Creighton Sweeps #BIGEASTbase Weekly Awards
NEW YORK – With a 5-0 week, Creighton sweeps the BIG EAST baseball penultimate weekly awards as righty Ryan Tapani earns his fourth conference Pitcher of the Week award and outfielder Will Robertson earns Player of the Week for the third time.
Pitchers made up the entire honor roll this week.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Will Robertson, Creighton, So., OF (Loose Creek, Mo.)
Creighton sophomore outfielder Will Robertson had a seven-RBI week to help the Bluejays go undefeated against Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha and BIG EAST foe Villanova. Robertson closed the week 7-for-19 (.368) with a team best seven RBI and a .579 slugging percentage. He blasted his team-leading 12th home run in a 10-6 win over Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday. He delivered at least one RBI in the Bluejays’ first four games of the week and scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning of the series finale with Villanova.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Ryan Tapani, Creighton, Sr., RHP (Waysata, Minn.)
Creighton righty Ryan Tapani tossed a complete game shutout in the series opener against Villanova with an impressive stat line of 12 strikeouts, three hits and one walk. In the 4-0 win for the Bluejays, Tapani tossed 127 pitches and just allowed six batters over the minimum. After an error allowed Villanova’s first hitter of the game to reach, Tapani retired 16 consecutive hitters. It was Tapani’s first career complete game and was a personal record in pitches and strikeouts. It was the first complete game shutout for a Bluejay since since Rollie Lacy did so against St. John’s on April 17, 2015.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Ryan Pepiot, Butler, So., RHP (Westfield, Ind.)
Pepiot struck out a career-high 12 batters in a 3-0 win over Georgetown on Saturday to help the Bulldogs win the series and get one step closer to a tournament berth. Pepiot went 8.0 innings, allowed just three hits on 120 pitches and walked just two.
Jimmy Swad, Georgetown, Sr., RHP (Washington, D.C.)
Swad had three appearances on the mound for Georgetown this week and earned a save in each of them. Swad pitched 3.1 innings, allowed one hit with two walks and two strikeouts for the week. He set GU’s single season record with his 12th save of the year on Sunday, going 1.2 inning to lock up Georgetown’s 5-3 win at Butler.
Joe LaSorsa, St. John’s, So., LHP (Katonah, N.Y.)
LaSorsa came in on relief and earned the win in St. John’s 2-1 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday to even the record at 1-1. LaSorsa tossed 4.0 innings of one-hit, no-run baseball, struck out three in 39 pitches.
Ricky DeVito, Seton Hall, So., RHP (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Despite a hard-luck loss for DeVito, the sophomore went 5.2 innings, allowed just four hits and struck out six in the Saturday 2-1 loss to St. John’s. DeVito allowed no earned runs to score and walked just two.
Nick Zwack, Xavier, Fr., LHP (Monticello, Minn.)
Zwack made two appearances last week, getting the start in an 11-1 win at Penn State. The freshman went 7.0 innings and allowed just three hits, one walk and struck out four. He also came to pitch relief against Cincinnati.