By Colton Watson
Creighton—the Jays may have the hottest offense in college baseball. They made the scoreboard operator earn their paycheck Friday, putting up 22 runs vs Houston Christian. They scored a measly 16 runs in their next two games combined vs UTSA and UIC, but both were wins for 5-0 Bluejays, who command the Big East’s best record thus far. They’ll stay in Texas this week to try and maintain their fiery pace of 14.2 runs per game. Looking ahead: vs Air Force, LA Tech, and Army in Sugarland, TX, 3/1-3.
UConn—The Huskies scuffed themselves a little this weekend after a strong start to the season, losing 3 close games at Cal. The Huskies have now lost four in a row after starting the season off 2-0. Starting pitching allowed 14 runs in the first two games of the series, too much for the UConn bats to overcome. Looking ahead: series at Auburn 3/1-3
Xavier—After a dismal opening weekend for a near-super regional team a season ago, Xavier looked strong this past week. The Musketeers knocked off Louisville 9-1 on the road before taking a pair of games from the weekend series at Lipscomb. They’ll briefly return home for some cross-town rivalry action before heading down to warmer climates once again. Looking ahead: vs Cincinnati 2/27, at FGCU 3/1-3
Seton Hall—Big East upstarts Seton Hall continue their hot start by winning the first two of three games at GA State. The Pirates were a run away from adding a 5th W to the win column on Sunday, but lost a pitcher’s duel 3-2. But they scored 14 runs apiece in both the Friday and Saturday games behind the bats of Danny Melnick and Staus Pokrovsky. Seton Hall gets a brief trip back home for the midweek, but afterward they’ll continue their tour of the Southeastern U.S. until March 12. Looking ahead: vs Wagner 2/27, at FIU 3/1-3
Georgetown—it was a rough first week for the Hoyas, but they bounced back in a big way in week 2, making the short trip to beat Navy on the road in the midweek before taking two of three from another nearby road team in Virginia Military Institute. While their respectfulness of the troops might have to be called into question, their pitching cannot be. A blip on the radar was the 12-1 loss on Friday, but Georgetown arms kept a 2.67 ERA in the 3 wins. The Hoyas will look to stay in or near the Commonwealth State and D.C. area for most of their remaining nonconference schedule. Looking ahead: vs Fairleigh Dickinson, 3/1-3
St. John’s—The Red Storm was technically the winningest team in the Big East after Week 1, and we all know that technically best is the best kind of best. This past week wasn’t quite as kind to St. John’s winning percentage as the first, but they still managed to avoid the sweep at Houston by taking the Sunday game 11-6. They’ll look to continue building momentum in the Lone Star State the rest of this week before finally returning to NYC on March 5. Looking ahead: at Texas 2/27, at Sam Houston State 3/1-3
Butler—the disparity in the quality of their two weekend opponents so far notwithstanding, the Butler Bulldogs looked much better this past weekend than the first. They took all 3 games at Alabama A&M, averaging 9.3 runs across the three games and only giving up 4.3. Looking ahead: at Southern Illinois, at Morehead State 3/1-3
Villanova—Nova got their first win of the season at Davidson on Sunday to improve their record to 1-5. There’s not much else to say about the Wildcats; they’re batting .224 as a team and have a staff ERA of 8.43 in the early goings of 2024. Looking ahead: at LMU 3/1-3
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