#BIGEASTbase Minute – Championship Sunday Pits Xavier Against St. John’s
Omaha, Neb. – In December, the BIG EAST Baseball coaches picked St. John’s and Xavier as a tie for the preseason favorite to win the league. Although Creighton won the regular season, on Sunday, Xavier and St. John’s will play for the BIG EAST Baseball Championship title at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
The BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep will be decided by either one or two games. Should No. 2 St. John’s, who is 2-1 in the tournament this year, win the first game the Red Storm will force an if-necessary Game 7 due to the league’s double-elimination format. No. 3 Xavier is 2-0 in this year’s tournament.
Game 6 starts at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT on FS2. Bob Holtzman and John Bishop will call the action live from the press box while BIG EAST Digital Network correspondents Megan O’Brien, John Fanta and Matt Schumacker give us hits from the dugout. If there is a game 7, it will be played approximately 35 minutes after the conclusion of the first game or no earlier than 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT.
#BIGEASTbase Championship Coverage:
Sunday’s Championship
No. 3 Xavier (31-25) at No. 2 St. John’s (42-10)
1:02 p.m. ET/12:02 p.m. local
Watch on FS2:
http://bit.ly/2rLDwsC
Live Stats (Game 6):
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=175428
Live Stats (Game 7):
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=175428
Why We’re Watching:
Xavier is the defending tournament title winner, having defeated Creighton 8-7 in last year’s title game. Xavier also won the 2014 Championship, also over Creighton. In Xavier’s past two wins, they have only needed one game to do it.* St. John’s won the 2015 Championship, coincidentally at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, and also over Creighton, 8-7. Xavier defeated St. John’s 13-3 in the first game of this tournament, using an eight-run ninth inning to insure the victory. Xavier then defeated Creighton 7-6 on Friday. The Musketeers had an off day on Saturday. St. John’s played themselves out of the losers’ bracket with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Seton Hall on Friday and a 10-2 win over Creighton on Elimination Saturday.
Of note, in 2017, no team from St. John’s or Xavier has won a tournament title yet.
* In 2014, the format of the tournament was double-elimination until Championship Sunday.
2017 Series Record: St. John’s won the series 3-0 (May 12-14 at St. John’s)
BIG EAST Tournament Record: Xavier leads series 3-0.
Last BIG EAST Tournament Meeting: Xavier 13-3 (Game 1 of 2017 BIG EAST Tournament)
Overall Series Record: St. John’s leads the series 10-5.
Xavier’s Record in the Tournament (# of titles): 8-1 (2)
St. John’s Record in the Tournament (# of title): 50-38 (8);
6-5 (1) since 2014