On Deck: Creighton vs. St. John’s

Series Schedule

• 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10, 2019
• 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2019 (Military & First Responders’ Night)
• 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 12, 2019
• Location: TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
• Broadcast: Friday (https://gocreighton.com/watch), Saturday (NET), Sunday (Big East Digital Network)

Weekend Forecast

According to the latest forecast on KETV.com it doesn’t appear as if the Jays and Johnnies will have much interference this weekend and should get all three games in as scheduled. Friday calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 63 and a low of 39. On Saturday there is a 30% chance for rain in the evening, but otherwise we’re looking at some sun, some clouds, and a high of 70 degrees. Sunday’s series finale is projected to run into a mostly sunny day with a high of 67 degrees.

Big East Standings

1. Creighton: 9-3 (.750) | remaining conference series: vs. St. John’s, vs. Villanova
2. Xavier: 10-4 (.714) | remaining conference series: at Villanova
3. Seton Hall: 6-6 (.500) | remaining conference series: vs. Georgetown, at St. John’s
4. Georgetown: 5-7 (.417) | remaining conference series: at Seton Hall, vs. Butler
5. St. John’s: 5-7 (.417) | remaining conference series: at Creighton, vs. Seton Hall
6. Butler: 5-9 (.357) | remaining conference series: at Georgetown
7. Villanova: 4-8 (.333) | remaining conference series: vs. Xavier, at Creighton

Note: Georgetown is currently in fourth place over St. John’s because they swept the Red Storm at home in a three-game series on April 26-28. The top four teams in the final standings qualify for the 2019 Big East Tournament. The double-elimination tourney will be held at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio on May 23-26.

St. John’s Scouting Report

Creighton’s pitching has been strong down the stretch (Spomer / WBR)

This weekend’s series will feature a role reversal of sorts as St. John’s comes to Omaha on the outside looking in at the Big East Tournament field, while Creighton currently lays claim to the top spot in the regular season standings. Last season, the Red Storm swept the Bluejays in Queens, N.Y. and ran away with the regular season title and it was Creighton ended up missing out on the Big East Tournament.

In Big East play no team has been worse defensively than St. John’s. Through 12 conference games they have committed a league-worst 16 errors and have turned just two double plays — the fewest of any team in the conference. However, despite losing ace right-hander Sean Mooney to Tommy John surgery last month they do still have an experienced starting staff at their disposal on the mound to nullify those miscues in the field.

St. John’s will roll out a trio of left-handed juniors this weekend in Joe LaSorsa, Jeff Belge, and Nick Mondak. LaSorsa has a .267 batting average against in his career against Creighton. His 1.60 earned run average this season is second among all Big East pitchers behind only Butler’s Connor Schultz. He struck out seven batters over five innings against top-ranked UCLA back on opening weekend. He has not allowed a single earned run in six of his last nine starts. Belge is a boom or bust lefty. His 10.94 strikeouts per nine innings this season shows that he is capable of missing plenty of bats when he’s on the mound. Unfortunately for the Red Storm, he also tends to miss the strike zone more than any pitcher in the Big East as evidenced by his league-high 40 walks in 50.2 innings. Belge has held Creighton hitters to a .222 batting average against in his career, but his wild ways on the bump have resulted in a 6.43 earned run average against the Bluejays. Mondak missed nearly two full seasons with an injury prior to this year. After working along slowly to start the season, he broke out in a big way with a career-high 10 strikeouts over six innings against Iona on April 30. That performance is likely the reason St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer has decided to move Mondak from his normal mid-week spot into the rotation for the crucial series against Creighton.

The Red Storm haven’t had much pop at the plate this season. Their slugging percentage of .376 through 45 games is nearly a full 100 points lower than Creighton’s. However, they do know how to put men on base as their 210 walks and .366 on-base percentage are both good for the third in the Big East this season. None of their typical everyday starters has more than six home runs, but they also don’t have a regular sporting a sub-.350 on-base percentage either, which could match up well with the all the space TD Ameritrade Park provides from foul line to foul line. While they don’t have anyone producing at the level of Creighton’s Will Robertson or Jake Holton, they are particularly dangerous at the very top of the order where junior left fielder Mike Antico has put together an impressive 2019 campaign.

At 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, he has a solid combination of power and speed. His 18 extra-base hits — including five home runs — are the most on the Red Storm roster, and his 17 stolen bases in 20 attempts are the second-most of any Big East player this season. For the year, Antico is third in the conference in batting average (.355), fourth in on-base percentage (.465), fifth in slugging percentage (.566), and he has only grounded into one double play in 152 at-bats.

Creighton’s Resume

Overall Record: 29-10 (Big East: 9-3, Home: 7-4, Road: 21-5, Neutral: 1-1)

RPI

• NCAA.com: 24 (previous week: 20)
• D1Baseball.com: 24 (previous week: 20)
• WarrenNolan.com: 24 (previous week: 20)

NC SOS

• D1Baseball.com: 76
• WarrenNolan.com: 51

Record vs. Quadrant 1 (RPI 1-50): 6-2

Record vs. Quadrant 2 (RPI 51-100): 9-5

Record vs. Quadrant 3 (RPI 101-150): 3-2

Record vs. Quadrant 4 (RPI 151-299): 11-1

Probable Starting Pitchers

Friday

• Creighton: RHP Mitch Ragan – 3.95 era | 8.38 K/9 | 1.48 BB/9
• St. John’s: LHP Joe LaSorsa – 1.60 era | 7.90 K/9 | 3.75 BB/9

Saturday

• Creighton: LHP Denson Hull – 5.15 era | 7.08 K/9 | 4.09 BB/9
• St. John’s: LHP Jeff Belge – 4.62 era | 10.94 K/9 | 7.17 BB/9

Sunday

• Creighton: RHP Evan Johnson – 3.60 era | 7.53 K/9 | 4.58 BB/9
• St. John’s: LHP Nick Mondak – 1.80 era | 9.00 K/9 | 4.95 BB/9

Spomer / WBR

Probable Starting Lineups

Creighton (29-10, 9-3)

1. Isaac Collins, 2B – .298 avg | .360 obp | .483 slg | 4 hr | 24 rbi | 11 sb
2. Will Robertson, RF – .296 avg | .395 obp | .580 slg | 10 hr | 47 rbi | 1 sb
3. Jake Holton, 1B – .405 avg | .503 obp | .716 slg | 10 hr | 39 rbi | 1 sb
4. Parker Upton, LF – .310 avg | .476 obp | .571 slg | 7 hr | 26 rbi | 6 sb
5. Jack Strunc, SS – .261 avg | .313 obp | .376 slg | 1 hr | 21 rbi | 4 sb
6. Jordan Hovey, 3B – .257 avg | .375 obp | .485 slg | 7 hr | 28 rbi | 8 sb
7. Jared Wegner, DH – .293 avg | .357 obp | .384 slg | 1 hr | 15 rbi | 5 sb
8. David Vilches, C – .191 avg | .368 obp | .309 slg | 1 hr | 4 rbi | 1 sb
9. Will Hanafan, CF – .267 avg | .348 obp | .287 slg | 0 hr | 10 rbi | 4 sb

St. John’s (26-19, 5-7)

1. Mike Antico, LF – .355 avg | .465 obp | .566 slg | 5 hr | 25 rbi | 17 sb
2. Carson Bartels, 3B – .269 avg | .355 obp | .320 slg | 0 hr | 26 rbi | 8 sb
3. Wyatt Mascarella, C – .259 avg | .410 obp | .371 slg | 2 hr | 25 rbi | 0 sb
4. Mitchell Henshaw, DH – .281 avg | .354 obp | .383 slg | 3 hr | 24 rbi | 0 sb
5. Ryan Markey, 2B – .283 avg | .365 obp | .399 slg | 1 hr | 28 rbi | 5 sb
6. Sean McGeehan, CF – .275 avg | .374 obp | .464 slg | 6 hr | 20 rbi | 6 sb
7. Brandon Miller, RF – .282 avg | .380 obp | .359 slg | 1 hr | 11 rbi | 5 sb
8. Ryan Hogan, 1B – .273 avg | .354 obp | .392 slg | 2 hr | 23 rbi | 2 sb
9. Brandon Bossard, SS – .204 avg | .358 obp | .343 slg | 3 hr | 14 rbi | 0 sb