#BIGEASTbase Minute – At The Midway Point
NEW YORK – Halfway through BIG EAST baseball’s league season and three weeks away from the BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep, St. John’s and Seton Hall have a strong hold on the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the standings. The Red Storm won its fourth BIG EAST series this weekend as SJU maintains the top spot in the league at 11-1. Seton Hall won its third consecutive BIG EAST series to start the opening week of May at 8-1.
Butler had a BIG EAST bye this weekend and stayed steady at third in the conference standings (4-4). Georgetown won two games at Creighton taking over the fourth spot in the league at 4-5. Creighton fell to fifth at 4-7, Xavier is sixth at 4-8 and Villanova rounds out the league at 0-9.
Xavier took the first game in the series at home against 16th-ranked St. John’s, 7-3. It was the Red Storm’s first league loss this season. XU hurler Damien Richard tied a career-high with eight strikeouts as Matt Warkentin and Ryan Altenberger homered at Hayden Field. St. John’s had had the third-longest winning streak in the country. For SJU sophomore starter Sean Mooney, it was just his fourth career collegiate loss (16-4). Two of those losses came against Xavier. The Re Storm bounced back in a big way on Saturday, outscoring Xavier 34-7, one run away from tying the BIG EAST single-game run record. The score was also two runs shy of tying the combined runs single-game record. St. John’s set a school record with the 34 runs as well as 31 hits and five home runs. It was the third 30-run game in St. John’s baseball history. The Red Storm completed the series win with a 9-4 victory on Sunday.
In South Orange, Seton Hall swept Villanova opening the series with an 8-2 victory on Friday. On Saturday, the Pirates edged the Wildcats, 2-1. On Sunday, the Pirates routed Villanova, 11-2, to sweep their second-straight BIG EAST series. The Hall has won eight of its first nine BIG EAST Conference games for the first time since winning 13 of its first 14 games in 1989.
Georgetown won its second BIG EAST series taking two at Creighton this weekend. The Hoyas also took two games from Xavier to open BIG EAST play. Creighton shut out Georgetown in the first game, 8-0 as Ryan Tapani tossed eight scoreless innings. Closer Jacob Voss had a perfect ninth to close. It was the first Bluejay shutout victory since Creighton bested Georgetown 4-0 on May 7, 2016 (a stretch of 98 games). Georgetown evened the series on Saturday, defeating Creighton 6-3. Starter Brent Killam pitched a career-high 8.1 innings on just five hits with eight strikeouts. On Sunday, the Hoyas won the rubber match with a 8-1 win. An impressive six-inning start by Jeremiah Burke, helped GU limit the Bluejays to just five hits and three walks, while not allowing a run.
In non-league play, Butler and Illinois State split the series 1-1. Butler won 10-9 on Saturday, Illinois State won 2-1 on Sunday.
Results In #BIGEASTbase
FRIDAY, April 27
XAVIER 7, No. 16 ST. JOHN’S 3
SETON HALL 8, VILLANOVA 2
CREIGHTON 8, GEORGETOWN 0
SATURDAY, April 28
SETON HALL 2, VILLANOVA 1
No. 16 ST. JOHN’S 34, XAVIER 7
BUTLER 10, Illinois State 9
GEORGETOWN 6, CREIGHTON 3
SUNDAY, April 29
No. 16 ST. JOHN’S 9, XAVIER 4
SETON HALL 11, VILLANOVA 2
GEORGETOWN 8, CREIGHTON 1
Illinois State 2, BUTLER 1
Upcoming in #BIGEASTbase
TUESDAY, May 1
Saint Peter’s at SETON HALL at 4 p.m.
Iona at ST. JOHN’S at 6 p.m.
Indiana State at BUTLER at 6 p.m.
Mount St. Mary’s at GEORGETOWN at 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, May 2
Army West Point at VILLANOVA at 3 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.