By Colton Watson
Creighton—The Big East’s best team stayed hot with a 4-1 week, including midweek victories over local rival Nebraska and North Dakota State. The 24-5 Blue Jays dropped the Friday game at home versus Butler (BEC) to open up Big East play 0-1, but took the series with back-to-back 10+ run offensive performances. A huge Big East clash lurks ahead for Creighton as they take their show on the road for the first time in conference play. Looking ahead: at Omaha 4/9, at Xavier (BEC) 4/12-14.
Xavier—Pre-season, telling Xavier they’d lose a series at UConn (BEC) might not have surprised or offended many, save for the fact that dropping a series to a conference rival always stings a little. However, given the way UConn has looked this year, the Musketeers have to feel that they let a great opportunity get away from them after they lost two chances to win a Big East Series after winning the Friday game. Xavier scored just 2 runs on Saturday and were blanked on Sunday to give them a 1-2 start to Big East play and a 15-16 start to the season. Looking ahead: at Cincinnati 4/9, vs Creighton (BEC) 4/12-14.
UConn—It’s been a tough year for the Huskies, but they’ve looked sharp through week 1 of conference play. A midweek win, midweek cancellation, and game 1 loss in the series vs Xavier (BEC) had things looking sketchy at first for UConn once again, but the Huskies pitched the remaining two weekend games beautifully to win the series and move their overall record to 12-16. Looking ahead: vs Bryant 4/9, vs Maine 4/10, vs St. John’s (BEC) 4/12-14.
St. John’s—A midweek game that was postponed was the closest anyone got to stopping the Red Storm, who took down Villanova (BEC) in all three games this weekend to sweep the road series. St. John’s scored 13 and then 11 runs in the first two games, but it looked as if both squads saved their pitching for Sunday after the series finale saw a 0-0 tie reach the 13th inning. The Red Storm finally made landfall in the top of the 13th to win 3-1, bringing their season record to 22-5-1. Looking ahead: vs UConn (BEC) 4/12-14.
Villanova—One of two Big East teams to play their second conference weekend last week, Villanova is also the only winless team in Big East play thus far. The Wildcats were on the business end of a road sweep by St. John’s (BEC), bringing their record to 7-21. The Big East’s last place team in all respects, the Wildcats get Penn in the midweek before traveling to Seton Hall (BEC) Looking ahead: vs Penn 4/10, at Seton Hall (BEC) 4/12-14.
Seton Hall—Like most of the Northeast, Seton Hall dealt with weather during the midweek that postponed a game. That killed any chance at a .500 or better week for the Pirates as they dropped their first Big East series on the road to Georgetown (BEC). The Pirates gave up just 4 runs all weekend…but scored only 1 run themselves in what was back-to-back-to-back pitchers’ duels in DC. At 17-14, Seton Hall and Xavier are likely battling for that last spot in the Big East tournament at season’s end. Looking ahead: vs Rutgers 4/9, vs Villanova (BEC) 4/12-14.
Georgetown—The hot streak continued for the Hoyas this week, taking 2 of 3 from Seton Hall (BEC) in a series where they only surrendered a single run. 2-1 on a week without a midweek game due to ugly weather brings Georgetown up to 21-9 his season, the clear third-best looking team in the league behind Creighton and St. John’s. Looking ahead: vs Maryland 4/9, at Towson 4/10, at Butler (BEC) 4/12-14.
Butler—At 13-16, Butler bridges the gap between what we’ll call the lowest middle-of-the-pack Big East team inn Xavier and the lowly pair of losingest teams in the league, UConn ane Villanova. Still, only half a game in the overall record separates Butler from Connecticut, and that last spot in the Big East tournament is up for grabs between the Bulldogs, Huskies, and Musketeers. Butler lost an opportunity for a midweek win this week like most Big East teams, but came out with a Friday win over Creighton (BEC) before dropping the last two games in the series. Looking ahead: vs Evansville 4/9, at Notre Dame 4/9, vs Georgetown (BEC) 4/12-14.
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