NEW YORK  –  BIG EAST Baseball Opening Day 2020 has arrived. All seven teams are in action with 22 games on the docket. The season starts on the road for all teams, with Butler, Georgetown and Seton Hall playing at neutral sites. Seton Hall will also play No. 20 Wake Forest at home. In addition to the Pirates, Villanova and St. John’s will also play against teams in the national preseason polls.
 
Three BIG EAST baseball players earned preseason national nods – Creighton’s Parker Upton was named to National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-America Second Team while fellow Bluejay John Sakowski and Seton Hall’s Corey Sawyer were named to the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List.
 
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Butler will play four games this weekend in Lexington, S.C. The Bulldogs will play North Carolina A&T State on Friday at noon and Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Butler will play George Mason at noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. The Bulldogs boast the BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year in Connor Schultz. Schultz was a First Team All-BIG EAST selection in 2019. The Bulldogs have a loaded junior class with 15 student-athletes and 11 freshman on the squad for 2020.
 
Creighton, the BIG EAST coaches’ preseason favorite, starts the quest to repeat as regular-season champions in the Pacific Northwest. The Bluejays will play a three-game series at Seattle. Creighton has won 10 of the 16 season openers under Ed Servais. Seattle was picked to finish fourth in the 2020 WAC Preseason Poll and closed the 2019 season with  13-39 record. All three of Seattle's arms in the opening weekend rotation saw at least 24 innings on the bump last year and started at least one game. Creighton will need to reload this season after sending seven players from the 2019 squad to the professional ranks.
 
Georgetown will play regional rival Navy on the neutral field in Thomasville, N.C. The Hoyas and Midshipmen will play at 1 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the games will be held at Finch Field. The Hoyas return nearly 80 percent of its offense from a season ago, including 377 hits, 29 home runs and 177 RBIs. Georgetown junior Eddie McCabe was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last year, Navy went 39-17 in 2019, the second most wins in program history. The Midshipmen went 18-7 in Patriot League play, winning their fifth-straight regular season championship.
 
Under newly-minted interim head coach Mike Hampton, St. John’s gets its 2020 season underway in the Peach State, playing three teams in as many days in The Atlanta Challenge. The Red Storm starts on Friday at Kennesaw State (4 p.m.) before traveling to Georgia State on Saturday (2 p.m.). St. John’s will then close out the weekend with a contest against No. 19 Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.). Hampton, the longtime assistant coach under previous skipper Ed Blankmeyer, has been on the Red Storm staff for four BIG EAST Tournament Championships, six BIG EAST Regular Season crowns, nine 40-win seasons, 10 NCAA Tournament berths and a Super Regional appearance in 2012. St. John’s boasts preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Mike Antico.
 
Seton Hall will start 2020 in Winston Salem, N.C., with a Friday opener against No. 20 Wake Forest at 4 p.m., then against Illinois at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Milwaukee at 10 a.m. on Sunday. The Pirates return four All-BIG EAST caliber players in senior first baseman Matt Toke, senior outfielder Tyler Shedler-McAvoy, senior pitcher Noah Thompson and sophomore pitcher David Festa. On top of that, after a year playing away from its friendly confines on campus, the Pirates will be back in South Orange this season where they'll play in a renovated ballpark newly dubbed Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium at Owen T. Carroll Field.
 
Villanova opens the season facing No. 3 Arizona State in Phoenix with a three-game series that includes an 8:30 p.m. start on Friday, 2 p.m. first pitch Saturday and 2:30 p.m. finish on Sunday. ASU features three preseason All-American picks and is ranked as high as No. 3 by Baseball America. Arizona State is the highest ranked opponent Villanova has faced since 2009. ASU is just the second ever PAC 12 team the Wildcats have ever faced. VU returns 77 percent of its pitching from last year and 80 percent of its offense.
 
Xavier and Memphis will play a three-game series at Fedex Park in Memphis, Tenn., for a first-time meeting between the two programs. The Musketeers and Tigers will play at 3 p.m. on Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Memphis finished 2019 27-28 overall and 10-13 in the American. Xavier finished second in the BIG EAST last season and was the tournament runner-up.  XU had four players on the BIG EAST preseason all-conference team: Natale Monastra, Ryan Altenberger, Jack Housinger and Lane Flamm.
 
#BIGEASTbase Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Feb. 14
North Carolina A&T State vs. BUTLER (Lexington, S.C.), Noon
Navy vs. GEORGETOWN (Thomasville, N.C.), 1 p.m.
XAVIER at Memphis, 3 p.m.
ST. JOHN’S at Kennesaw State, 4 p.m.
SETON HALL at No. 20 Wake Forest, 4 p.m.
CREIGHTON at Seattle, 5 p.m.
VILLANOVA at No. 3 Arizona State, 8:30 p.m.
CREIGHTON vs. Seattle, 8:30 p.m. (Approx.)
Saturday, Feb. 15
Illinois vs. SETON HALL (Winston Salem, N.C.), 10 a.m.
George Mason vs. BUTLER (Lexington, S.C.), Noon
Navy vs. GEORGETOWN (Thomasville, N.C.), 1 p.m.
ST. JOHN’S at Georgia State, 2 p.m.
VILLANOVA at No. 3 Arizona State, 2 p.m.
XAVIER at Memphis, 3 p.m.
North Carolina A&T State vs. BUTLER, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 16
Milwaukee vs. SETON HALL (Winston Salem, N.C.), 10 a.m.
George Mason vs. BUTLER (Lexington, S.C.), 11 a.m.
Navy vs. GEORGETOWN (Thomasville, N.C.), 1 p.m.
ST. JOHN’S at No. 19 Georgia Tech, 1 p.m.
XAVIER at Memphis, 2 p.m.
VILLANOVA at No. 3 Arizona State, 2:30  p.m.
CREIGHTON at Seattle, 3 p.m.