SJU’s Donadio, SHU’s Dana Earn #BIGEASTbase Weekly Honors
NEW YORK – St. John’s outfielder Michael Donadio was named Player of the Week, while Pitcher of the Week honors were awarded to Seton Hall’s Cullen Dana. For the second time this season, pitchers highlighted the weekly awards, making up four of the five honor roll places.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Sr., OF (Mount Sinai, N.Y.)
Senior outfielder Michael Donadio batted .500 (8-for-16) with four extra base hits and a pair of RBIs in a 2-2 week for then-No. 11 St. John’s, which included a series victory over Seton Hall. On Sunday’s rubber match against the Pirates, Donadio reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 4-for-4 with two doubles and a walk. With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth and two outs with no runners on, Donadio smacked an 0-2 pitch to the left field corner recording his second boule of the game and putting himself in scoring position. He scored the winning run on the next pitch, a game-winning single to right center. He also scored two runs with his two RBI in the 9-2 series opener against the Pirates. He hit four doubles against Seton Hall.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Cullen Dana, Seton Hall, So., LHP/Starter (Montgomery, N.Y.)
Sophomore lefty Cullen Dana turned in his best start of the season at then-No. 11 St. John’s on Saturday, shutting out St. John’s high-powered offense through seven innings. St. John’s offense had been ranked fifth in the country in batting average (.328) going into the weekend. Dana limited St. John’s bats to just a .167 average while striking out eight batters, allowing four hits and walking two. It was the first time this season the Red Storm was shut out.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Simon Mathews, Georgetown, Sr., RHP/Starter (West Haven, Conn.)
Fired his second complete-game shutout, allowing just six hits with no walks and fanning six. Eighty-three of his 113 pitches were strikes, 16 finished as ground outs in a 7-0 win for the Hoyas over Villanova in the series opener.
Zach Racusin, Georgetown, Grad Student, OF (Morristown, N.J.)
Batted .500 (8-for-16), had a two-run double in Friday’s 7-0 win over Villanova and helped clinch the series win for GU with a 3-for-3 performance and a stolen base. Hit a key hit-and-run single in the 11th inning to move the eventual winning run to third base.
Sean Mooney, St. John’s, Fr., RHP/Starter (Marmora, N.J.)
Mooney pitched 7.0 innings of one-run ball to improve on 5-0 this year. He scatted five hits and struck out six in a 9-2 victory over Seton Hall.
Hunter Schryver, Villanova, Sr., LHP/Starter (Mechanicsburg, Pa.)
Schryver was dominant on the mount for the Wildcats, turning in eight innings of shutout ball with just four singles while striking out 10. Schryver’s opponents batted just .143 against him as he walked two.
Rylan Bannon, Xavier, Jr., 3B (Joliet, Ill.)
Bannon hit a team-best .333 (2-for-6) in a 1-1 week at Creighton and No. 6 Kentucky. He hit a his 13th home run of the season in the ninth inning of a 2-1 win over first-place Creighton on Friday night, the game-deciding run.