Georgetown heads into Queens on a seven-game winning streak to face 6-0 St. John's.
Third Weekend Of #BIGEASTbase Features Georgetown At St. John’s; Seton Hall at Butler and Creighton at Xavier
BIG EAST Baseball Notes (4.20.18)
NEW YORK – The third weekend of BIG EAST baseball action starts on Friday as Georgetown visits No. 23 St. John’s, Seton Hall visits Butler and Creighton visits Xavier for a trio of three-game series. Meanwhile, in non-conference play, Villanova will host Wagner.
Coming into this weekend, there are a few winning streaks that could come to an end. League-leader St. John’s has won its last nine games and will be squaring off against Georgetown, a team that has won its last seven. Butler hosts Seton Hall for the Bulldogs’ first home BIG EAST series of the year as they try to protect a six-game winning streak going into the weekend.
Current standings on Friday has St. John’s at 6-0, Butler in second at 4-1 and Seton Hall and Georgetown tied for third at 2-1. Xavier ranks fifth at 2-4 with Creighton right behind at 1-4. Villanova is still on the hunt for its first league win of the season at 0-6.
SERIES NOTES
GEORGETOWN at No. 23 ST. JOHN’S
The series between St. John’s and Georgetown will be a battle as both teams come into Friday’s game on large winning streaks. St. John’s has won its last nine games, Georgetown its last seven. St. John’s (23-10, 6-0) remains unbeaten in BIG EAST play after sweeping Villanova and Creighton in the first two weekends. Georgetown (14-20, 2-1) had a weekend break from league action last weekend, but opened BIG EAST play taking two from reigning two-time BIG EAST Tournament Champion Xavier. St. John’s swept this week’s league weekly honors with ace Sean Mooney as Pitcher of the Week. Mooney leads the conference in strikeouts (68), he has 15 in BIG EAST play. His teammate Kevin Magee has 17 Ks in two league series played. Second baseman Josh Shaw is Player of the Week this week. Shaw is ranked eighth in the NCAA in the toughest to strikeout. He is sixth in BIG EAST play in batting average with a .409 average. Shaw leads the league in RBI with nine.
SETON HALL at BUTLER
Butler (24-8, 4-1) has moved into second place behind St. John’s after splitting with Creighton the first weekend and sweeping Villanova on the road last weekend. Both of those teams, St. John’s has also already played. Seton Hall just started BIG EAST play last weekend. The Pirates (14-14-1, 2-1) won the series over Xavier 2-1. It is Seton Hall’s first road series and Butler’s first at home. Butler is currently on a six game winning streak that stretches into non-conference play from last week, Seton Hall lost in midweek action this week to Monmouth, 10-3.The all-time series between Butler and Seton Hall is tied at 6-6. Butler leads the series in Indianapolis, 4-2. For Seton Hall, pitcher Matt Leon ranks second in the BIG EAST Conference with five saves and 10 games finished. Ryan Ramiz leads the BIG EAST in batting average (.700), slugging percentage (.800) and on-base percentage (.769). For Butler, Michael Hartnagel leads the conference in runs scored (6). Overall, Tyler Houston leads the BIG EAST in hits (50) and total bases (78).
CREIGHTON at XAVIER
he series between Creighton and Xavier is currently led by the Bluejays, 9-8. Creighton however has lost the last six meetings with the Musketeers. Since league play began in 2014, Xavier leads the all-time series 8-7. Both Creighton and Xavier have had rough starts to league play. Creighton split the first series with Butler, 1-1, in a shortened weekend due to weather. Last weekend in Queens, the Bluejays were swept by preseason favorite St. John’s. Xavier has lost both its opening series 1-2 against both Georgetown and Seton Hall on the road. The series against Creighton is Xavier’s first home league series. Xavier has lost its last two, but Creighton defeated Nebraska Omaha, 9-2. In six league games played, Xavier’s Matt Warkentin leads the league in hits with nine. On the mound for Creighton, Ryan Tapani has pitched 57.2 innings, a league best. Tapani has a ERA of 2.18. He has five wins, second-most in the league overall.
Upcoming In #BIGEASTbase
FRIDAY, April 20
CREIGHTON at XAVIER at 3 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at No. 23 ST. JOHN’S at 3 p.m.
Wagner at VILLANOVA at 3 p.m.
SETON HALL at BUTLER at 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 21
GEORGETOWN at No. 23 ST. JOHN’S at 1 p.m.
CREIGHTON at XAVIER at 1 p.m.
Wagner at VILLANOVA at 1 p.m.
SETON HALL at BUTLER at 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 22
CREIGHTON at XAVIER at 12 p.m. (BEDN)
SETON HALL at BUTLER at 12 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at No. 23 ST. JOHN’S at 1 p.m.
Wagner at VILLANOVA at 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, April 24
XAVIER at Northern Kentucky at 3 p.m.
N.J.I.T. at SETON HALL at 3:30 p.m.
BUTLER at Indiana U. Kokomo at 6 p.m.
George Washington at GEORGETOWN at 7 p.m.
CREIGHTON at Nebraska at 7:35 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, April 25
Eastern Kentucky at XAVIER at 3 p.m.
Miami Ohio at BUTLER at 4 p.m.
CREIGHTON at South Dakota State at 4 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.