Creighton’s Holton, Butler’s Schultz Earn #BIGEASTbase Weekly Honors
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Jake Holton, Creighton, Jr., 1B (Los Gatos, Calif.)
Creighton junior Jake Holton led the Bluejays to a 3-1 week, collecting their first two BIG EAST wins of the season. Holton batted .462 (6-for-13) for the week, including .400 (4-for-10) in league action. He totaled four RBI, four walks and earned first base three times after being hit by a pitch. Holton had one RBI and scored four times in the Butler series. He opened the weekend going 3-for-5 with one walk in the series’ opening win, 8-7 in 10 innings in Indianapolis. His on-base percentage for the week was .650. He had a home run in the 10-2 win at Nebraska. Holton also had a .692 slugging percentage.
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Connor Schultz, Butler, So., RHP (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
Butler sophomore righty Connor Schultz earned a 5-0 shutout victory in the series finale against Creighton on Saturday. Schultz pitched 8.0 innings and used 124 pitches. He allowed just five hits, walked one and struck out seven. Schultz didn’t allow a hit until the third inning. He struck out the side in the top of the seventh.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Jack Cushing, Georgetown, Sr., RHP
Cushing fired his first career complete game in Saturday’s second game against Villanova, evening the series with a 4-2 outing. He allowed two runs on five hits, not giving up a hit until there were two outs in the fifth. Cushing struck out six, giving him 204 career Ks.
Gavin Hollowell, St. John’s, Jr., RHP
The St. John’s reliever had three appearances last week, going 1-0 with a save in 4.2 innings with three strikeouts. Hollowell recorded a no-decision in Saturday’s win over Xavier as he came in with the game tied at 8 in the ninth. He retired the next 13 batters, allowing his only hit of the game in the 13th. In 59 pitches, 39 were strikes.
Casey Dana, Seton Hall, So., 3B
Dana led Seton Hall in hitting last week with a .444 average, hitting safely in all five non-league contests. At Princeton on Wednesday, he belted a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning. In game two of a doubleheader on Saturday at No. 19 TCU, Dana went 2-for-5 with a run.
Gordon Graceffo, Villanova, Fr., RHP
Graceffo won his second straight BIG EAST start with a 3-1 decision over Georgetown. He carried a four-hitter into the ninth inning and established career highs for innings pitched (8.2) and strikeouts (8). He retired 25 of 29 batters faced.
Conor Grammes, Xavier, Jr., DH/RHP
Grammes batted .315 with an on-base percentage of .519 in a 2-3 week last week, including scoring four runs and going 4-of12 with seven walks in the 2-1 series at St. John’s. Additionally, Grammes pitched 5.2 innings of one-run ball on Sunday for the series-clincher. He allowed just two hits with four strikeouts.