Butler’s Houston, St. John’s Mooney Named #BIGEASTbase Players of the Week
NEW YORK – BIG EAST Player of the Week, Butler’s Tyler Houston had a school-record breaking week with seven runs, 10 RBI and five homers for the 5-0 Bulldogs. St. John’s rookie righty Sean Mooney repeats as BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week for his complete game shutout against Maine.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Tyler Houston, Butler, Jr., OF (Brownsburg, Ind.)
Bulldog junior outfielder Tyler Houston helped Butler post a 5-0 record last week by batting .429 (9-for-21) with seven runs, 10 RBI, five home runs and a double. His slugging percentage for the week was 1.190. He batted in a run in all five games. His standout performance came in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader at Ohio where he went 5-for-5 from the plate with three home runs, six RBI and three runs scored. He is just the 14th player in school history to record five hits in a single game, joining teammate Michael Hartnagel that has accomplished the feat twice in his career including once earlier this season at Furman. The school record of six belongs to Kyle Waggoner. Three home runs in a single-game ties the school record as Houston will now place his name alongside Gordon Hansen and Joe Pauley. Hansen hit three home runs vs. Southeast Missouri State during the 1983 season and Pauley posted three home runs in a single contest at Valparaiso during the 2008 campaign. Houston stands alone in the Bulldog record book for most total bases recorded in a single game. His five home run game that included two other hits gave him 14 total bases, a number that broke the old record of 13 set by Hansen and Pauley in the games mentioned above.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Sean Mooney, St. John’s, Fr., RHP/Starter (Marmora, N.J.)
Mooney repeats as Pitcher of the Week after tossing a complete game shutout for the Red Storm, the first since Ryan McCormick did so in May 2015. The freshman righty allowed only four hits in nine innings of work, recording three strikeouts and walking none. He tossed only 99 pitches in just his third start of his career. Mooney ranks second in the nation currently in WHIP (0.62) and 13th in ERA (0.88). Behind Mooney’s performance, then-No. 9 St. John’s added three runs to defeat Maine 3-0 in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Ryan Pepiot, Butler, Fr., RHP/Starter (Westfield, Ind.)
Pepiot tossed 6.1 innings against Ohio and earned the win as he struck out eight Bobcats and limiting Ohio to just one earned run off two hits. Pepiot also walked five. It was his second win of the season.
Michael DeRenzi, Georgetown, Jr., OF (Mendham, N.J.)
Led the Hoya offense with a .500 (9-for-18) average with four RBI, three runs, a double and a stolen base in 1-3 week for Georgetown.
Jamie Galazin, St. John’s, Jr., OF/RHP (Langhorne, Pa.)
In a 4-0 week for the top 10 Red Storm, hit .643 and reached base at a .688 clip with 1.000 slugging. He had six RBI, a double and two triples with six runs scored and three multi-hit games, starting the week 4-for-5 against Saint Peter’s.
Cullen Dana, Seton Hall, So., LHP/Starter (Montgomery, N.Y.)
Dana had a dominant outing against UConn on Saturday as he allowed just one earned run, a solo homer in the second, over 7.2 innings pitched. Dana struck out seven, walked only two and picked up his first win of the season, as the Pirates won 3-2 over the Huskies.
Mitch Gallagher, Xavier, Jr., SS (Bradenton, Fla.)
Gallagher led Xavier (3-1) with a .467 average going 7-for-15 with six runs scored, five RBI, two doubles and a home run. Had two game-deciding RBI’s in the series against Illinois State with a walk-off single in Sunday’s 3-2 win to clinch the series.