The final baseball series of the 2025 season will feature Butler hosting St. John's at Bulldog Park. With the conference tournament starting next week, all BIG EAST teams will play Thursday through Saturday to give the top four teams in the standings an extra day of rest for postseason action.
 
Series Schedule
Thursday, May 15 – 3 p.m.
Friday, May 16 – 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 17 – 1 p.m.
All Games Played at Bulldog Park
 
Scouting St. John's
The Red Storm canceled their midweek game against Hofstra and head to Indianapolis with a 27-21 overall record. The Johnnies are a dangerous team that will not beat themselves. They lead the league in fielding percentage and are strong at the plate ranking second in batting average, hits, triples and runs scored. They are also ranked third among their conference peers in doubles, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and stolen bases.
 
Jon LeGrande, Jared Beebe and Jayder Raifstanger are three of the best hitters in the BIG EAST. Beebe leads the league in doubles (21) and is fourth overall in hits (73). LeGrande has the highest average among the trio at .364 and Raifstanger is a .346 hitter with 12 doubles, two triples and three home runs.
 
Last weekend, St. John's started Evan Chaffee, Victor Frederick and Chris Batuyios at Villanova. The Red Storm won that series, going 2-1 against the Wildcats. The Johnnies are currently 11-7 in conference play. They swept Seton Hall and Xavier to start BIG EAST action 6-0. The tables turned over the next two weeks and STJ would be swept by Creighton and UConn before snapping back and winning all three vs. Georgetown.
 
 
Last Year at St. John's
Butler went 1-2 in Queens last year taking the series finale 8-4. Game one was lopsided with the Johnnies winning on their home diamond 7-1. Game two was much more entertaining for the fans, yet STJ won the series with an 8-7 victory. Butler scored four runs in the first inning of that contest and tried to storm back with three more runs in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to earn the win. The Bulldogs did keep the momentum to win the last game with Ben Whiteside on the mound.
 
About Butler
The Bulldogs were swept at UConn over the weekend, moving their overall record to 14-37. AJ Solomon stood out for BU, batting .400 with four hits in 10 at-bats. He also walked five times to post a .600 on-base percentage. Tommy Townsend had a double and a homer to lead the team with three RBIs. Harry Carr matched that effort with three RBIs.
 
Ben Whiteside had the best start for Butler at UConn. He tossed five innings and struck out four. Marcus Goodpaster also threw five full innings in his start.
 
How to Watch Game One
Game one of the St. John's series will stream on FloCollege.com. Greg Rakestraw and Chris Walker will be on the call for the ISC Sports Network production.
 
Chasing History
Jack Moroknek needs to score eight more runs this year to break the Butler single-season record. Eddie Olszta scored 59 during the 1999 campaign and Kyle Smith tied that record in 2019.
 
Moroknek also has a chance at breaking the single-season total bases record. He has 139 with three games remaining. Harrison Freed is the school record holder. He recorded 149 total bases in 2019.
 
Bulldog Bits
- The Bulldogs lead the BIG EAST in sacrifice flies (31) and doubles (97)
- Butler comes in at second in slugging percentage (.452)
- BU ranks third in the BIG EAST in batting average (.282), hits (478), and home runs (56)
- Butler needs to hit seven more home runs to set a new program record
- Jack Moroknek and Jack Bello are both top five in the league in batting average
- Moroknek and Bello each have 16 doubles this year
- Moroknek leads the conference and ranks 28th in the nation in total bases (139)
- Moroknek is second in the BIG EAST in hits (76)
- Moroknek ranks second in home runs (15) and is third in slugging percentage (.675)
- AJ Solomon is fifth in the conference in walks with 37
- Logan Crock hit .462 last week, leading BU with six hits
- Danny Barbero led Butler with four RBIs last week
- Jack Griffiths had a career-high eight strikeouts in his last start
- Ryan Drumm is on a five-game hitting streak
- Moroknek has reached base safely in eight-straight games
- Moroknek has a team-best 26 multi-hit games
- Tommy Townsend has recorded multiples RBIs in 12 games
- David Ayers hit a triple at UConn on Sunday, giving him three on the season
- Bello was limited to just one game at UConn
- Tre Benjamin threw a season-high 98 pitches over 4.2 innings at UConn
- Will Burgess had an RBI single in his only start of the UConn series
- Harry Carr has an RBI in four-straight games
- Alex Kanipe got five outs on the mound at UConn while limiting the Huskies to just one hit
 
Tournament Talk
UConn, Creighton, Xavier, and St. John's are locked into the BIG EAST postseason tournament field. Even if Seton Hall swept Villanova this weekend and St. John's lost all three to Butler the two teams would be deadlocked at 11-10 and the Johnnies would move forward having swept the Pirates during the regular season. UConn and Xavier are done with conference play while Creighton heads to Washington D.C. to end the regular season.
 
Senior Day
Saturday will be Senior Day for Colin Dailey, Christian Finnigan, Marcus Goodpaster, Justin Hornschemeier, Jack Moroknek, Zach Munton, Nate Rosser, AJ Solomon, Cade Vota and Ben Whiteside.
 
Season Highlights
Butler tied a program record by hitting six home runs in a game at Belmont on March 14. The 1998 team hit six homers vs. Morehead State and the 2008 team came up with six vs. Valparaiso. BU also put on a hitting display vs. Norfolk State, ending the game on Feb. 22 with eight doubles. Their highest scoring output this season was a 17-run game at Evansville when the team posted a season-high 15 RBIs. The Bulldogs also recorded 19 hits at Georgetown.
 
BIG EAST Standings
UConn 17-4, 33-19
Creighton 14-4, 35-14
Xavier 14-7, 30-23
St. John's 11-7, 27-21
Seton Hall 8-10, 22-29
Villanova 5-13, 21-26
Georgetown 3-15, 16-37
Butler 3-15, 14-37
 
Around the BIG EAST
Seton Hall at Villanova
St. John's at Butler
Creighton at Georgetown
Xavier at Penn State
Maine at UConn
 
Up Next
The top four teams in the conference standings will play a double elimination tournament at Prasco Park beginning on Wednesday, May 21. A champion will be crowned in Mason, Ohio on Saturday, May 24.