Here is your Big East Recap for the first day of the Big East Tourney.
Notre Dame 14 St. John’s 5
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Centerfielder A.J. Pollock went 4-for-6 with three RBIs as part of Notre Dame’s 17-hit performance as the Fighting Irish took a 14-5 win against St. John’s in the first game of the 2009 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Tuesday at Bright House Field.
The No. 5 seeded Fighting Irish (34-21) will face the winner of Tuesday’s second game between eighth-seeded Cincinnati and top-seeded Louisville at 1 p.m. Wednesday in second-round action. Fourth-seeded St. John’s (29-21) will face the loser of that game in an elimination game Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The top three hitters in Notre Dame’s lineup – Pollock, leftfielder Golden Tate and shortstop Jeremy Barnes – combined for nine hits and seven RBIs as the Fighting Irish broke open what had been a one-run game by scoring 10 runs in the last three innings.
Louisville 12 Cincinnati 2
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Top-seeded Louisville used a pair of six-run innings to take a 12-2 win against eighth-seeded Cincinnati in seven innings Tuesday in Game 2 of the BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
The win – Louisville’s fifth straight in the BIG EAST championship – sends the Cardinals to a winners’ bracket matchup against Notre Dame Wednesday at 1 p.m. Cincinnati will face St. John’s in an elimination game Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The Cardinals jumped on Bearcat starter Michael Hill for six runs in the first inning as the first four Louisville players reached base. Andrew Clark got the scoring started with an RBI single to right, and Chris Dominguez followed with an RBI base hit to left, giving Louisville a 2-0 lead before the Bearcats could get an out. Phil Wunderlich followed with a sacrifice fly to left, Ryan Wright delivered an RBI single and Jeff Arnold smacked an RBI double to send the Cardinals to the healthy lead.
UConn 6 West Virginia 1
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Connecticut starting pitcher Elliot Glynn held the BIG EAST’s most potent lineup to one run and seven hits in 7.1 innings, and the sixth-seeded Huskies exploded for six runs in the eighth to come from behind and take a 6-1 win against No. 3-seeded West Virginia Tuesday in Game 3 of the BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
The Huskies move on to face the winner of Wednesday morning’s matchup between No. 2-seeded USF and No. 7-seeded Pittsburgh at a time to be determined. West Virginia will face the loser of the USF-Pittsburgh game in an elimination contest at 8 p.m.
Glynn registered seven strikeouts in improving to 5-4 on the year. He allowed just one run against a Mountaineer squad that came into the game averaging 8.6 runs and batting a collective .362.
South Florida vs Pitt (PPD)
