MASON, Ohio – It will be the second straight Championship Sunday appearance for the Xavier Musketeers who held on for a 2-1 win over Creighton on Saturday evening at Prasco Park in the 2021 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by JEEP.
No. 4 Xavier (27-25) will face No. 1 UConn (32-16) at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship on the line. The game will be broadcast on FS2 with Bob Brainerd, Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven in the booth and Mike Schmaltz and John Fanta reporting from the dugouts. It will be the second meeting for UConn and Xavier in the tournament. The Huskies won the first outing, 11-1.
Xavier pitchers Ethan Bosacker and Jonathan Kelly combined to keep the Bluejays off the board for the remainder of the game after CU scored in the first inning. Xavier scored a pair of runs in the third inning, the only runs the Musketeers would need to seal the win. Bosacker picked up the win after going 7.0 innings in the start. Kelly closed out the final two innings, picking up the save. The pair combined for 10 strikeouts.
In the bottom of the first, Creighton junior David Webel connected for a leadoff double and freshman Alan Roden hit an RBI double to right.
XU’s Jack Housinger drove in the game-tying RBI third inning on a sac fly. Luke Franzoni scored the game-winning run on a balk after getting aboard on a hit-by-pitch. Franzoni finished 1-4 at the plate and extended his reached-safely streak to 14 games.
Xavier has advanced to the BIG EAST Championship series in each of the program's five trips to the BIG EAST Tournament, winning the tournament title in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and finishing runner-up in 2019. UConn won it all in its last championship appearance in 2013.
Creighton finished the tournament with a 24-15 overall record.
2021 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by JEEP
Thursday, May 27 – BIG EAST Digital Network Presented by SoFi
Game 1: #2 Creighton 8, #3 Seton Hall 7
Game 2: #1 UConn 11, #4 Xavier 1
Friday, May 28 – BEDN
Game 3: Xavier 4, Seton Hall 2
Saturday, May 29 – BEDN
Game 4: UConn 2, Creighton 0
Game 5: Xavier 2, Creighton 1
Sunday, May 30 – Championship (FS2)
Game 6: UConn vs. Xavier at 1 p.m. ET
Game 7: UConn vs. Xavier at 4:30 p.m. **
**an If-necessary game will be played at 4:30 p.m. ET should UConn lose **