#BIGEASTbase Minute – Two BIG EAST Championship Rematches Highlight The Weekend
NEW YORK – There are four weekends left in league play. Creighton continues to carry the torch as the league leader with an 8-1 record and three series wins. This weekend, Creighton hosts Xavier in a rematch of the 2016 BIG EAST tournament championship game. Xavier is second in the league standings at 6-3. St. John’s hosts Seton Hall in a regional league rivalry series. The Red Storm – Pirate series also echoes the 2016 Championship; the last time these two teams played, St. John’s eliminated Seton Hall from the tournament. Villanova hosts Georgetown in Pennsylvania for another regional match up; while Butler has the weekend off.
The Xavier-Creighton series finale will be carried on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
SERIES NOTES
GEORGETOWN at VILLANOVA
Georgetown is still looking for the first BIG EAST win of the season after falling 0-6. Villanova won two games against Xavier, but was swept by Seton Hall. Overall, Hoya Michael DeRenzi leads the league in hits (61); seconded by teammate Zach Racusin (57). DeRenzi is also third in runs scored (37) and sixth in batting average behind five St. John’s players (.365). GU’s Jake Kuzbel is third in slugging (.553). Villanova ace Hunter Schryver is third in the league’s ERA leaderboard (2.54) and seventh in opponent batting average (.220). Schryver is third in strikeouts (64).
SETON HALL at ST. JOHN’S
Seton Hall and St. John’s are currently sitting at third and fourth in the conference standings. Seton Hall (5-4) is riding a six-game winning streak into the weekend in Queens having swept Georgetown last weekend. St. John’s (4-2) suffered a midweek loss to Princeton and has not played a league game since April 15 when SJU completed a series sweep of Butler. Red Storm freshman ace Sean Mooney leads the country in WHIP (0.73) and is third in ERA (1.04). Offensively, St. John’s Jamie Galazin is second in the league with a .407 average in BIG EAST play. Teammate Troy Dixon is third in slugging (.714). SJU remains nationally ranked in all five polls. Seton Hall shutout St. Peter’s 11-0 on Wednesday. On the mound, Zach Prendergast has tallied the most wins at 5-2 and the best ERA (3.64). Matt Toke leads the Pirates with a .302 average. Joe Poduslenko has 27 RBI. SHU leads the league in doubles (17) in conference games played. The last time these two teams met was in the 2016 league championship. St. John’s knocked Seton Hall out with a 4-1 win in the first elimination game. St. John’s was the No. 4 seed, Seton Hall No. 3.
XAVIER at CREIGHTON
The Xavier-Creighton game is a rematch of the 2016 baseball tournament championship. XU won 8-7. Creighton continues to impress, winning 11 straight. The Bluejays haven’t lost since April 7. Creighton most recently swept Villanova, while Xavier swept Butler. Both CU and XU were at home. Both Player and Pitcher of the Week will be on display in Omaha. Xavier’s Rylan Bannon is second in league games in batting average (.452), runs scored (9) and RBI (9). He is tied for second in hits (14). Bannon has hit three home runs in three league series played. Creighton’s Keith Rogalla is second in strikeouts (23), he pitched a complete game in a win over St. John’s on April 9. Xavier also has power on the mound, boasting Zac Lowther who leads the league in opposing batting average (.131) and batters struck out (33). At the plate, Creighton’s Isaac Collins leads the BIG EAST in hits (15) and is tied for second in runs scored (8).
Butler - Bye Weekend
Butler is off until May 3 when the Bulldogs travel to Miami (Ohio) for a midweek match up. Butler shut out Dayton 4-0 on Tuesday. Butler is currently sixth in the BIG EAST standings at 2-7.
Two ‘Cats Senior CLASS Award Finalists
Senior second baseman Todd Czinege (Overland Park, Kan.) and senior starting pitcher Hunter Schryver (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) were each selected as one of ten finalists for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award for baseball as announced on Thursday morning. Czinege and Schryver were originally named to the initial list of 30 candidates.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Todd Czinge is a finance major in the Villanova School of Business, which was ranked the No. 1 undergraduate business school in the nation in the 2016 Bloomberg Business Week rankings. Hunter Schryver is enrolled in Villanova’s nationally competitive College of Engineering and is a mechanical engineering major. Just recently, he tied third in school history for 222 career strikeouts and is currently tied with head coach Kevin Mulvey. Schryver was named the Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and has been dominant on the mound for the Wildcats all season.
Creighton Streaking
Creighton has won 11 straight games since April 8, scoring 70 runs to the Bluejays opponents 41. In the streak, Byrce Only leads the Bluejays in batting with a .475 average with team-best 19 hits and 10 RBI. Michael Emodi also has 10 RBI, while scoring a team-best 10 runs. Jeff Albrecht has two wins in the streak with a 3.26 ERA.
#BIGEASTbase National Stat Leaders
The BIG EAST boasts three individual national statistical leaders in Sac Flies - Jake Kuzbel, Georgetown (9); WHIP - Sean Mooney, St. John’s (0.73) and Walks Allowed/9 innings - Rollie Lacy, Creighton (0.67). St. John’s is also one of eight teams in the country to have completed a triple play.
Upcoming #BIGEASTbase Schedule (all times Eastern)
Friday, April 28
GEORGETOWN at VILLANOVA at 3 p.m.
SETON HALL at ST. JOHN’S at 3 p.m.
XAVIER at CREIGHTON at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 29
SETON HALL at ST. JOHN’S at 1 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at VILLANOVA at 2 p.m.
XAVIER at CREIGHTON at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 30
XAVIER at CREIGHTON (BEDN) at 1 p.m.
SETON HALL at ST. JOHN’S at 1 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at VILLANOVA at 1 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2
VILLANOVA at Army at 3:30 p.m.
Iona at ST. JOHN’S at 6 p.m.
George Washington at GEORGETOWN at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 3
La Salle at VILLANOVA at 3 p.m.
BUTLER at Miami (Ohio) at 6 p.m.