2011 CBD Season Preview: Big East

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The Big East Conference had an outstanding season in 2010 having St. John’s, Louisville, and UConn make the NCAA Tournament including two of them hosting Regionals. The sad part is that none of the schools were able to win their respective regional.

The Louisville Cardinals won the 2010 Big East Regular Season title with a 21-6 record which was only a half game better then second place UConn who finished at 20-6. Pittsburgh finished third with a 18-8 record while St. John’s and South Florida tied for fourth place with 16-11 records. Rutgers finished sixth at 15-12 while Cincinnati went 13-14 for a seventh place finished. West Virginia and Notre Dame finished in a tie for eighth at 10-17. Villanova came in tenth at 9-18 which was only one game better then eleventh place Seton Hall at 8-19. Georgetown finished in last place with a 5-22 record.

St. John’s ended up winning the Big East Postseason Tournament by going a perfect 4-0 with a victory of South Florida, Louisville twice, and defeating UConn in the Big East Championship Game to receive the conferences automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. UConn and Louisville would both be named as hosts for the NCAA Tournament. Both St. John’s and Louisville would finish as runner-ups in their regional while UConn finished third in the Norwich Regional.

Cincinnati (29-29 overall, 13-14 Big East)
Top Returnees
Sr. OF Justin Riddell (.312/8/29 (10 2B))
Sr. SS Chris Peters (.294/0/27 (15 SB))
Sr. RHP Dan Jensen 4-2/4.02/53.2
So. RHP Andrew Strenge 7-1/1.93/46.

Key Losses
C Jim Jacquot 57/56 .294/13 HR/50 RBI
1B/P Kevin Johnson 56/56 .258/9 HR/35 RBI
P Brian Garman 17/5 3.79 ERA/65 SO/59.1 IP
P Andrew Burkett 23/0 3.38 ERA/1-2/14 SV

Connecticut (48-16 overall, 20-6 Big East)
Top Returnees
Sr. 1B Mike Nemeth (.386 BA, 15 HR, 84 RBI)
Jr. CF George Springer (.337 BA, 18 HR, 62 RBI)
Sr. LHP Elliot Glynn (7-3, 2.99 ERA)
Jr. RHP Matt Barnes (8-3, 3.92 ERA)

Key Losses
Pierre LePage (.327 BA, 3 HR, 57 RBI, 29-35 SB)
Mike Olt (.318 BA, 23 HR 76 RBI)

Georgetown (23-31 overall, 5-22 Big East)
Top Returnees
Jr. OF Rand Raynaas (.347 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI)
Sr. C Erick Fernandez (.317 BA, 5 HR, 29 RBI)
Rs. Sr. 1B Dan Capeless (.317 BA, 8 HR, 38 RBI)
Rs. Jr. RHP Tommy Isaacs (1-6, 4.97 ERA)

Key Losses
Tommy Lee (.305 BA, 5 HR, 29 RBI)
Tim Adleman (4-4, 5.51 ERA)

Louisville (50-14 overall, 21-6 Big East)
Top Returnees
Jr. IF Ryan Wright (.366 BA, 16 HR, 80 RBI)
Jr. OF Stewart Ijames (.324 BA, 14 HR, 63 RBI)
So. RHP Justin Amlung (5-2, 4.27 ERA)
Jr. RHP Derek Self (7-0, 4.52 ERA)

Key Losses
Thomas Royse (9-1, 2.85 ERA)
Andrew Clark (.370 BA, 13 HR, 61 RBI)

Notre Dame (22-32 overall, 10-17 Big East)
Top Returnees
So. IF Frank DeSico (.333 BA, HR, 25 RBI)
Jr. LHP Steve Sabatino (3-7, 5.53 ERA)
Sr. RHP Brian Dupra (4-5, 6.21 ERA)

Key Losses
Ryan Connolly (.335 BA, 11 HR, 38 RBI)
Casey Martin (.328 BA, 5 HR, 33 RBI)

Pittsburgh (38-18 overall, 18-8 Big East)
Top Returnees
David Chester INF (.332 BA 15 HR 65 RBI)
John Schultz OF (.404 BA 4 HR 48 RBI)
Matt Iannazzo (11-2, 3.76 ERA, 93.1 IP, 58 K, 22 BB)
Corey Baker (11-3 5.37 ERA 105.2 IP 73 K 32 BB)

Key Losses
Joe Leonard (.433 BA, 8 HR, 71 RBI/0-0, 8 SV, 3.07 ERA)
Cory Brownsten (.395 BA, 3 HR, 46 RBI, 3-6 SB)

Rutgers (30-26 overall, 15-12 Big East)
Top Returnees
Steve Nyisztor (.410 BA, 4 HR, 51 RBI, 11-14 SB)
Russ Hopkins (.333 BA, HR, 25 RBI)
Dan O’Neill (3-2, 6.39 ERA)
Tyler Gebler (1-3, 1.75 ERA)

Key Losses
Pat Biserta (.368 BA, 18 HR, 56 RBI)
Ryan Kapp (.318 BA, 9 HR, 39 RBI)
Casey Gaynor (8-5, 5.09 ERA

Seton Hall (19-30-1 overall, 8-19 Big East)
Top Returnees
A.J. Rusbarsky (.251 BA, HR, 22 RBI)
Will Walsh (.240 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI)
Jon Prosinski (3-3, 4.04 ERA)
Frank Morris (1-8, 4.70 ERA)

Key Losses
Michael Rogers (.316 BA, HR, 19 RBI)
Chris Spagnuolo (.277 BA, 15 RBI)

St. John’s (43-20 overall, 16-11 Big East)
Top Returnees
So. OF Jeremy Baltz (.396, 16 2B, 24 HR, 85 RBI)
Jr. SS Joe Panik (.374, 18 2B, 10 HR, 53 RBI)
So. IF Sean O’Hare (.347, 16 2B, 3 3B, 30 RBI)
So. RHP Kyle Hansen (8-3, 3.71 ERA, 94.2 IP, 85 K)
So. LHP Sean Hagan (5-1, 4.85 ERA, 55.2 IP, 53 K)

Key Losses
Greg Hopkins (.358 BA, 4 HR, 47 RBI)
Bruce Kern (7-5, 6.23 ERA)

South Florida (26-32 overall, 16-11 Big East)
Top Returnees
Luis Llerena (.328 BA, 14 RBI)
Daniel Rockhold (.306 BA, 7 HR, 33 RBI)
Andrew Barbosa (8-2, 2.40 ERA)
Randy Fontanez (5-7, 3.59 ERA)

Key Losses
Stephen Hunt (.316 BA, 7 HR, 44 RBI, 13-16 RBI)
Ryan Lockwood (.314 BA, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 10-12 RBI)

Villanova (29-23 overall, 9-18 Big East)
Top Returnees
Dain Hall (.328 BA, 1 HR, 36 RBI)
Tyler Sciacca (.309 BA, HR, 29 RBI)
Kyle Hellsek (3-7, 4.23 ERA)
Kyle McMyne (6-6, 6.25 ERA)

Key Losses
Matt Szczur (.443, 4 HR, 38 RBI)
Justin Bencako (.356 BA, 2 HR, 31 RBI)
Kevin Crimmel (6-2, 3.02 ERA)

West Virginia (27-30 overall, 10-17 Big East)
Top Returnees
Rs. Sr. 3B Grant Buckner (.363 BA, 8 HR, 50 RBI)
Sr. C Justin McDavid (.290 BA, 5 HR, 53 RBI)

Key Losses
Jedd Gyorko (.381 BA, 19 HR, 57 RBI)
Jarryd Summer (2-9, 5.38 ERA)

Predictions
1. UConn *
2. St. John’s *
3. Louisville *
4. Pittsburgh
5. South Florida
6. Rutgers
7. West Virginia
8. Cincinnati
9. Notre Dame
10. Seton Hall
11. Villanova
12. Georgetown
* NCAA Tourney

Projected Player of the Year: George Springer (UConn)
Projected Pitcher of the Year: Matt Barnes (UConn)