#BIGEASTbase Features Seton Hall At Creighton, Friday Night On FS1
BIG EAST Baseball Notes 5.4.18
NEW YORK – With three weekends left to the BIG EAST baseball season, three spots remain in the tournament field as Seton Hall, Butler, Georgetown, Creighton, Xavier and Villanova look to get in. Seton Hall, ranked second in the league at 8-1, has a key series at Creighton this weekend, highlighted by the Friday night game on FS1 with John Fanta and Bob Brainerd on the call.
Villanova will play at Georgetown and Butler will host Xavier. Butler is currently in third at 4-4.
St. John’s has a BIG EAST bye this weekend and will host Liberty. At 11-1 in the league with two series left to play, the Red Storm has already clinched a spot in the field in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep.
SERIES NOTES
SETON HALL at CREIGHTON
The Friday night series opener between Seton Hall and Creighton will be on primetime TV on FS1 at 8:30 p.m. as the Pirates and Bluejays aces go head-to-head with CU’s Ryan Tapani and SHU’s Shane McCarthy. Seton Hall is coming off two straight BIG EAST series sweeps heading into TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. All three Seton Hall starters went at least five innings and didn’t allow more than two runs in the last series against Villanova. Seton Hall ranks second in the league standings at 8-1, having lost just one game to Xavier. Creighton is coming off a 1-2 series loss to Georgetown, the first series played this season in Omaha. Creighton currently sits in fourth place in the standings at 4-7. The Bluejays’ only series win was over Xavier. In the all-time series between these two teams Creighton has won 13 of the last 17 meetings against Seton Hall. Eleven of those games have been decided by two runs or less. Last year, Creighton took two from Seton Hall in New Jersey, then defeated the Pirates, 4-1 in the 2017 BIG EAST Championship.
Villanova at Georgetown
Georgetown enters the series against Villanova ranked fourth in the conference at 4-5, having taken two games at Creighton last weekend. The Hoyas are riding a three-game winning streak into the weekend. Hoya starter Brent Killam went 8.1 innings to tie the series against Creighton last weekend, then righty Jeremiah Burke went 6.0 the next day allowing no runs for the two-game comeback. Villanova also enters the series on a winning streak, having won two midweek non-conference match ups against LaSalle and Army at home. The Wildcats are still looking for their first league win of the season at 0-9.
Xavier at Butler
Butler is coming off a BIG EAST bye weekend. The Bulldogs split a series against Illinois State and lost to Indiana State in a midweek matchup. Xavier went 1-2 against league-leader St. John’s at home last weekend. The Musketeers were the first league team to defeat the Red Storm this year, doing so by a score of 7-3, ending a three-series winning streak. Xavier was also the only team to defeat Seton Hall in BIG EAST play. In the current standings, Butler is third in the league at 4-4, while Xavier is in sixth at 4-8. Last season, Xavier swept Butler in Ohio.
Upcoming In #BIGEASTbase
FRIDAY, May 4
VILLANOVA at GEORGETOWN at 4 p.m.
XAVIER at BUTLER at 4 p.m.
Liberty at No. 20 ST. JOHN’S at 6 p.m.
VILLANOVA at GEORGETOWN at 7 p.m. (approx)
SETON HALL at CREIGHTON at 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
SATURDAY, May 5
Liberty at No. 20 ST. JOHN’S at 1 p.m.
XAVIER at BUTLER at 2 p.m.
SETON HALL at CREIGHTON at 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, May 6
SETON HALL at CREIGHTON at 1 p.m.
VILLANOVA at GEORGETOWN at 1 p.m.
Liberty at No. 20 ST. JOHN’S at 1 p.m.
XAVIER at BUTLER at 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, May 8
Cincinnati at XAVIER at 3 p.m.
Rider at SETON HALL at 4 p.m.
Nebraska at CREIGHTON at 7:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, May 9
Penn at VILLANOVA at 3 p.m.
Toledo at BUTLER at 4 p.m.
UMES at GEORGETOWN at 5 p.m.
UMES at GEORGETOWN at 7 p.m.
CREIGHTON at Nebraska Omaha at 8:05 p.m.
THURSDAY, May 10
XAVIER at Penn State at 6:30 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.