By Colton Watson
UConn—Another strong start for last year’s Big East regular-season champions, losing to the Sycamores of Indiana State on Sunday after beating Louisville and South Florida in the USF Baseball Tournament in Tampa. Pitching was the story, UConn allowed only 7 runs on the weekend in three one-run games. Looking ahead: series @ Cal 2/23-25
St. John’s— A 1.000 winning percentage may look gaudy at first, but inclement weather meant that one game was played when they traveled to Gainesville, Florida, to take on the #6 Florida Gators. But the Gulf Coast squalls weren’t the only storm that swept into Gainesville and ruined plans for UF—the Red Storm of St. John’s won the game 9-5 on Friday, and they’re looking to be more than an also-ran in the Big East race after a strong start last year didn’t amount to much later on. Looking ahead: @ Houston 2/23-25
Xavier—The 2023 Big East Tournament champs fell flat on their face this weekend by losing all three games to #14 Clemson. Xavier allowed 8 or more runs in all three games and their closest margin of defeat was 4. Luke Hammond only played in two games, but that was enough for him to blast two home runs to power the Musketeers. Looking ahead: @ Louisville 2/21, @ Lipscomb 2/23-25
Seton Hall—the Swig and Swine Classic in Mt. Pleasant, SC, was good to the Pirates of Seton Hall as they came away with two victories in three attempts. The Pirates knocked off Michigan State and Merrimack, scoring 10+ runs in both games, after starting the year off 0-1 with a loss to #12 Iowa. Looking ahead: @ GA State 2/23-25
Creighton—the Bluejay bats were scorching hot in Baltimore as Creighton won both games vs Coppin State by a combined score of 33-6. The third game was unable to be played, but 13 Bluejays recorded at least one hit in the two games, and Creighton won the bullpen battle on Sunday as Malakai Vetock, Mason Koch, and others helped overcome a shaky start by Creighton’s James Burke. Looking ahead: Creighton will spend the next two weekends in Sugarland, Texas, playing games vs Houston Christian, UTSA, and UIC this weekend and Air Force, LA Tech, and Army next weekend.
Butler—the Butler-FSU series was yet another Sunshine State baseball series that suffered from poor weather all weekend. Florida State did eclipse Butler in both games that were able to be played, both blowouts in favor of the Seminoles. Looking ahead: @ Alabama A@M 2/23-25
Villanova—The Big East’s last-place predicted finisher lived up to expectations this weekend, getting swept at Incarnate Word while allowing 9.3 runs per game. No Villanova starting pitchers made it to the fourth inning, but Dylan Dennis was a bright spot with 6 hits on the weekend. Looking ahead: @ Davidson 2/23-25
Georgetown—perhaps the most disappointing showing in the Big East this weekend for a team with some expectations was that of Georgetown, although they did face some respectable competition. Losses to Grand Canyon in Phoenix and to Cal and #20 Kansas State in Scottsdale, AZ, got the Hoyas’ season off to a flat start as the bats did not heat up like they would’ve liked in the desert climate. The Hoyas only hit 2 home runs while allowing 7 themselves. They’ll have to be careful about how hard they respect the troops this week if they don’t want to start off 0-7. Looking ahead: @ Navy 2/21, @ Virginia Military Institute 2/23-25
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