The Big East conference isn’t known for its baseball prowess. However, the conference saw numerous players go pro after 2024, and other power conferences poach their talent. The St. John’s Red Storm came out on top last season but it will be tough for the Johnnies to do so again in 2025. Here’s our 2025 Big East college baseball preview.
Butler
We’ll start with the Butler Bulldogs, a team that had one of the better offenses in all of college baseball in 2024. Butler finished roughly in the middle of the pack in SLG (.441) and 115th in total hits (548). However, their pitching staff was one of the NCAA’s worst in 2024, with a 9.50 team ERA that ranked seventh-worst in the nation.
Butler lost arguably their two best bats — a theme that will be familiar throughout this preview — this summer. Junior infielder Carter Dorighi‘s short, quick swing netted ranked him among the nation’s best hitters last year, with a .370 average. And after a strong summer in the MLB Draft League, Dorighi passed on his senior year to sign with Seattle. Kade Lewis, who hit .377 as a freshman, transferred to Wake Forest.
The team retained team home run leader Jack Moroknek for 2025. Butler also picked up some newcomers, including Air Force transfer Jack Bello.
Creighton
The Creighton Bluejays got off to a torrid start in the 2024 campaign, winning their first six and 17 of their first 20. However, a poor set in conference action — a 7-13 record — took Creighton from NCAA tourney hopeful to a team that didn’t even make the conference’s playoffs.
It’s a big year for Creighton, as 2025 will be the final one for head coach Ed Servais. The Bluejays have already named former South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston, who will serve as associate this season, as the head coach-in-waiting. But for Servais’ final year, Creighton will have many regulars from 2024 back.
Grad student Dominic Cancellieri and sophomore Eli Nissen are among notable pitchers back. Nissen struck out 40 as a freshman. Offensively, Nolan Sailors, who hit .355 last year, will be re-joined by Ben North, Matt Scherrman, and Tate Gillen.
Georgetown
The Big East school that took the biggest step forward last season was Georgetown. The Hoyas lost Jake Bloss to the pros after 2023 but had arguably the best rotation in the conference last year. Everett Catlett, Andrew Williams, and Cody Bowker all had sub-4.00 ERA figures for Georgetown last season.
Unfortunately for the Hoyas, the 2024 Big East runner-ups retained just one of the three. Catlett was picked by the Rockies last July, while Bowker transferred to Vanderbilt for 2025. Williams, however, remains.
Georgetown’s offense was strong, yet on the experienced side. Power-hitting Christian Ficca ended his college career on a bang, with a 1.015 OPS for Georgetown last season. The Hoyas will need to rely heavily on catcher Owen Carpellotti, who led the team in home runs last season.
Seton Hall
Seton Hall was on the outside looking in last season, finishing with a 24-30 overall record and a 7-14 conference record. The Pirates actually did better out-of-conference, with series victories over Georgia State and FIU. Seton hall will look for similar success outside the Big East, starting in Arizona during the MLB Desert Invitational.
Perhaps the most interesting 2025 MLB Draft pitching prospect from the Big East is Ryan Reich, who led the conference in strikeouts last year. Reich struck out 89 over 70 frames for the Pirates as a sophomore.
Seton Hall’s offense includes Aiden Robbins, who hit .303 with a .880 OPS as a freshman.
St. John’s
The St. John’s Red Storm’s 2024 season was their best in six years, winning the Big East title and pushing Mississippi State to the limit in the NCAA Regionals. It was a culmination of a years-long effort by head coach Mike Hampton to rebuild the program. However, the Johnnies will look significantly different heading into 2025.
St. John’s best hitter from 2024, Jimmy Keenan, transferred to Wake Forest. Weekend starter Mario Pesca, who posted a 2.96 ERA, is now with Oklahoma State. The Johnnies also saw Xavier Kolhosser, a tall righty who came back strong from an elbow injury early in his college career and looked great late in the season, get drafted by the Twins.
Still, the Johnnies should remain competitive. St. John’s took a hit in the summer when arguably their best recruit, Tyler Renz, took $852.5K to join the Brewers. However, the Johnnies retained intriguing righty Kyle Chase, plus power hitter Adam Agresti. Agresti, hurt most of 2024, posted a .919 OPS as a freshman last year.
UConn
Despite not winning the Big East conference last season, the UConn Huskies went 17-4 in Big East regular-season and had wins against power schools Kansas State, Auburn, UC Irvine, and UCLA. UConn got into the tourney and got hot, beating Oklahoma in the Norman Regional and gave Florida State a tough time in the Supers.
Heading into 2025, UConn enters as a heavy favorite to re-take the conference. Despite losing Korey Morton after four years, the Huskies have preseason player of the year favorite, Maddix Dalena. Dalena cracked 13 home runs as a sophomore with UConn. The school also snared top Connecticut high school prospect, catcher Gabriel Tirado.
On the mound, UConn returned Ian Cooke, one of the best pitchers in the conference last season. Cooke isn’t a hard-thrower but is effective. Last season, Cooke struck out 85 over 67.1 IP and was leaned on heavily during the postseason.
Villanova
It was a tough 2024 for Villanova, as the Wildcats had just one hitter bat .300 or better and struggled badly both in and out of the conference. Villanova finished 2024 with an 18-33 record and 8-13 during Big East action.
‘Nova will have a very difficult start to 2025, facing Rice, Virginia, and Michigan in Puerto Rico. Kevin Mulvey‘s team will do so with a roster that includes 13 freshman, plus one redshirt freshman.
Xavier
Xavier usually plays a tough non-conference schedule on a yearly basis. That was indeed the case in 2024, and the Musketeers did fine overall, winning games against LSU and Louisville. However, Xavier didn’t have enough in the Big East tourney, losing two straight after topping UConn in their opener.
The school returned two of their regular starting pitchers from 2024, Logan Schmidt and Luke Hoskins. Xavier will also see is Isaac Wachsmann can build off a strong 2024 campaign. As a sophomore, Wachsmann only played 28 games but hit .330 and hit 10 home runs.
Xavier has generally been one of the stronger Big East schools over the last decade, thanks to their recruiting ability. The Musketeers had a good recruiting class in 2025, landing pitcher Jack Detienne (#125 in Class of 2024 per Perfect Game).
Make sure to check out our season previews for the CAA and SEC.