35th #BIGEASTbase Championship Starts Thursday At Prasco Park
BIG EAST Championship Central
MASON, Ohio – Thursday starts the 35th edition of BIG EAST Baseball Championship, Presented by Jeep, which returns to Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio home to the Cincinnati Spikes club. First pitch of the tournament is at 2:33 p.m. ET, with No. 1 seed Creighton facing No. 4 seed Seton Hall. No. 2 seed Xavier will play No. 3 seed St. John’s in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader, which will start at approximately 6:33 p.m. ET. Both games will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network Presented by SoFi.
Both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the tournament, Creighton and Xavier, missed last year’s championship, also held at Prasco Park, while No. 3 St. John’s and No. 4 Seton Hall played for the championship title. Regular-season champion Creighton comes into Thursday with a national ranking in three polls: No. 25, D1baseball.com; No. 27 NCBWA; No. 25 Baseball America; and a 14-4 league record. The Bluejays have never won a tournament title, but were runners up in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Creighton boasts three of the four BIG EAST regular season award winners with Player of the Year Jake Holton, Pitcher of the Year Mitch Ragan and Coaching Staff of the Year led by Ed Servais.
Xavier, the tournament’s co-host, is 9-1 in the BIG EAST tournament and three time champions. The Musketeers won it all in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Xavier’s only loss in the championship was May 22, 2014, a 9-2 loss to Creighton at MCU Park in Brooklyn. The Musketeers have never lost a game since, even winning the championship 5-0 against the Bluejays that year. Xavier comes into the tournament with a strength of schedule that ranks 10th nationally. It is head coach Billy O’Conner’s first trip to the conference tournament as skipper of the Musketeers.
No. 3 seed St. John’s enters Thursday’s games as the defending tournament title winners. The Red Storm is looking to win a league-best 10th championship title. Under head coach Ed Blankmeyer, St. John’s is making its 20th appearance in the tournament, 16th in a row (2004-2019), coming in as the third seed with a 9-9 record. In addition to last year’s championship, St. John’s has won the tournament in: 2015, 2012, 2010, 1997, 1993, 1988, 1986, 1985.
For Seton Hall head coach Rob Sheppard, it is his 10th postseason appearance as skipper of the Pirates. Seton Hall finished with a 9-9 record, tied with St. John’s, and is in the tournament for the ninth consecutive time. The Pirates were last year’s runners up, forcing a Game 7 for the first time since 2003. Seton Hall last won the tournament title in 2011.
7-6
The winner of the double elimination tournament will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship field.
John Fanta and Matt Schumacker will be on the call in game one on Thursday; with Mike Schmaltz and Paul Fritschner in the dugouts. For the second game, Schmaltz and Fritschner will be on the call with Fanta and Schumacker on the sidelines. Watch live on the BIG EAST’s main twitter handle or on the BIG EAST Digital Network on Caffeine.
Thursday’s #BIGEASTbase Coverage:
Game 1
No. 1 Creighton (35-11, 14-4 BIG EAST) vs. No. 4 Seton Hall (25-26, 9-9 BIG EAST)
2:30 p.m. ET (First pitch at 2:33)
Watch on @BIGEASTDigital:
Twitter Live |
Caffeine
Live Stats:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/xavier/baseball/
2019 Series Record: Creighton won the series 3-0
(April 18-20 at Seton Hall)
BIG EAST Tournament Record: Creighton leads the series, 5-0
Last BIG EAST Tournament Meeting: Creighton won 4-1 (Game 1 of 2017 BIG EAST Tournament)
Overall Series Record: Creighton leads Seton Hall, 17-6
Why We’re Watching:
Creighton swept Seton Hall earlier this season, playing at the home of the Staten Island Yankees in Staten Island. Thursday will be the fifth time in six years the Bluejays and Pirates will meet in the first round of the tournament. Creighton is 5-0. In 2015, the Bluejays sent the Pirates to the losers bracket with a 7-4 opening day win, then defeated SHU once again in the Saturday game, 12-1 en route to their second Championship appearance. In 2016, in Maryland, Creighton defeated Seton Hall 6-5. The last time these two teams met in the tournament in 2017, Creighton won 4-1. The game was scoreless through five before the Bluejays got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. 2019 is Creighton’s fifth tournament appearance. The Bluejays are 7-7 (.500) in the championship. Creighton missed the tournament in 2018. This is the 25th tournament appearance for Seton Hall. The Pirates have a 37-42 (.468) record in the championship. Seton Hall has won the tournament three times and was runner-up five times. The Pirates were runners up last year after forcing the if-necessary game 7 against St. John’s. Creighton has never won the tournament but has been runner-up three times.
Game 2
No. 2 Xavier (25-29, 12-4 BIG EAST) vs. No. 3 St. John’s (30-21, 9-9 BIG EAST)
6:33 p.m. ET (or at least 45 minutes after Game 1)
Watch on @BIGEASTDigital:
Twitter Live |
Caffeine
Live Stats:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/xavier/baseball/
2019 Series Record: Xavier won the series, 2-1
(April 12-14 at St. John’s)
BIG EAST Tournament Record: Xavier leads the series, 4-0
Last BIG EAST Tournament Meeting: Xavier won 7-6 (2017 BIG EAST Championship Game)
Overall Series Record: St. John’s leads Xavier, 13-5
Why We’re Watching:
St. John’s is the tournament’s defending champion, but Xavier was the tournament winner the year prior. Xavier has won the last nine straight tournament games that the Musketeers have played in and has defeated the Red Storm four times in tournament action. The Red Storm and Musketeers last met on the championship stage in Omaha in 2017. Xavier defeated St. John’s in game 1, 13-3; then 7-6 in the championship after rallying from a 3-0 deficit. Earlier this season in Queens, Xavier took two from St. John’s, winning 11-8 in the opener and 8-1 in the Sunday finale. St. John’s won the Saturday game 9-8 in an 14-inning affair. St. John’s is 53-40 (.570) in the league tournament with nine titles and four runner-up finishes. Xavier is 9-1 (.900) with three titles.