Xavier and St. John’s share the top spot in the Big East preseason poll, in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.
The Musketeers are defending regular season and tournament champions. XU received four first-place voted and 32 total points. The Red Storm had the remaining three first-place votes and also 32 points.
Creighton was third with 25 points, one ahead of Seton Hall, followed by Georgetown, Villanova and Butler.
The 2017 season begins on Feb. 17 and conference play starts on April 7. The 2017 Big East Championship will be held May 25-28 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, the home of Creighton and the College World Series.
2017 Preseason Baseball All-Big East Team and Awards
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.
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
^ – denotes unanimous selection
* – due to ties in voting there are four outfielders and five starting pitchers on the 2017 Preseason All-Big East team