NEW YORK – The Connecticut Huskies, the 2023 BIG EAST regular-season and tournament victors, were unanimously picked as the favorite in the BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, which was announced by the Conference on Tuesday.
 
UConn’s sophomore right-handed pitcher Ian Cooke was selected as the BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year, while Xavier short stop Jack Housinger locked up Preseason Player of the Year accolades.
 
The Huskies enter the 2023 campaign after winning a program record 50 games and winning the College Park Regional to advance to the program’s second Super Regional where the Huskies captured their first-ever win in the Super Regionals against No. 2 Stanford. 
 
Picked to finish second in the league standings, the Creighton Bluejays led the way with five student-athletes selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last season, the Bluejays earned the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Championship after finishing the regular season with a 15-5 mark in conference action.
 
Xavier, the 2022 BIG EAST Championship runner-up, collected 36 points and has been selected to finish third in 2023. The Musketeers boast three players to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team after a 13-8 conference display a season ago.
 
Despite being selected seventh in the Coaches’ Poll at this time last season, Georgetown capped the regular season with a sweep of UConn to enter the BIG EAST Championship as the No. 4 seed with an 11-10 conference mark. Ahead of the 2023 campaign, Georgetown earned 30 points in the preseason poll and are picked to finish fourth.
 
Two points separated No. 5 Seton Hall and No. 6 St. John’s, with the Pirates earning 23 points. A season ago, Seton Hall finished 7-13 in conference play. Receiving 21 points, the Johnnies capped the 2022 campaign with a 7-12-1 mark.
 
Rounding out the poll, No. 7 Villanova claimed 13 points and No. 8 Butler collected 7.
 
An All-BIG EAST Second Team member in 2022, Housinger ranked third in the BIG EAST last season with 16 home runs, while batting .311 (71-for-228) in 60 games. The graduate senior also ranked third in runs scored (68), while besting his previous three-year career RBI output of 54, with 58 RBI in 2022. Boasting a .588 slugging percentage, Housinger registered 13 doubles, a triple and was walked 47 times. In the outfield, he recorded a .951 fielding percentage with 92 put outs and 143 assists on 247 attempts.
 
A Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, Cooke appeared in 20 games for the Huskies and made six starts in his first season in Storrs, Conn. He went 7-1 with a 3.64 ERA, including one save, while logging 54.1 innings and striking out 54 batters.
 
Along with the poll, the Preseason All-BIG EAST team was also announced with Cooke as the lone unanimous selection. In addition, 2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Owen Carapolotti of Georgetown earned six votes as a catcher and one as a designated hitter. Also, Creighton’s Andrew Meggs collected five votes at second base and two votes at designated hitter, while Housinger recorded six votes at short stop and one vote at third base
 
The coaches’ poll, all-conference team and major awards were voted on by the league’s eight coaches, who could not cast votes for their team or their players.
 
2023 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year
Jack Housinger, Gr., SS, Xavier
 
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Ian Cooke, So., RHP, UConn
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, So.., Georgetown
1B – Ben Huber, Gr., UConn
2B – Andrew Meggs, Sr., Creighton
3B – Kevin Michaels, RJr., St. John’s
SS – Jack Housinger, Gr., Xavier
DH – Jack Grace, Sr., Creighton
OF – Korey Morton, Jr., UConn
OF – David Glancy, RJr., St. John’s
OF – Will Gale, RJr., Seton Hall
OF – Garrett Schultz, Sr., Xavier
SP – Ian Cooke, So., UConn ^
SP – Cade Lommel, Jr., Creighton
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Jr., Creighton
SP – Luke Bell, Sr., Xavier
RP – Tommy Steier, Gr., Creighton
 
^ - denotes unanimous selection
* due to a tie in voting, there is an extra member on the preseason all-conference team.
 
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
1.  UConn (7) – 49
2.  Creighton (1) – 43
3.  Xavier – 36
4.  Georgetown – 30
5.  Seton Hall – 23
6.  St. John’s – 21
7.  Villanova – 15
8.  Butler – 7