NEW YORK – Regular season champion and BIG EAST Baseball Championship No. 1 seed Xavier had a league-high seven total selections to the All-BIG EAST First and Second Teams, which were announced on Wednesday, preceding the 2016 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep, along with the four major regular season awards.
The Musketeers also boasted the BIG EAST Player of the Year, senior shortstop Andre Jernigan, a unanimous selection, and the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year, led by Scott Googins, who is finishing his 11th season at the helm of the Xavier program.
St. John’s reliever Thomas Hackimer was voted BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, while Red Storm rookie infielder Josh Shaw was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
The league’s tournament teams: Xavier, Creighton, Seton Hall and St. John’s had a total of 17 players of the 29 all-conference selections. The Musketeers had four first team honorees, also a league high. Creighton, Seton Hall and St. John’s each had two first teamers, while Villanova boasted three and Georgetown had one.
Of the 14-member first team, which is made up of four starting pitchers, a reliever, each infield position, three outfielders, a catcher and a designated hitter, six selections were unanimous.
Voting for the All-BIG EAST team and major awards was conducted by the league's seven head coaches who could not cast a ballot for their own teams.
Jernigan, the BIG EAST Player of the Year, has been a powerful offensive threat for Xavier this season and ranks among the national leaders with 12 homers and 110 total bases on the year. The Musketeers’ team leader in slugging percentage (.564), doubles (16) and triples (4), Jernigan stepped up in BIG EAST play, batting .274 with three homers and 15 RBI to go with a .382 on-base percentage. In the field, the senior shortstop has helped Xavier set a current pace to break the school record for fielding percentage – while ranking among the national leaders in double plays turned. Jernigan was a unanimous pick by the league’s head coaches for Player of the Year, as well as their unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team.
The second-straight St. John’s player to earn BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year honors and the sixth overall, Hackimer is the first reliever to take home the league’s top pitching honor since St. John’s Craig Hansen in 2005. The senior finished the regular season ranked tied for second in wins (7-1) and fourth in saves (8), while posting a 0.72 ERA in 26 appearances. The righty ranked sixth with 67 strikeouts in 49.2 innings of work and allowed just a .094 opponent batting average. In 10 league appearances, Hackimer ranked tied for second in wins (3-1) and finished third in saves (4), while posting a conference-low 1.50 ERA in 18.0 innings of work. The righty had 20 strikeouts in BIG EAST action and held opponents to a league-low .069 batting average. Hackimer was the BIG EAST coaches’ selection for Preseason Pitcher of the Year as well. He is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. Hakcimer was a unanimous pick as the All-BIG EAST relief pitcher.
Shaw is St. John’s fifth BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, and the second Red Storm player to earn the league’s top rookie honor in the past three seasons. The infielder batted .302 and ranked second in the league with a team-high 41 RBI, a total that included a team-best 13 multi-RBI games. Shaw, one of three Red Storm players to start all 52 games, added eight doubles, two home runs and 34 runs scored, while leading the league with nine sacrifice flies. The rookie also swiped 7-of-9 bases and registered a .984 fielding percentage. Shaw had 10 RBI in league action. Shaw makes his debut on the All-Conference teams as the second team’s second baseman.
Xavier’s coaching staff, led by Googins and assisted by Nick Otte, Billy O’Conner and Kyle Sprague, was honored for the first time as the league’s Coaching Staff of the Year, leading the Musketeers to their first BIG EAST regular season title with a 14-4 record in league play. Googins, who won his 300th game and became Xavier's all-time wins leader this season, directed a massive turnaround after a challenging non-conference schedule and slow start in league play. The Musketeers were 14-26 overall and 1-3 in BIG EAST play on April 23, but responded down the stretch. The Musketeers took five straight series in league play and won 13 of its final 15 games to close the year and take the No. 1 seed heading into the BIG EAST Championship on Thursday.
The 2016 All-BIG EAST First Team included sophomore right-hander Rollie Lacy from Creighton, junior righty Simon Mathews from Georgetown, sophomore righty starter Shane McCarthy from Seton Hall, junior starting lefty Hunter Schryver from Villanova, Hackimer as the reliever, senior first baseman Max Beermann and junior second baseman Todd Czinege from Villanova and an infield trio from Xavier that includes Jernigan at shortstop, sophomore Rylan Bannon at third base and redshirt junior Daniel Rizzie as catcher. The outfield was made up of Creighton junior Daniel Woodrow, St. John’s junior Michael Donadio and Seton Hall senior Derek Jenkins. The first team designated hitter was last year’s Freshman of the Year, Nate Soria from Xavier.
Lacy, Czinege, Hackimer, Donadio and Goss were also all first team selections in 2015.
Unanimous picks to the All-BIG EAST First Team in addition to Jernigan and Hackimer were Lacy, Schryver, Rizzie and Donadio.
The All-BIG EAST Second Team has at least one player from each of the seven BIG EAST Baseball programs. Xavier and Georgetown led the way with three second team selections each.
The BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep will take place Thursday, May 26 through Sunday, May 29 in Aberdeen, Md. at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium, home to the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Tickets can be purchased
here. Credentials can be requested
here. The four major award winners will battle it out in game one on Thursday, as No. 1 seed Xavier takes on No. 4 seed St. John’s at 3:30 p.m. Second-seeded Creighton will play No. 3 seed Seton Hall at 7 p.m. for game two.
The first five games of the BIG EAST Championship will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network, the conference’s branded channel on FOX Sports GO. Championship Sunday will air on FOX Sports 2. The winner will earn the BIG EAST’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. Check the BIGEAST.com Championship Central for details and updates.
2016 BIG EAST Major Awards and All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year
Andre Jernigan, Xavier, Sr., SS ^^
Pitcher of the Year
Thomas Hackimer, St. John’s, Sr., RP
Freshman of the Year
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, Fr., 2B
Coaching Staff of the Year
Xavier, head coach Scott Googins
All-BIG EAST First Team
Rollie Lacy, Creighton, So., SP ^
Simon Mathews, Georgetown, Jr., SP
Shane McCarthy, Seton Hall, So., SP
Hunter Schryver, Villanova, Jr., SP ^
Thomas Hackimer, St. John’s, Sr., RP ^
Max Beermann, Villanova, Sr., 1B
Todd Czinege, Villanova, Jr., 2B
Andre Jernigan, Xavier, R-Jr., SS ^
Rylan Bannon, Xavier, So., 3B
Daniel Rizzie, Xavier, R-Jr., C ^
Daniel Woodrow, Creighton, Jr., OF
Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Jr., OF ^
Derek Jenkins, Seton Hall, Sr., OF
Nate Soria, Xavier, So., DH
All-BIG EAST Second Team #
Jeff Albrecht, Creighton, Jr., SP
Matt Smith, Georgetown, Sr., SP
Cullen Dana, Seton Hall, Fr., SP
Zac Lowther, Xavier, So., SP
Garrett Schilling, Xavier, So., RP
Joe Gellenbeck, Xavier, R-So., 1B
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, Fr., 2B
Nicky Lopez, Creighton, Jr., SS
Kevin Jewitt, Villanova, Sr., 3B
Chris Marras, Butler, Sr., C
Troy Dixon, St. John’s, Jr., C
Michael DeRenzi, Georgetown, So., OF
Zach Weigel, Seton Hall, Sr., OF
Adam Goss, Villanova, Sr., OF
Jake Kuzbel, Georgetown, Jr., DH
^^ - denotes unanimous selection
^ - denotes unanimous first team selection
# - due to a tie in voting, there are two catchers voted to the All-BIG EAST Second Team