NEW YORK (Dec. 18, 2024) – The Connecticut Huskies, the 2024 BIG EAST regular-season champion, were picked as the favorite in the BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, which was announced by the Conference on Tuesday.
UConn’s senior right-handed pitcher Ian Cooke was selected as the BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year, while UConn junior first baseman Maddix Dalena locked up Preseason Player of the Year accolades.
The Huskies enter the 2024 campaign fresh off a 17-4 league season, securing an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament and advancing to the super regionals. Overall, six Huskies land on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
Picked to finish second in the league standings with 38 points, the Xavier Musketeers had three student-athletes selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last season, the Musketeers returned to the BIG EAST Championship and capped the conference regular season 12-9.
St. John’s collected 37 points and a first-place vote to be selected to finish third in 2025. The Johnnies are the defending BIG EAST Champions and entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed in 2024 with a 14-7 regular season mark. The Red Storm boast four players on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.
Looking to get back to Prasco Park, Creighton has been selected to finish fourth in 2025 with 30 points and has three players on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. The Bluejays capped the 2024 season with a 7-13 record in league play.
One point separated No. 5 Georgetown and No. 6 Seton Hall, with the Hoyas earning 25 points. Capping conference play 13-7 and finishing as the runner up in the BIG EAST Championship, Georgetown will look to earn its fourth straight trip to Prasco Park in May, landing three players on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. With a pair of Preseason All-BIG EAST Team members, Seton Hall capped 2024 with a 7-14 mark in conference play.
Rounding out the poll, No. 7 Villanova collected 12 points and No. 8 Butler earned nine points and one player on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
The reigning BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Cooke appeared in 17 games and made 10 starts on the mound in his third season with Huskies. He went 5-2 with a 4.81 ERA and pitched 67.1 innings with 85 strikeouts in 2024. Cooke led the Huskies to a regional win over Duke with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work in a 4-1 victory.
An All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2024, Dalena played in 55 games and made 54 starts, primarily at first base. He hit .242 with 12 doubles, 13 home runs and drove in 43 RBI. Dalena ranked second on the team with 13 multi-RBI games, while also posting 13 multi-hit games.
Three players earned unanimous votes on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team, including Seton Hall starting pitcher Ryan Reich, Creighton outfielder Nolan Sailors and Cooke.
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.
2025 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year
Maddix Dalena, 1B, Jr., UConn
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Ian Cooke, RHP, Sr., UConn ^
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, Georgetown
1B – Maddix Dalena, UConn
2B – Kyle Hess, Creighton
3B – Tyler Minick, UConn
3B – Luke Hammond, Xavier
SS – Bryan Padilla, UConn
SS – Luke Orbon, St. John’s
DH – Connor Misch, Xavier
OF – Jack Moroknek, Butler
OF – Caleb Shpur, UConn
OF – Nolan Sailors, Creighton ^
OF – Kavi Caster, Georgetown
OF – Jackson Tucker, St. John’s
OF – Aedan Anderson, Xavier
SP – Ian Cooke, UConn ^
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Creighton
SP – Andrew Williams, Georgetown
SP – Evan Chaffee, St. John’s
SP – Ryan Reich, Seton Hall ^
RP – Brady Afthim, UConn
RP – Louis Marinaro, St. John’s
^ - denotes unanimous selection
* due to a tie in voting, there are extra members on the preseason all-conference team.
BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. UConn (7) – 49
2. Xavier – 38
3. St. John’s (1) – 37
4. Creighton – 30
5. Georgetown – 25
6. Seton Hall – 24
7. Villanova – 12
8. Butler – 9