St. John’s John Valente, Butler’s Jeff Schank Named #BIGEASTbase Players of the Week
NEW YORK – St. John’s redshirt junior John Valente was honored as BIG EAST Baseball Player of the Week, while Butler starter Jeff Schank was named Pitcher of the Week. On Monday, St. John’s baseball made an appearance in the Collegiate Baseball (No. 16) and D1Baseball.com Top 25 polls (No. 22) after a 7-0 start to the 2017 season.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
John Valente, St. John’s, RS-Jr., UTIL (New Rochelle, N.Y.)
In four games last week, Valente helped St. John’s extend its current winning streak to seven games as the redshirt junior hit for .556 (10-of-18) against defending champ then-No. 9 Coastal Carolina, Kansas State and UMBC. He had three multi-hit games in four starts. Valente started the week off with a 3-for-6, two-run, one-RBI performance in the team’s extra-inning win at Coastal Carolina. After going 1-for-4 with an RBI sac fly against Kansas State, he tallied a career-high four hits in a 4-for-5 performance against UMBC as the Johnnies recorded their highest hit total since 2012 (23). Valente closed out his week going 2-for-3 with two RBIs on Sunday against UMBC, extending his hitting streak to 19 games dating back to last season. His stat line for the week included six runs with four RBI, a walk and a triple with two sac flies. His .556 average was the second highest in the league last week in the most at bats. His 10 hits led the conference.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Jeff Schank, Butler, Sr., SP
Schank was lights out in his start against Alcorn State over the weekend. The senior tossed seven full innings and only allowed a single. He struck out 12 batters to earn his first win of the season. His 12 K’s were the second most in the league last week. Schank had a 0.50 opponent batting average. The Bulldogs defeated Alcorn State 3-2 to start the series on the road.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Michael Emodi, Creighton, RS-So., C (Omaha, Neb.)
Emodi went 5-for-12 (.417) with two home runs, six RBI and three runs scored. Five of his RBI were against Michigan in a 10-inning 7-6 loss for the Bluejays. Down 6-1 heading into the seventh, Emodi laced a two-out, two-run single into left to pull Creighton within striking distance. His next trip to the dish was even more dramatic as the Bluejay backstop crushed a game-tying three run home run to left in the bottom of the ninth. Emodi also hit a solo home run in the ninth inning of Creighton’s 3-1 win over Santa Clara on Friday.
Michael DeRenzi, Georgetown, Jr., OF (Morristown, N.J.)
Had three multi-hit games, including two three-hit performances in a 1-3 week for GU as his stat line finished with eight hits (.500), a double, six runs, six RBI, three stolen bases and a home run. DeRenzi hit a grand slam in an 18-11 loss to Wofford on Saturday.
Joe Poduslenko, Seton Hall, Sr., 3B (Glen Mills, Pa.)
Poduslenko led the league in batting average (.727), slugging (1.273) and on-base percentage (.769) in a 1-2 week for the Pirates. His stat line included four runs on eight hits, four RBI, a double, triple and a home run with two walks and a stolen base. SHU defeated San Diego State 10-5, but lost 12-5 to Tennessee and 1-0 to Oregon at the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego.
Rylan Bannon, Xavier, Jr., 3B (Joliet, Ill.)
In a 2-2 split against Penn State, Bannon hit .500 (8-for-16) with three doubles, a triple, two homers, eight RBI and 19 total bases. He boasted a slugging percentage of 1.188 and walked three times for a.579 on-base percentage. Had six RBI and four runs in the 10-4 win on Saturday.
Greg Jacknewitz, Xavier, Sr., SP (Delaware, Ohio)
Three seven innings of shutout baseball, striking out a league-best 13 batters. Jacknewitz finished his outing with a no decision as XU was up 1-0, but went on to lose 1-6. In 7.0 innings, posted 0.00 ERA with just two hits.