Creighton At St. John’s, Butler At Villanova and Xavier at Seton Hall Highlight Weekend No. 2 of #BIGEASTbase
Baseball Update 4.13.18 (PDF)
NEW YORK - BIG EAST baseball continues through weekend No. 2 as St. John's hosts Creighton, Villanova hosts Butler and Seton Hall hosts Xavier. Georgetown and George Mason will play a non-conference three game series playing both in Bethesda, Md. and in Virginia.
After the first weekend of play, St. John's leads the BIG EAST standings after a sweep on the road at Villanova. The Red Storm enters the weekend on a five-game winning streak. Seton Hall will play its first league series hosting Xavier. Head coach Rob Sheppard is looking for win No. 400 this weekend.
On Monday, the NCAA released the RPI with Creighton leading the way for the BIG EAST with a No. 17 ranking. Seton Hall is second in the league at No. 59. St. John's is No. 82, Butler No. 93, Xavier 116th, Georgetown 245th and Villanova 277th.
SERIES NOTES
Creighton at St. John's
St. John's (19-10, 3-0) leads the BIG EAST after the first weekend of league play. Creighton (20-7, 1-1) is tied for third after splitting the opening series against Butler in a weather-shortened weekend which was moved to a neutral site at Edwardsville, Ill. Both St. John's and Creighton enter the weekend on winning streaks. The Red Storm's streak, which began last Friday, continued through the week with non-league wins over Iona and Albany. St. John's allowed just two runs to score during midweek action. Creighton has won the last three, also winning its midweek non-conference games against Kansas, 14-11, and South Dakota State, 9-4. Creighton leads the BIG EAST in the current RPI report with a No. 17 ranking. Both St. John's and Creighton are receiving votes in two national polls. In the series history between these two teams which dates back to 1991, Creighton owns a 9-7 advantage over the Red Storm. All but one of those games were played before 2014 when the two squads became BIG EAST rivals, finishing at the top of the standings each year. Creighton and St. John's are two of three teams who have made the BIG EAST tournament every year since 2014. Last season, Creighton won the series in Omaha 2-1. In the tournament, St. John's defeated Creighton 10-2 (also in Omaha) to advance to Championship Sunday.
Butler at Villanova
Villanova (6-19, 0-3) hosts its second consecutive BIG EAST series, this Friday welcoming Butler (20-8, 1-1). Butler is currently tied for third with Creighton after weekend No. 1 of BIG EAST play. Villanova was swept by St. John's in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. and is looking for a BIG EAST win. Butler has won its last two games, both midweek non-conference games against Morehead State and Fort Wayne. Villanova went 1-1 in midweek action against St. Joseph's, losing Tuesday 6-4, but winning on Wednesday, 3-2. Butler won the series against Villanova last season 2-1 in Indianapolis. Butler's Tyler Houston, Co-BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year leads the conference in hits this season overall with 44. He also leads the BIG EAST in doubles with 13.
Xavier at Seton Hall
The series between Xavier and Seton Hall has been slightly altered due to winter weather lingering in the Northeast well into Spring. Xavier (11-21, 1-2) and Seton Hall (12-12-1, 0-0) will play their first game Friday evening and games No. 2 and 3 on Saturday in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Xavier's open to BIG EAST play this season started with a 1-2 series loss to Georgetown on the road. This weekend will be the BIG EAST opener for Seton Hall, who played a doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson last Sunday and a midweek game at Princeton on Wednesday. The Pirates defeated the Tigers 28-8. Seton Hall hasn't played a traditional weekend series since playing four games in Hawaii, March 23-26. Pirate head coach Rob Sheppard is one win away from becoming only the second Pirate baseball coach to reach 400 career victories. Only his father, Mike Sheppard, Sr. has more wins at Seton Hall, 998. In the all-time series, Seton Hall owns a slim 7-6 lead over Xavier, but Xavier has won the last five of six meetings in Cincinnati. Xavier is looking to get back in the win column having lost its last four games including two midweek contests in the Nuxhall Classic.
Upcoming In #BIGEASTbase
FRIDAY, April 13
CREIGHTON at ST. JOHN'S at 3 p.m.
BUTLER at VILLANOVA at 3 p.m.
George Mason at GEORGETOWN at 3 p.m.
XAVIER at SETON HALL at 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 14
BUTLER at VILLANOVA at 1 p.m.
CREIGHTON at ST. JOHN'S at 1 p.m.
XAVIER at SETON HALL (DH) at 1 p.m.
George Mason at GEORGETOWN at 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 15
CREIGHTON at ST. JOHN'S at 12 p.m.
BUTLER at VILLANOVA at 1 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at George Mason at 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, April 17
BUTLER at Eastern Illinois at 3 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at U.M.B.C. at 6 p.m.
Nebraska-Omaha at CREIGHTON at 7:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, April 18
ST. JOHN'S at Hofstra at 3 p.m.
VILLANOVA at LaSalle at 3 p.m.
Monmouth at SETON HALL at 4 p.m.
XAVIER at Cincinnati at 6 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.