NEW YORK – St. John’s was picked as the favorite with five first-place votes, in the 2018 BIG EAST Preseason Baseball Coaches’ poll announced on Tuesday. St. John’s was last year’s BIG EAST Championship runner-up and earned the league’s first at-large NCAA bid since 2013. Red Storm righty Sean Mooney was the unanimous selection by the coaches as Preseason Pitcher of the Year, while teammate Anthony Brocato shared preseason Player of the Year honors with fellow outfielder Tyler Houston of Butler.
All three players were unanimous selections in their respective positions to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, which was also announced on Tuesday. Of the 15-member all-conference preseason squad, four were unanimous votes by the league’s seven head coaches, who could not cast ballots for their own players or team.
2017 BIG EAST champion Xavier was picked to finish second in the preseason vote with 30 points. The Musketeers, with new head coach Billy O’Conner at the helm, picked up the remaining two first-place votes.
The vote for third and fourth was separated by one point as Creighton edged Seton Hall with 24 points. The Pirates had 23. The top four teams represented the BIG EAST Championship field in 2016 and 2017. Butler was picked to finish just outside the tournament field with 18 points, followed by Georgetown with 11 points and Villanova with six. St. John’s, Creighton and Seton Hall have finished in the top of the standings for the past five years.
Mooney, a sophomore right-hander, became just the second player in conference history last year to be named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season after going 8-2 with a 1.71 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. The ERA and WHIP numbers ranked in the top 10 nationally. Before suffering a pair of setbacks in the postseason to eventual conference champion Xavier in the BIG EAST Championship and Vanderbilt in the NCAA Clemson Regional, Mooney turned in an 8-0 record with a 1.10 ERA. Demonstrating tremendous control throughout the season, Mooney struck out 88 batters while surrendering just 16 walks in 100.0 innings of work. The Marmora, N.J., native went seven innings or longer in nine of his 13 starts and registered six outings that lasted at least eight innings, including one complete game shutout. In 2017, opponents hit just .196 against Mooney, who was selected to play on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team this past summer. On Monday, Mooney was named to Collegiate Baseball’s 2018 Preseason All-America Second Team, the lone representative from the BIG EAST. In 2017, he earned All-America distinction from three different outlets.
Brocato, a senior outfielder, was a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection in 2017 after averaging .424 in 16 appearances during league play. Brocato added a BIG EAST-high 20 RBI on 25 hits, which tied for second in league play, including six doubles. He was second in homers with five and boasted a league-best .780 slugging over the course of BIG EAST play. Brocato’s .424 batting average and .478 on-base percentage ranked second in league games, the highest of returning players for 2018. Brocato also ranked second in total bases with 46. Overall, the Helmetta, N.J., native knocked in 47 RBIs and paced the squad with eight homers, the most by a St. John’s player since Jeremy Baltz in 2012. Brocato hit .317 with a .400 on-base percentage and with slugging a team-best .550 and a St. John’s high 16 doubles. Brocato had three multi-homer games, including two in BIG EAST play.
Butler outfielder Tyler Houston was also a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team honoree in 2017 and led the BIG EAST in hits (27), home runs (six) and total bases (53) in conference play last year. Houston also ranked third in batting with a .397 average and second in slugging behind Brocato at .779. Additionally, he was third in on-base percentage (.453), RBI (16) and tied for sixth in doubles with six. The Brownsburg, Ind., native started in all 51 games for the Bulldogs and led the team with 12 homers, 202 at-bats, 38 RBI, 42 runs and 109 total bases. In non-conference play last year against Ohio (Feb. 18), Houston tied the Butler school record with three home runs in a game and set a school record with 14 total bases in a single game.
St. John’s first place selection was bolstered by a league-best five players named to the preseason all-conference team. In addition to Mooney and Brocato, also honored was redshirt senior John Valente at first base, junior Josh Shaw at second base and lefty reliever Joe LaSorsa. Valente and Shaw earned all-conference first team honors in 2017 while leading St. John’s to a 42-13 overall record, 13-5 in BIGT EAST play. LaSorsa was an All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree with a 4-0 record in 24.0 innings pitched. The Red Storm has been picked as the preseason favorite each season since 2014.
Second-place pick Xavier has won the league tournament three out of the last four years and welcomed a new head coach, in long-time assistant O’Conner. Xavier lost 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year Rylan Bannon but returns plenty of younger talent, including 2017 Championship MOP Connor Grammes, a preseason All-BIG EAST designated hitter selection. Grammes, a sophomore, hit .309 with nine runs, seven RBI in his rookie BIG EAST season. Classmate Chris Givin was honored as the preseason All-BIG EAST shortstop and junior righty Matt Kent earned recognition as a relief pitcher. Kent was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection in 2017, while Givin earned second team distinction. Xavier earned the league’s automatic NCAA qualifier for the second-straight year last year after winning the tournament as the third seed. The Musketeers finished 34-27 overall, 10-6 in league play.
Creighton’s Michael Emodi was the Bluejays’ representative on the preseason squad. Emodi earned All-BIG EAST Second Team recognition last year as Creighton’s catcher. Emodi was a rock behind the plate for the Bluejays last season as he played every inning in BIG EAST action and all but nine throughout the year. He had 11 hits, nine runs, three homers and seven RBI in conference play. The Bluejays, who won the 2017 BIG EAST regular season crown with a 11-4 record, return most of their fielding roster for this season, but will look to fill the void on the mound left by the 2017 MLB draft with some new faces in the form of transfers.
Picked fourth just behind Creighton was Seton Hall, which tied Xavier with three preseason All-BIG EAST honorees. Highlighting the trio was junior lefty starter Cullen Dana, the fourth unanimous selection. Dana was on the BIG EAST Second Team as he went 4-0 in league play with a 1.55 ERA and 31 strikeouts. Joining Dana was fellow starter Shane McCarthy, a senior righty, and senior outfielder Ryan Ramiz. Ramiz was also on the 2017 second team with six stolen bases, second most in BIG EAST play last year. McCarthy was a 2016 first team selection. Seton Hall finished fourth last year with a 10-8 record, 29-24 overall.
In addition to Houston, righty starter Garrett Christman earned a spot on the preseason all-conference team for fifth-pick Butler. Christman boasted a 1.53 ERA in 29.1 innings pitched last year with 28 strikeouts for a 2-1 record. The Bulldogs finished fifth in the 2017 regular season standings with a 7-10 record, improving from a 4-14 record the year prior under then-new head coach David Schrage. Overall, Butler went 31-20.
Georgetown, which finished with a 4-14 BIG EAST record last year, had one player on the all-BIG EAST preseason squad. Ryan Weisenberg, a junior third baseman, came on strong in the second half of the season last year to earn a spot on the 2017 second team. He had 11 RBI with 11 runs scored during league action.
Villanova went 5-13 last season and finished sixth. The Wildcats return two key pitchers and four key fielders to their 2018 roster under second-year head coach Kevin Mulvey.
League play begins the weekend of April 6. The season concludes at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, for the 2018 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep, co-hosted by Xavier and the BIG EAST. The championship will be played on Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27.
Follow all the action for BIG EAST baseball this season with the hashtag #BIGEASTbase.
2018 Preseason Baseball Poll, Awards and All-BIG EAST Team
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. St. John’s – 35 points (5)
2. Xavier – 30 pts. (2)
3. Creighton – 24 pts.
4. Seton Hall – 23 pts.
5. Butler – 18 pts.
6. Georgetown – 11 pts.
7. Villanova – 6 pts.
Preseason Co-Players of the Year – Anthony Brocato, St. John’s, Sr., OF; Tyler Houston, Butler, Sr. OF
Preseason Pitcher of the Year – Sean Mooney, St. John’s, So., SP (RHP) ^
Preseason All-BIG EAST *
Michael Emodi, Creighton, Jr., C
John Valente, St. John’s, RS-Sr., 1B
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, Jr., 2B
Chris Givin, Xavier, So., SS
Ryan Weisenberg, Georgetown, Jr., 3B
Connor Grammes, Xavier, So., DH
Tyler Houston, Butler, Sr., OF ^
Anthony Brocato, St. John’s, Sr., OF ^
Ryan Ramiz, Seton Hall, Sr., OF
Garrett Christman, Butler, Sr., SP (RHP)
Sean Mooney, St. John’s, So., SP (RHP) ^
Cullen Dana, Seton Hall, Jr., SP (LHP) ^
Shane McCarthy, Seton Hall, Sr., SP (RHP)
Joe LaSorsa, St. John’s, So., RP (LHP)
Matt Kent, Xavier, Jr., RP (RHP)
^ – denotes unanimous selection
* – due to a tie in voting, there are two relief pitchers on the preseason All-BIG EAST team
