#BIGEASTsb Weekend Preview – Teams Reach Halfway Mark
NEW YORK – At the half way point of conference play, St. John’s holds on to the top spot while the remaining seven teams look to break away from shared standings.
League play continues this Friday with Providence at DePaul, Villanova at Georgetown and Seton Hall at Creighton. St. John’s travels to Butler on Saturday. The BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) on FOX Sports Go will feature the series finale between the Red Storm and the Bulldogs at 12 p.m. ET
SERIES NOTES
Providence at DePaul
The Friars (11-19, 3-6 BIG EAST) travel to Chicago after notching their first BIG EAST series win against Butler last weekend at home, while DePaul (19-16. 4-4 BIG EAST) returns home after securing its first BIG EAST series win at St. John's last weekend. Pacing Providence’s offense is Nicole Lundstrom and Emma Lee. Lundstrom leads the Friars in batting average (.381), runs (29) while also totaling 21 RBI and 5 homeruns. Lee leads Providence in hits (41) and has a batting average of .353. Leading DePaul’s efforts are Alysia Rodriguez and Dylan Christensen, who finished the weekend each with a .400 batting average. The two combined for eight hits, five runs, four doubles and 12 RBI over the course of three games.
Seton Hall at Creighton
The Bluejays (12-22, 3-6 BIG EAST) will be looking to extend their conference momentum after snapping a five-game losing skid with a 12-3 victory at Villanova while the third-place Pirates (19-15-1, 5-4 BIG EAST) are coming off a dramatic 4-3 walk-off win over Hofstra on Tuesday.The Hall is 5-3 in eight all-time meetings with Creighton including a doubleheader split in a rain-shortened series last season. The Pirates took two-of-three from the Bluejays in their last visit to Omaha during the 2015 campaign. This year, Tash Coffiel leads the Creighton offense with a .343 batting average and 35 hits. Same Dellinger paces the Jays with 24 RBIs and 10 extra-base hits (six doubles, four home runs), while also owning a team-low 3.47 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched during 13 appearances, including six starts. The Pirates’ roster is guided by Alexis Walkden, who leads the conference in a slew of offensive categories including home runs (10), runs (35), doubles (14) and total bases (87) go along with a .376/.493/.798 slash line on the year. Lauren Fischer adds depth with 32 walks and nine long balls. She has also made 10 starts in the circle and checks in with a 3.46 ERA over 60.2 innings. As a team, the Pirates lead the BIG EAST in runs scored, home runs, walks, slugging percentage doubles and stolen bases.
Villanova at Georgetown
The Wildcats ( 21-13, 4-5 BIG EAST) visit to the Hilltop will be an important BIG EAST matchup as both teams are currently tied for fifth with 4-5 marks in conference. Villanova enters the series with the momentum of two wins against Lafayette, while the Hoyas (11-24, 4-5 BIG EAST) are looking to snap a three-game bend. Last season, the Wildcats won the series over the Hoyas 2-1 at the Villanova Softball Complex. After dropping the first game 11-5, Villanova came back to win the next two games by scores of 2-1 and 4-1. The loss in the series snapped a 17-game winning streak for the Wildcats.
St. John’s at Butler
With both teams coming off losses, conference’s leaders St. John’s (19-13, 7-2 BIG EAST) and Butler (17-20,5-3) are set to face off in a battle for first place and the chance to get back to their winning ways. After being dealt its first conference series loss by DePaul last weekend, the Red Storm fell to Iona, 3-1, in a midweek match. Overall, the Johnnies are batting .312 as a team with a .434 slugging percentage. The effort is steered by eight players batting over .300. Kaitlin leads the group with a .402 average while Savannah Warren tops the team and is third in the conference with 30 RBI. Also stepping out of conference play this week, the Bulldogs fell to Illinois State, 2-0. Butler is guided Jenna Foreman, who ranks fourth in conference with a .381 batting average. On the mound, Kaitlin Doud paces the team with a 3.39 ERA.