Xavier’s Lowther; St. John’s Dixon Earned #BIGEASTbase Weekly Accolades
NEW YORK – St. John’s catcher Troy Dixon and Xavier lefty ace Zac Lowther earned BIG EAST Player and Pitcher of the Week honors after the second week of league play.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Troy Dixon, St. John’s, Sr., C (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.)
Red Storm catcher Troy Dixon was instrumental in the Red Storm’s 4-0 week last week which included a series sweep of Butler in Indianapolis. Against Butler, Dixon went 5-for-11 (.455) with three runs, a double, two homers and six RBI with 12 total bases. In St. John’s extra-inning win on Friday, Dixon went 2-for-5 with three RBI on a bases-clearing double in the top of the 10th. Dixon then registered his first two home runs in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, plating the Red Storm’s first run of game two with a solo shot in a 2-for-4 outing. In game three, after registering an out in his first at bat in the 11th inning, he drove in a two-run homer in St. John’s nine-run last at bat. Dixon finished 1-for-2 in the series finale. For the week, Dixon batted .385 (5-for-13).
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Zac Lowther, Xavier, Jr., LHP/Starter (Brooklyn Heights, Ohio)
Zac Lowther continued his dominance as a starter into week two of BIG EAST play as the junior pitched 6.0 innings in a 2-1 win over Seton Hall in the series opener at Prasco Park on Thursday. In 88 pitches, Lowther posted a 0.00 ERA allowing just two hits and a walk with nine strikeouts. His opponents batted just .105 against him. It was Lowther’s fourth straight game with at least nine strikeouts, he has struck out 46 in his last 25.1 innings. He holds a 0.64 ERA in two BIG EAST starts, striking out 25 in 14 innings.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Bryce Only, Creighton, Sr., INF (Algonquin, Ill.)
Only batted .500 in a 4-0 week for Creighton, which included series sweep at Georgetown. His nine hits led the conference as he bookended the week with game-winning performances, hitting 4-for-6, delivering the game-winning RBI single in the 11th against South Dakota State followed by a two-run single that vaulted the Bluejays to an 11-9 win over Georgetown. In the series finale, Only hit 4-for-5 with five RBI after a 0-for-3 outing on Friday.
Turner French, St. John’s, So., LHP/Relief (Wallingford, Conn.)
French picked up the win in both of his appearances this week for St. John’s as he tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in SJU’s midweek win over Albany then pitched three innings in the Red Storm’s 11-inning win over Butler on Saturday.
Donovan May, Villanova, Sr., RF (Newark, Del.)
Went 7-for-17 with two runs, two RBI and a double. He reached base safely in each game and moved runners into scoring positions each time he was at bat in a series against George Washington.
Jonthan Rosero, Villanova, So., RHP/Starter (Middle Village, N.Y.)
Rosero threw a complete game shutout against George Washington behind three runs in the series opener allowing just four hits and striking out four. He was the first Wildcat pitcher to pitch a complete game and shutout since 2013. He had 12 batters ground out throughout his nine innings.
Chris Givin, Xavier, So., SS (Castle Rock, Colo.)
Givin led Xavier with a .400 week, going 6-for-15 with a homer, three runs and four RBI. He walked twice to post a .471 on-base percentage and had a hit in all four games last week, including a pair of two-hit games in the Seton Hall series. He hit the go-ahead, two-run homer in the fourth inning of a 2-1 win over Seton Hall on Thursday. Went 3-for-3 in stolen bases.