St. John's baseball puts eight on all-Big East teams; will play in conference tournament this week

St. John's may not have won the Big East's outright regular season title in baseball, but the Big East's head coaches certainly thought highly of the talent on the squad.

Ed Blankmeyer's baseball squad now features the Big East's Freshman of the Year (Michael Donadio) and eight all-Big East picks.

Big East Baseball First Team - St. John's players

Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Fr., OF 53 games/ 51 starts/ .339 average/ team-leading .503 slugging %/ team-leading 49 runs
James Lomangino, St. John’s, R-Sr., SP 14 starts/ 3.86 ERA in 84 innings pitched/ 78 strikeouts
Joe Kuzia, St. John’s, Jr., RP 27 appearances/ 0.75 ERA/ 13 saves

Big East Baseball Second Team - St. John's players

Bret Dennis, St. John’s, Jr., SS 42 games/ 29 starts/ .361 average
Robbie Knightes, St. John’s, Fr., 3B 44 games/ 38 starts/ team-leading .397 average
Zach Lauricella, St. John’s, Jr., OF 53 games/ 53 starts/ .300 average/ 14 doubles
Alex Caruso, St. John’s, So., OF 50 games/ 49 starts/ .333 average/ 34 walks
Ryan McCormick, St. John’s, So., SP 12 starts 7-1 record/ 3.90 ERA in 67 innings pitched

The base-stealing Robert Wayman is NOT on the list. He bat .280, had 34 walks (tyring Caruso) stole 10 bases, and enjoyed some hot streaks.

St. John's men's baseball has qualified for the Big East Tournament, finishing in second place behind the Creighton Bluejays. The Johnnies have a 13-5 record in conference, and a 35-18 record overall, recovering from a rough start in their first month, mostly on the road.

Creighton, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Xavier play in the Big East Tournament as the league's top four seeds starting Thursday at Brooklyn’s MCU Park.

The top-seeded Bluejays, will open the tournament with Thursday’s 4 p.m. start against fourth-seeded Xavier. No. 2 St. John’s and third seed Seton Hall will play in the nightcap at 7 p.m. Thursday’s losers will battle in an elimination game Friday at 4 p.m., while Thursday’s winners will meet Friday at 7 p.m., with the victor advancing to Sunday’s championship game. On Saturday, the winner of Friday’s first game will take on the loser of Friday’s nightcap in a 3 p.m. start, with the winner also advancing to Sunday.

The first five games of the Big East Tournament will stream live and for free on bigeast.com, with Linacre Media producing the broadcast. Sunday’s championship tilt at 1 p.m. will air nationally on FOX Sports 1. The winner earns the Big East’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

2014 All-Big East Baseball Team and Major Awards

Co-Players of the Year – Reagan Fowler, Creighton, So., 1B; D.J. Ruhlman, Seton Hall, Jr., SS
Pitcher of the Year – Josh Prevost, Seton Hall, Sr., RHP
Rookie of the Year – Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Fr., OF
Coach of the Year – Ed Servais, Creighton

All- Big East First Team

Daniel Rizzie, Xavier, So., C
Reagan Fowler, Creighton, So., 1B
Jake Peter, Creighton, Jr., 2B
D.J. Ruhlman, Seton Hall, Jr., SS
Kyle Grimm, Seton Hall, Jr., 3B
Nick Collins, Georgetown, So., DH
Mike Gerber, Creighton, Sr., OF
Michael Donadio, St. John’s, Fr., OF
Derek Jenkins, Seton Hall, So., OF
Matt Warren, Creighton, So., SP
James Lomangino, St. John’s, R-Sr., SP
Josh Prevost, Seton Hall, Sr., SP
Vinny Nittoli, Xavier, R-Sr., SP
Joe Kuzia, St. John’s, Jr., RP

All- Big East Second Team

Nick Collins, Georgetown, So., C
Dillon Hamlin, Seton Hall, Sr., C
Sal Annunziata, Seton Hall, Jr., 1B
Todd Czinege, Villanova, Fr., 2B
Bret Dennis, St. John’s, Jr., SS
Robbie Knightes, St. John’s, Fr., 3B
Derek Hasenbeck, Xavier, Jr., DH
Zach Lauricella, St. John’s, Jr., OF
Alex Caruso, St. John’s, So., OF
Brian Bruening, Xavier, R-Jr., OF
Gunner Johnson, Butler, Sr., SP
Ryan McCormick, St. John’s, So., SP
Luke Cahill, Seton Hall, So., SP
Scott Klever, Xavier, Sr., SP
Bryan Sova, Creighton, Sr., RP
Matt Meurer, Villanova, Sr., RP