Rylan Bannon against Louisville in the 2017 Regional Final.
#BIGEASTbase Minute – Xavier, St. John’s NCAA Postseason Runs End In Regional Rounds
NEW YORK – Both BIG EAST Baseball teams had their 2017 seasons come to end this weekend, during the regional rounds of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Xavier advanced to the NCAA Regional Final for the second time in as many years, losing to host-school Louisville. St. John’s saw its NCAA run end on Saturday afternoon in the first elimination game of the Clemson Regional.
Xavier, the BIG EAST tournament champion, lost to No. 1 seed Louisville, 8-7, in the Louisville Regional Final at Jim Patterson Stadium on Sunday night. The Musketeers (34-27) shutout No. 2 seed Oklahoma earlier in the day, 11-0.
Xavier had led 7-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Louisville answered each time the Musketeers jumped in front to advance to the Super Regional. After going 4-of-4 in the first game of the day against Oklahoma, BIG EAST Player of the Year Rylan Bannon went 2-of-5 with an RBI against the Cardinals to bring his average to .563 (9-of-16) in the four games of the Louisville Regional. For his career, Bannon is batting .455 in NCAA Tournament play with three home runs, and 12 RBIs in eight games. The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, XU got on the board first with two runs. Louisville answered with three of their own. In the fifth, Xavier tied it up then went ahead by one run in the top of the sixth. The Cards replied with three in the bottom of the frame, taking a 6-4 lead. The Musketeer bats were loose in the seventh again, plating three runs to make a 7-6 advantage.
The No. 3 seed Musketeers went 2-2 on the weekend. After losing the opener to Oklahoma, 7-2 on Friday afternoon, Xavier won its way out of the losers’ bracket with a 3-1 victory over No. 4 seed Radford.
Xavier’s Louisville Regional Results & Recaps
Friday, June 2: No. 2 Oklahoma 7, No. 3 Xavier 2 (Box Score | Recap)
Saturday, June 3: No. 3 Xavier 3, No. 4 Radford 1 (Box Score | Recap)
Sunday, June 4: No. 3 Xavier 11, No. 2 Oklahoma 0 (Box Score | Recap)
Sunday, June 4: No. 1 Louisville 8, No. 3 Xavier 7 (Box Score | Recap)
St. John’s, runner up to both the regular season title and tournament title, had its season end 3-1 to UNC-Greensboro in the first elimination game of the Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Red Storm, which earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the 36th time, finished the season with a record of 42-13, tied for the second-highest win total in program history and just one off the school record set in 2010. Pitcher Kevin McGee set a new career-high in strikeouts (8), innings pitched (7.0) and pitches (101). He surrendered two runs on five hits and from the second through the seventh innings, Magee retired 15-straight UNCG batters. Troy Dixon went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in his final game as a member of the Red Storm, finishing the season with a team-best .394 batting average. John Valente registered his third double in just two days at the Clemson Regional, while Anthony Brocato and Robbie Knightes also tallied base knocks for the Johnnies. Following another scoreless frame from Magee in the seventh, Jamie Galazin drew a walk to lead off the eighth before moving to second on a Valente sacrifice bunt. The Johnnies could not bring him home from second; however, as the Spartans held on to their 2-1 lead after recording consecutive outs. The Spartans pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth, bumping its lead to two, 3-1, before setting down the Red Storm in order in the top of the ninth to close out the contest.
The No. 3 seed Red Storm went 0-2 in the Clemson Regional, falling to No. 2 seed Vanderbilt 13-4 on Friday afternoon. St. John’s led by two runs heading into the bottom of the fifth.
St. John’s Clemson Regional Results & Recaps
Friday, June 2: No. 2 Vanderbilt 13, No. 3 St. John’s 4 (Box Score | Recap)
Saturday, June 3: No. 4 UNCG 3, No. 3 St. John’s 1 (Box Score | Recap)