UConn Baseball Weekly: Bring on the playoffs
The Huskies need to win the Big East Tournament to make the NCAAs.
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Big East Tournament preview
After clinching a share of the Big East regular season title for the sixth-straight season on Saturday with an 8-0 win, the Huskies (32-24, 15-6 Big East) enter the Big East tournament as the No. 2 seed, set to face No. 3 seed Xavier in the first round.
Originally scheduled for Wednesday, UConn and Xavier will have to wait until Thursday to play due to rain. It is an advantageous scheduling change for the Huskies, as probable starter Charlie West will have an extra day to rest.
All four teams have their sights set on the same thing: an automatic bid to the big dance.
Here’s a closer look at the competition:
No. 1 seed St. John’s (30-24, 15-6 Big East)
The Johnnies were the only Big East team to take down the Huskies in a weekend series this season, winning the Friday night opener 4-0 on the back of a complete-game gem from Liam O’Leary. The two teams split a doubleheader on Saturday, marking UConn’s first series loss in program history at Elliot Ballpark.
O’Leary has since been named to the All-Big East First Team after posting a 7-4 record with a 3.03 ERA, as have catcher Adam Agresti and OF Jon LeGrande.
The Huskies did a decent job of keeping Agresti in check last time out, holding him to a 3-for-11 weekend with just a single extra-base hit and no RBIs.
The same cannot be said of LeGrande, who went 4-for-13 against the Huskies and mashed a home run and a pair of doubles.
First baseman Shaun McMillan, third baseman Jayder Raifstanger, outfielder Lewis Rodriguez, and reliever Evan Hoeckele all received all-conference second-team recognition.
UConn and St. John’s were nearly identical offensively in the regular season, with matching batting averages (.310), runs scored (153), and total bases (352) during conference play. The Huskies swatted three more home runs, though the Red Storm picked up four more RBIs — a slim margin considering each team played 21 league games.
Where the Huskies edge out the Johnnies is on the mound, as UConn’s 2.58 staff ERA in conference play is notably better than the 4.14 mark that St. John’s posted.
No. 3 Xavier (27-28, 15-6 Big East)
The only team the Huskies are guaranteed to face, the Musketeers struggled immensely in non-conference play (12-22) but won five of their last six Big East games to make a late push for a share of the Big East regular-season title.
The Huskies haven’t played the Musketeers since late March, their first Big East series of the season. UConn took the first two games that weekend before falling 6-1 in the finale, a springboard for their eventual conference success.
The Huskies will likely see Xavier’s usual Friday starter, Ryan Piech, on the mound. His 3.41 ERA was the fourth best in the Big East this season, and he was rewarded with a place on the All-Big East First Team. Piech tossed a quality start in four of the last six outings to end the regular season.
The Huskies have already faced Piech once this season, handing the right-hander a loss on March 27. The offense tagged Piech for three runs, though spotty defense aided UConn’s win.
Offensively, Clay Burdette led the charge for the Musketeers, coming in second in the Big East in home runs (17) and leading the conference in OPS (1.180). The outfielder was also selected to the Big East First Team, along with third baseman Luke Hammond and reliever Garrett Helsel.
Starter Ashton Chronister made the second team.
One name not on either team — or in the lineup at all for Xavier — was Big East Preseason Player of the Year, Connor Misch. Misch has missed the entire season to injury.
No. 4 Creighton (29-24, 13-8 Big East)
The Bluejays held a share of first place for much of the season but faded down the stretch, going 3-6 across their final three weekends of conference play, losing all three series.
UConn aided their demise back in early April, taking the final two games in a series win by a combined 11 runs. In fact, the Bluejays have lost every series they have played this year against Big East tournament teams. In their penultimate weekend of conference play, Butler went to their home field and took two out of three from them, with Creighton held to four runs or fewer in both losses.
A year removed from an NCAA tournament berth, it just has not been the season Creighton would have hoped it would follow up with. If there were any noise coming from the bottom of the conference, the Bluejays might not even be in Ohio this week at all.
Among Big East tournament teams, Creighton is last in average, total hits, and slugging percentage. Despite a conference-high 93 walks, they also fall to the bottom of the group in on-base percentage, having posted a .385 clip in conference play. ]
Creighton named four on all-conference teams. DH Nate McHugh, SS Ben North, and OF Isaac Wachsmann made the first team, while C Connor Capece rounded out the second team.
UConn sweeps end-of-year awards
The Huskies took all major player-related Big East awards, including Player of the Year (Jackson Marshall), Pitcher of the Year (Cayden Suchy), and Freshman of the Year (Cam Righi). Coaching Staff of the Year went to St. John’s.
Marshall was the conference’s most well-rounded batter, coming in second in the conference in OPS at 1.156 and fourth in home runs at 14, leading the Big East in on-base percentage at .483 and hits with 83. The 6-foot-8 slugger also led in doubles and RBIs and finished in the top five in games, at-bats, runs, slugging percentage, and walks.
The best player in the Big East is a Husky for the second-straight year after Ryan Daniels won the award last year.
As dominant as Marshall was at the plate, Suchy was equally impressive on the mound. Leading all Big East pitchers in ERA at 2.61, the left-hander finished in the top 20 in the NCAA in strikeouts with 104, second in the Big East only to Charlie West.
A year after his freshman season was wiped out due to an arm injury, the sophomore made all 14 of his starts, going 5-2 and pitching the second-most innings in the Big East. Suchy becomes the first UConn pitcher to win the award since Ian Cooke in 2024.
Righi burst onto the scene for the Huskies, smacking a pinch-hit home run in his first collegiate at bat and never letting up from there, finishing tied for eighth in the conference with 10. The utilityman’s 1.021 OPS was the highest among freshmen in the conference and fourth overall.
Along with Marshall and Suchy, West and Peyton Jemison were voted to the All-Big East First Team.
If Suchy was a lock for Pitcher of the Year, West was about as close as it gets to a lock to make the first team, as the inning-eating lefty threw the third most innings in the conference and led the Big East in strikeouts with 106.
The Huskies’ Friday starter, West will likely get the nod in game one against Xavier on Thursday after throwing 6.2 scoreless innings against the Musketeers back in March.
Jemison is a bit of a surprising addition to the first team, as it took him a while to crack the starting lineup. Though he started just 26 of the Huskies’ 56 games, 46%, the redshirt sophomore’s rate numbers are in line with what you would expect out of a top second baseman.
After replacing Evan Menzel in the lineup for parts of April and much of May, Jemison improved his batting average from .229 on April 1 to .270 by the end of the Villanova series, reaching .300 at one point early in May.
In 54 at-bats from the start of April on, the Mercy transfer picked up 16 hits (.296) and drove in 11 runs (17 on the season).
The Huskies also saw three more players in Anthony Belisario, Rob Rispoli, and Nater Wachter find a spot on the All-Big East Second Team.
Belisario spent much of the first half of the season as a late-inning defensive replacement in center field, but seemed to find his groove in the St. John’s double header. After entering 13-straight games on defense and taking just one at bat, Belisario made his first two starts in over a month on April 18 and picked up five hits and three RBIs across the pair of contests.
While he came into that day batting .111, the sophomore finished the regular season batting .302 in 86 at-bats.
Rispoli got off to a slow start to the season after being named to the preseason all-conference first team and was eventually dropped to the bottom of the order despite decent on-base numbers. The former lead-off hitter responded well to the change, finishing the year tied for second on the team in OBP with Belisario at .419.
Wachter was the definition of durable in 2026, being the only Husky to start all 56 games, leading the conference in the statistic. Though he bounced around the lineup and outfield, the Southern New Hampshire transfer finished his first regular season at the Division I level with an .836 OPS.
Bracketology
We are single-digit days away from finding out who will be crowned the Big East champion. The conference tournament field has been known for some time, and the league is only expected to get one bid from its champion. This will be our final Bracketology of the season, with the selection show set for Monday.
D1Baseball
St. John’s represents the Big East for a fourth consecutive week, and as has become customary, they’ve moved regionals again. The Red Storm move from one SEC host site to another, leaving Alabama’s regional to join Mississippi State in Starkville, accompanied by Michigan and Coastal Carolina.
Baseball America
UConn has brought some continuity to Baseball America’s projection, the forecasted Big East winner for a second straight week. The Huskies move from Georgia Tech’s regional site to Athens, joining host Georgia, Arizona State, and UTSA.
RPI Update
Xavier: No. 68 (down from 64)
UConn: No. 88 (down from 83)
Creighton: No. 97 (no change)
St. John’s: No. 115 (down from 107)
Butler: No. 231 (up from 237)
Villanova: No. 233 (up from 242)
Georgetown: No. 257 (down from 253)
Seton Hall: No. 277 (up from 282)
All four Big East tournament teams drop or stay the same. Safe to say the Big East will not be a two-bid league this season.
On Deck
Below, you can find the Big East tournament schedule. All games will be played at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, with the tournament being co-sponsored by Xavier, and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
Wednesday, the tournament’s scheduled start date, has thrown a small wrench in the tournament’s kickoff. UConn and Xavier’s game was swiftly moved to Thursday, while St. John’s and Xavier have been burdened with multiple reschedules of their matchup. The Big East schedule online has not yet kept up with the delays.
Wednesday
Thursday, May 21 (Changes TBD)
Game 1: No. 1 St. John’s vs. No. 4 Creighton |12 p.m.
Game 2: No 2. Seed UConn vs. No. 3 seed Xavier | 4 p.m.
Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 |
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | (Semifinal)
Friday, May 22
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 |4 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Saturday, May 23
Game 6 (if necessary) : Winner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 5 | 1 p.m. (Championship)
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