to win the championship title.
Both Xavier and Creighton’s starting pitchers lasted just five combined innings. Xavier’s Brad Kirschner finished in the third after allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks. Creighton’s Rollie Lacy went 2.0 with four runs, five hits and a walk. Schilling earned the save, his second for the tournament. Reliever Trey Schramm (3-0) got the win for Xavier, pitching 3.2 innings with two hits, a run, a walk and two strikeouts.
2016 BIG EAST Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
Ryan McAuliffe, St. John’s, Jr., RHP
Garrett Schilling, Xavier, So., RHP
John Valente, St. John’s, RS-So., 1B
Harrison Crawford, Creighton, Sr., 3B
Joe Gellenbeck, Xavier, Jr., 1B
Andre Jernigan, Xavier, Sr., SS
Matt Fallon, Xavier, Jr., OF
Daniel Woodrow, Creighton, Jr., OF
Kevin Connolly, Creighton
Daniel Rizzie, Xavier, Sr., C
Matt Gandy, Creighton, Sr., DH
Jack Kaiser Most Outstanding Player:
Daniel Rizzie, Xavier, Sr., C