NEW YORK – For the second year in a row, Xavier and St. John’s split the league’s major regular-season awards as Musketeer third baseman
Rylan Bannon was named 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year, St. John’s rookie righty
Sean Mooney doubled up as the Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year and Red Storm skipper
Ed Blankmeyer earned his seventh honor as the head of the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Along with the four major regular-season awards, the conference announced the 2017 All-Conference First and Second Teams, preceding the 2017 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep, which will take place at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on May 25-28. The league’s tournament teams: Creighton, St. John’s, Xavier and Seton Hall made up 24 of the 31 all-conference selections.
St. John’s, the No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament, had a league-high seven first team selections, eight overall. Creighton, the 2017 regular season winner and No. 1 seed had six all-conference honorees total, five on the second team. Xavier, the No. 3 seed, split with three on the first team and three on the second team; while Seton Hall had one first team honoree and three second teamers.
The 15-member first team, which is made up of five starting pitchers this season due to a tie in the voting, a reliever, each infield position, three outfielders, a catcher and a designated hitter, four selections were unanimous first team votes. All seven teams had at least one player represented on the First Team.
Voting for the All-BIG EAST Team and major awards was conducted by the league's seven head coaches who could not cast a ballot for their own players.
Last year, Xavier shortstop Andre Jernigan was Player of the Year and St. John’s reliever Thomas Hackimer was Pitcher of the Year. Red Storm teammate second baseman Josh Shaw was Freshman of the Year and Xavier’s Scott Googins and staff were Coaching Staff of the Year.
Bannon, 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year, is the second-straight Xavier player to earn the league’s regular season major award. The third baseman led the league with a .426 batting average and on-base percentage (.507) through BIG EAST games only. He ranked second in RBI (18) and tied for second in most home runs (5), while he ranked third in slugging percentage (.778). Bannon stole five bases in six attempts, third in BIG EAST play. The junior from Joliet, Ill., led the Musketeer bats with a .332 average and 65 hits in 196 at bats. He has scored 39 runs in 2017, 12 doubles and league-best 14 home runs. He has also hit three triples and had 43 RBI. As the No. 3 hitter in the lineup, Bannon had a team-best .638 slugging percentage. Bannon was the coaches’ unanimous pick for all-BIG EAST First Team at third base.
One of the most dominant hurlers in the nation, St. John’s
Mooney became just the second player in the 30-plus year history of the conference to garner BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year simultaneously, joining Boston College’s Chris Lambert, who accomplished the feat in 2002. Mooney is now the third-straight and seventh Red Storm hurler to take home BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year honors. He is the sixth St. John’s player overall and third in the last four years to be named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
Mooney has been the Red Storm’s ace, boasting an unbeaten 8-0 overall record with a 1.10 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP in 90.0 innings. The Marmora, N.J., native struck out 82 batters and surrendered just 15 walks on the season, while limiting opponents to a .168 batting average and going seven innings or longer in nine of his 11 starts with one complete game. In league play only, Mooney went a league-best 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched. He struck out 38 BIG EAST batters and has had just seven earned runs scored against him. Mooney was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team and was a unanimous pick for Freshman of the Year. He was the only starting pitcher to garner seven first team votes.
Blankmeyer and his assistants have been honored by the league as the 2017 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. The winningest skipper in conference history, Blankmeyer has garnered the accolade seven times (2017, 2015, 2012, 2008, 2007, 2005 and 1996), including two of the past three and three of the past six seasons. With a record of 40-9, the Red Storm registered its best-ever mark through 49 games and the second-highest regular-season win total in the 100-plus year history of the program. Rising as high as no. 4 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll in early April, the St. John’s matched its best ranking since the College World Series season of 1968. St. John’s has been ranked nationally since the third week of the season.
Joining Mooney on All-BIG EAST starting pitching staff are Creighton junior right hander Rollie Lacy, Seton Hall senior righty Zach Prendergast, Villanova senior southpaw Hunter Schryver and Xavier junior lefty Zac Lowther. It is Lacy’s third time being selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Lacy led the Bluejays with a 2.76 ERA and a 4-2 overall record. Prendergast pitched a complete game shutout against Creighton and a no-hitter at Villanova to highlight his season as he finished with a 2.04 ERA in BIG EAST play. Schryver, the 2017 Preseason Pitcher of the Year, also finshed with an ERA of 2.04 and was second in strikeouts (47) in league games. Lowther led the league in opposing batting average (.134), strikeouts (49) and batters struck out looking (17) through 32.0 BIG EAST innings pitched. Xavier righty Matt Kent was voted as the first team relief pitcher with a 2-1 record and a 0.00 ERA in six league appearances (11.2 innings).
Four Red Storm players made up the BIG EAST First Team infield, surrounding BIG EAST Player of the Year Bannon. Red Storm senior catcher Troy Dixon was voted to the first team unanimously, junior Jesse Berardi earned a spot as shortstop, second baseman Josh Shaw moved up to first team after second team accolades in 2016 and redshirt junior John Valente earned a spot at first base. Dixon led the Red Storm with a .380 average overall. He did not commit an error in BIG EAST play with 116 putouts, while batting .373 with 14 RBI. Berardi made 11 double plays over the course of an 18-game league schedule and batted .313 with 11 RBI, 11 runs. Shaw was the 2016 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and continued to dominate for St. John’s with 36 assists and 10 double plays.
The All-BIG EAST First Team outfield consisted of Butler junior Tyler Houston, St. John’s junior Anthony Brocato and senior Michael Donadio. Donadio, who batted .333 in league games with 10 RBI and seven doubles, is the just the second four-time First Team All-BIG EAST honoree. Notre Dame’s Jeff Wagner (1996-99) is the only other player to accomplish the feat. Brocato and Houston were second and third behind Player of the Year Bannon in batting average with .424 and .397 averages, respectively. Brocato had a league-best 20 RBI with six doubles and five homers. Houston had 15 RBI, six homers and six doubles.
Georgetown senior Jake Kuzbel was voted as the first team designated hitter, the second Hoya to earn the position in the last three years. Kuzbel was a 2016 second team honoree who batted .288 (21-for-73) with nine RBI, four doubles during the league season.
The All-BIG EAST Second Team featured starting lefty Jeff Schank and first baseman Jordan Lucio from Butler; righty starter Keith Rogalla, right-handed reliever Ethan DeCaster, second baseman Isaac Collins, catcher Michael Emodi and outfielder Will Robertson from Creighton; Georgetown third baseman Ryan Weisenberg and outfielder Michael DeRenzi; St. John’s reliever Joe LaSorsa; Seton Hall left-handed starter Cullen Dana, reliever Ryan Testani and outfielder Ryan Ramiz and Xavier’s righty-starter Garrett Schilling, shortstop Chris Givin and designated hitter Blaine Griffiths.
2017 BIG EAST Major Awards and All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year
Ryan Bannon, Xavier, Jr., 3B
Pitcher of the Year
Sean Mooney, St. John’s Fr., RHP (Starter)
Freshman of the Year
Sean Mooney, St. John’s Fr., RHP (Starter) ^
Coaching Staff of the Year
St. John’s, head coach Ed Blankmeyer
2017 All-BIG EAST First Team #
Rollie Lacy, Creighton, Jr., SP (RHP)
Sean Mooney, St. John’s, Fr., SP (RHP) ^^
Zach Prendergast, Seton Hall, Sr., SP (RHP)
Hunter Schryver, Villanova, Sr., SP (LHP)
Zac Lowther, Xavier, Jr., SP (LHP)
Matt Kent, Xavier, So., RP (RHP)
John Valente, St. John’s, RS-Jr., 1B
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, So., 2B
Jesse Berardi, St. John’s, Jr., SS ^
Rylan Bannon, Xavier, Jr., 3B ^^
Troy Dixon, St. John’s, Sr., C ^^
Tyler Houston, Butler, Jr., OF ^^
Anthony Brocato, St. John’s, Jr., OF ^
Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Sr., OF ^
Jake Kuzbel, Georgetown, Sr., DH
2017 All-BIG EAST Second Team ##
Jeff Schank, Butler, Sr., SP (LHP)
Keith Rogalla, Creighton, Jr., SP (RHP)
Cullen Dana, Seton Hall, So., SP (LHP)
Garrett Schilling, Xavier, Jr., SP (RHP)
Ethan DeCaster, Creighton, Jr., RP (RHP)
Joe LaSorsa, St. John’s, Fr., RP (LHP)
Ryan Testani, Seton Hall, Sr., RP (RHP)
Jordan Lucio, Butler, Sr., 1B
Isaac Collins, Creighton, Fr., 2B
Chris Givin, Xavier, So., SS
Ryan Weisenberg, Georgetown, So., 3B
Michael Emodi, Creighton, So., C
Will Robertson, Creighton, Fr., OF
Michael DeRenzi, Georgetown, Jr., OF
Ryan Ramiz, Seton Hall, Jr., OF
Blaine Girffiths, Xavier, Jr., DH
^^ - denotes unanimous first team selection
^ - denotes unanimous selection
# - due to a tie in voting, there are five starting pitchers voted to the All-BIG EAST First Team
## - due to a tie in voting, there are three relief pitchers voted to the All-BIG EAST Second Team