Prendergast Repeats As #BIGEASTbase Pitcher of the Week; SJU’s Brocato Named Player of the Week
NEW YORK – For the third week in a row, Seton Hall earns Pitcher of the Week, while St. John’s earns Player of the Week in the BIG EAST baseball weekly honors. Pirate pitcher Zach Prendergast repeats as Pitcher of the Week after throwing a no-hitter against Villanova. St. John’s junior outfielder Anthony Brocato led the league in RBI, home runs and total base as the Red Storm swept Xavier.
Both Seton Hall and St. John’s guaranteed a tournament berth after series’ wins this weekend.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Anthony Brocato, St. John’s, Jr., OF (Helmetta, N.J.)
Red Storm junior outfielder Brocato provided the power in a 3-0 week for St. John’s, hitting .545 (6-for-11) with a league-best two home runs and six RBI. He also hit two doubles and led the league in total bases (14). In the first contest of the Red Storm’s three-game sweep of Xavier this weekend, Brocato went 2-for-3 with five RBIs and a pair of home runs, tying a career-high for RBIs in a game. The contest marked his third multi-homer game of the season, the most by a St. John’s player since 2010. Brocato followed that performance with a pair of 2-for-4 showings in games two and three of the series, registering a double in each outing and driving home a run in the latter affair. On the week, Brocato walked twice for an on-base percentage of .615 and slugged a BIG EAST high 1.273, good enough for an OPS of 1.888.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Zach Prendergast, Seton Hall, Sr., RHP/Starter (Horsham, Pa.)
Senior Zach Prendergast repeats as BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week, following last week’s complete-game shutout over Creighton with a no-hitter at Villanova in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday, completing a series sweep for the Pirates. Prendergast need only 82 pitches to go the distance and strikeout a career-high 10 batters. He pitched to only one batter over the minimum, a hitter that reached on an error in the sixth inning. Prendergast has not allowed a run over his last 23 innings pitched, and has allowed only two over his last four starts.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Sam Hubbe, Butler, So., RHP/Starter (St. Charles, Ill.)
Went 2-0 last week in two starts at Purdue and Georgetown. He was the starter in Butler’s no-hit victory over Purdue on Wednesday (4-2). He threw game three of the weekend series at Georgetown, the series’ clincher. He tossed eight innings, limited the Hoyas to just one earned run off five hits. For the week, he posted a 1.64 ERA over 11 innings.
Tyler Houston, Butler, Jr., OF (Brownsburg, Ind.)
Batted .455 in a big BIG EAST series at Georgetown this weekend with five hits, 4 RBI and five runs. In the series clincher on Sunday, Houston went 1-for-4 with two runs and a homer in a 7-1 win.
Sean Mooney, St. John’s, Fr., RHP/Starter (Marmora, N.J.)
Allowed just two earned runs and six hits while striking out 10 and walking none over 8.1 innings of work in a 7-3 victory for St. John’s. The homer came in the top of the ninth, a two-run home run. Mooney had allowed no runs through eight.
Cullen Dana, Seton Hall, So., LHP/Starter (Montgomery, N.Y.)
Dana pitched a complete-game shutout in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday at Villanova. He went the distance in the seven-inning contest, scattered just four hits and struck out eight with just one walk. The Pirates won 2-0.
Ryan Ramiz, Seton Hall, Jr., OF (Freehold, N.J.)
Ramiz led the league with a .615 batting average in conference games this week, hitting 8-for-13 in a series sweep of Villanova. Ramiz went 4-for-6 against Villanova on Friday with two doubles and a run. For the week, Ramiz had nine hits, three walks, two doubles and a .600 average.