NEW YORK – Xavier and St. John’s split the coaches’ vote to be the league’s preseason favorite for the 2017 season. The Musketeers were last year’s BIG EAST regular season and tournament champions and represented the league in the NCAA tournament in 2016. St. John’s repeats as the preseason pick by the coaches for the third year in a row. Xavier senior Joe Gellenbeck was selected Preseason Player of the Year; while Villanova senior Hunter Schryver was voted Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Both Gellenbeck and Schryver were unanimous selections to the 2017 BIG EAST Preseason All-BIG EAST team.
In another close vote by the BIG EAST’s seven head coaches the tally for third and fourth place in the league was decided by one vote. Creighton, the 2016 BIG EAST Championship runner-up, edged Seton Hall in the coaches’ poll by one with 25 points. The top four teams represented the BIG EAST Championship field in 2016. St. John’s, Creighton and Seton Hall have finished in the top of the standings for the past four years.
Georgetown was picked to finish fifth with 17 points, while Villanova and Butler rounded out the poll with nine and eight points, respectively.
Xavier finished 2016 with a 14-4 conference record. The Musketeers advanced to the Nashville Regional in the NCAA tournament and finished the season with a 32-30 overall record. All top four teams received votes in the first national preseason poll released by Collegiate Baseball on Dec. 20.
In addition to Gellenbeck’s selection as Preseason Player of the Year, Xavier’s pick was reinforced by a league-high seven players selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. St. John’s, Seton Hall and Georgetown had two each and Butler, Creighton and Villanova had a selection each.
Of the 16-member All-BIG EAST Preseason Team, four were unanimous votes by the league’s seven head coaches, who could not cast ballots for their own players or team.
Gellenbeck had a breakout season for the Musketeers in 2016, homering in 10 of Xavier’s 15 weekend series and leading the BIG EAST with 51 RBI and 125 total bases. A force in the middle of the lineup, Gellenbeck also ranked second with 13 homers, 16 doubles, 41 runs, 70 hits and a .508 slugging percentage. Clutch in big moments, Gellenbeck had back-to-back walk-off hits to clinch a series win over Creighton in mid-May in addition to a game-tying homer in the third inning of the 2016 BIG EAST Championship game, he played in and tied all 62 games for Xavier last season, tying a school record, while hitting .300 (9-for-30) with a homer and six RBI in seven postseason starts. Gellenbeck was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2016. His BIG EAST stat line consisted of a .288 average with 21 hits, 13 runs, three doubles, three homers and 18 RBI.
Schryver, a 2016 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, was Villanova’s first pitcher to earn first team All-BIG EAST recognition since 1998. During a breakthrough junior campaign as a starter, Schryver went 6-4 with a 2.64 ERA in 15 appearances. He started in all but one of his appearances and recorded the lowest ERA by a Villanova starter since 2000. He went seven or more innings on seven occasions, including pitching at least six innings in every one of his six starts against BIG EAST opponents. Schryver went 3-2 in league play with a league-best 1.51 ERA and a .166 opponent batting average. He was tied for second in the league in strikeouts (32). For the season, he logged 88.2 innings on the mound and had as many strikeouts as hits allowed (79). Schryver was the Wildcats’ only selection to the preseason all-conference team. Villanova was picked sixth in the poll and welcomed new skipper Kevin Mulvey during the offseason.
In addition to Gellenbeck, the defending league champions had six All-BIG EAST selections, making up four infield slots. Xavier will be without the talents of 2016 BIG EAST Player of the Year, shortstop Andre Jernigan, who was drafted last season by the Twins in the 14th round, but sophomore Chris Givin, who was picked at that position for the preseason all-conference team will hopefully fill the void. Givin played and started in 18 games last season and batted .333 with nine runs on 21 hits, five doubles and nine RBI. Xavier also returns All-BIG EAST First Team selections in junior catcher Nate Soria and junior third baseman Rylan Bannon on the preseason squad. Soria, the 2015 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, batted .333 with 13 runs, 20 its and nine RBI in league play. Bannon contributed 14 runs on 15 hits and 10 RBI. Representing the Musketeers in the outfield of the preseason All-BIG EAST team is Will LaRue, a junior leftfielder who batted .269 in BIG EAST play last season with 11 runs on 18 hits, five doubles, nine RBI and four stolen bases. The Xavier pitching staff is well represented on the preseason All-BIG EAST team with starting lefty Zac Lowther and reliever Garrett Schilling. Both were BIG EAST Second Team selections in 2016. Lowther had a league ERA of 3.10 with a 2-2 record and 32 strikeouts. Schilling had a 1.69 ERA in relief with 16 innings pitched and a 3-1 record. In addition to Jernigan, who had 15 RBI in league play, the Musketeers also lost catcher Daniel Rizzie, the BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, and infielder David Morton. The trio accounted for 32 runs and 49 hits in league play with 30 RBI. Rizzie was drafted in the 13th round by the New York Mets.
St. John’s finished fourth in the league standings in 2016. The Red Storm lost key players in centerfielder Alex Caruso and 2016 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Thomas Hackimer to graduation, but they return a core of talent to all positions, including 2016 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Josh Shaw and three-time All-BIG EAST First Team outfielder Michael Donadio. Shaw batted .286 in league play with 20 hits and 10 RBI as he was selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Donadio, a seasoned vet in left field batted .348 with 23 hits, 11 runs, 12 RBI and five doubles in 2016. The Red Storm welcome six newcomers with four pitchers, including lefty Jeff Belge from who was a Red Sox draft pick (32nd round) and top 100 draft prospect in 2016.
Creighton, the 2016 runner-up, had one preseason All-BIG EAST selection in starting junior Rollie Lacy. Lacy was an all-league first team selection last year and boasted a 1.85 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 43.2 innings pitched. Lacy was undefeated as the starter with a perfect 5-0 record. The Bluejays finished 13-5 and lost to Xavier in the championship game, 8-7. Creighton lost a lot of offensive talent in Nicky Lopez and Daniel Woodrow who were drafted in the fifth and 12th rounds of the MLB draft in 2016, and Reagan Fowler, who graduated. In addition to Lacy, the Bluejay pitching staff returns starter Keith Rogalla and closer David Gerber.
Picked just behind Creighton in the preseason poll with 24 points, Seton Hall had two players selected to the preseason all-conference team: designated hitter Mike Alescio and starter Shane McCarthy. Alescio batted .302 in 11 starts in league play with eight runs on 16 hits, two doubles and six RBI. McCarthy, a unanimous preseason selection, was an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree last season and pitched 28 strikeouts in 43.0 innings with a 1.67 ERA. Seton Hall returns its entire pitching core as McCarthy will be backed by sophomore Cullen Dana, senior Zach Prendergast and reliever Zach Schellenger. The Pirates went 10-8 in league play last season.
The Hoyas, picked fifth in the league, also had two preseason all-conference selections in junior outfielder Michael DeRenzi and senior starting pitcher Simon Mathews. DeRenzi was a unanimous preseason honoree. The junior right fielder batted .295 in 2016 with 23 hits and 12 stolen bases to go along with nine runs and All-BIG EAST Second Team honors. Mathews, a 2016 BIG EAST First Team selection, had 27 strikeouts in 47.0 innings pitched and 3-1 record. Georgetown finished fifth in the standings last year with an 8-10 record.
Butler, like Villanova, will also welcome a new face to the dugout in head coach David Schrage. The Bulldogs were picked seventh in the preseason poll with eight points, but boasted a preseason all-conference selection Tyler Houston. Houston, a junior centerfielder, batted .239 in 18 games last season. He accounted for 12 runs on 17 hits and had six RBI. Butler lost catcher Chris Marras and outfielder Nick Bartolone to graduation, but return most of its offense and added four newcomers to the roster.
League play begins the weekend of April 7. The season concludes at the home of Creighton and the College World Series, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha with the 2017 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep. The championship will be played on Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28.
Follow all the action for BIG EAST baseball this season with the hashtag #BIGEASTbase.
2017 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year – Joe Gellenbeck, Xavier, Sr., 1B/OF
Preseason Pitcher of the Year – Hunter Schryver, Villanova, Sr., SP
Preseason All-BIG EAST *
Nate Soria, Xavier, Jr., C
Joe Gellenbeck, Xavier, Sr., 1B/OF ^
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, So., 2B
Chris Givin, Xavier, So., SS
Rylan Bannon, Xavier, Jr., 3B
Mike Alescio, Seton Hall, Jr., DH
Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Sr., OF
Tyler Houston, Butler, Jr., OF
Michael DeRenzi, Georgetown, Jr., OF ^
Will LaRue, Xavier, Jr., OF
Rollie Lacy, Creighton, Jr., SP
Zac Lowther, Xavier, Jr., SP
Shane McCarthy, Seton Hall, Jr., SP ^
Simon Mathews, Georgetown, Sr., SP
Hunter Schryver, Villanova, Sr., SP ^
Garrett Schilling, Xavier, Jr., RP
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
T1. Xavier – 32 points (4)
T1. St. John’s – 32 pts. (3)
3. Creighton – 25 pts.
4. Seton Hall – 24 pts.
5. Georgetown – 17 pts.
6. Villanova – 9 pts.
7. Butler – 8 pts.
^ – denotes unanimous selection
* – due to ties in voting there are four outfielders and five starting pitchers on the 2017 Preseason All-BIG EAST team
