Photo by: Creighton Athletics
Baseball Brings Home BIG EAST Player, Pitcher and Coaching Staff of the Year
5/22/2019 2:00:00 PM | Baseball
Holton Collects BIG EAST Player, Ragan Pitcher of the Year
Mason, Ohio -- After claiming the BIG EAST regular season championship on the final day of conference play last Saturday, the Creighton Baseball team continued to collect accolades as junior Jake Holton, senior Mitch Ragan and the Bluejay Coaching Staff each earned the conference major awards, announced Wednesday, May 22.
Holton is the BIG EAST Player of the Year, Ragan is the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, while Ed Servais and the Creighton staff collected the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. It is Creighton's second BIG EAST Player of the Year award as Reagan Fowler collected the 2014 honor, the Creighton coaching staff also earned the award in 2014.
A potent presence in the lineup throughout the season, Holton set a BIG EAST record by earning five conference Player of the Week honors. Holton leads Creighton with a .409 batting average on the season. He also leads Creighton with 13 home runs and is second for the Bluejays with 52 RBI. Jake raised his play to another level in BIG EAST play, leading the conference with a .463 average in league play. Holton topped the league leader lists in batting (.463), hits (31), on-base percentage (.576), runs (19) and doubles (8) during a 14-4 campaign for the Bluejays. The Los Gatos, Calif., native won the BIG EAST Player of the Week five times over the course of the season. In 46 starts for Creighton, Holton led the BIG EAST in batting (.409), slugging (.739) and on-base percentage (.507). He scored 47 times with 52 RBI.
In his second year with the Bluejays, Ragan developed quickly into the Bluejay ace. He led the team with eight victories (8-2), 86.1 innings, 83 strikeouts and surrendered just 13 walks. Mitch's numbers are even better in BIG EAST play, delivering a 3-1 mark with a 2.34 ERA in 42.1 innings. Ragan recorded 37 strikeouts and walked a mere four hitters! An Omaha native, Ragan limited BIG EAST hitters to a paltry .214 batting average, notching one complete came and one partial shutout.
Servais may have set the tone for the 2019 season being a special one as the Bluejay head coach collected his 700th career win in the season opening win over Arkansas-Little Rock on Feb. 15. In his 16th season at Creighton at Creighton, Servais has a record of 734-400-2 (.647) and a 552-318-1 (.634) with the Bluejays. This is Servais' second BIG EAST Coach of the Year award, he was a four-time coach of the year in the Missouri Valley (2004, 2005, 2007, 2011). He was the 2008 FieldTurf National Coach of the Year and also served as the an assistant coach for USA Baseball during the summer of 2013.
Holton, Ragan and the Bluejay squad open BIG EAST play on Thursday, May 23 in the opening game of the BIG EAST Tournament versus Seton Hall, with first pitch set for 1:30 pm (CT).
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2019 BIG EAST Regular Season Awards and All-Conference Teams
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Player of the Year
Jake Holton, Creighton, Jr., 1B
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Pitcher of the Year
Mitch Ragan, Creighton, Sr., RHP
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Freshman of the Year
Nick Lorusso, Villanova, Fr., RHP/3B
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Coaching Staff of the Year
Creighton, Head Coach Ed Servais
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2019 All-BIG EAST First Team
Connor Schultz, Butler, So., RHP
Mitch Ragan, Creighton, Sr., RHP
Joe LaSorsa, St. John's, Jr., LHP
^ Conor Grammes, Xavier, Jr., RHP/DH
Gavin Hollowell, St. John's, Jr., RHP (RP)
^Jake Holton, Creighton, Jr., 1B
Isaac Collins, Creighton, Jr., 2B
^ Chris Givin, Xavier, Sr., SS
Eddie McCabe, Georgetown, So., 3B
^ Wyatt Mascarella, St. John's, Sr., C
Harrison Freed, Butler, Jr., OF
^ Mike Antico, St. John's, Jr., OF
Tyler Schedler-McAvoy, Seton Hall, Jr., OF
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2019 All-BIG EAST Second Team #
(listed alphabetically by school)
Denson Hull, Creighton, Sr., LHP
Evan Johnson, Creighton, Sr., RHP
Will Robertson, Creighton, Jr., OF
Jared Wegner, Creighton, Fr., DH
Jeremiah Burke, Georgetown, Jr., RHP
Jack Cushing, Georgetown, Sr., RHP
Kyle Ruedisili, Georgetown, Grad., OF
Ryan Weisenberg, Georgetown, Sr., 2B
Ricky DeVito, Seton Hall, Jr., RHP
Matt Toke, Seton Hall, Jr., 1B
Nick Lorusso, Villanova, Fr., RHP/3B
Jack Housinger, Xavier, Fr., 3B
Lane Flamm, Xavier, Fr., RHP (RP)
Natale Monstra, Xavier, Jr., C
Matt Warkentin, Xavier, Sr., 1B
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^ - denotes unanimous first team selection
# - there is a 15-member second team due to a tie in voting
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Holton is the BIG EAST Player of the Year, Ragan is the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, while Ed Servais and the Creighton staff collected the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. It is Creighton's second BIG EAST Player of the Year award as Reagan Fowler collected the 2014 honor, the Creighton coaching staff also earned the award in 2014.
A potent presence in the lineup throughout the season, Holton set a BIG EAST record by earning five conference Player of the Week honors. Holton leads Creighton with a .409 batting average on the season. He also leads Creighton with 13 home runs and is second for the Bluejays with 52 RBI. Jake raised his play to another level in BIG EAST play, leading the conference with a .463 average in league play. Holton topped the league leader lists in batting (.463), hits (31), on-base percentage (.576), runs (19) and doubles (8) during a 14-4 campaign for the Bluejays. The Los Gatos, Calif., native won the BIG EAST Player of the Week five times over the course of the season. In 46 starts for Creighton, Holton led the BIG EAST in batting (.409), slugging (.739) and on-base percentage (.507). He scored 47 times with 52 RBI.
In his second year with the Bluejays, Ragan developed quickly into the Bluejay ace. He led the team with eight victories (8-2), 86.1 innings, 83 strikeouts and surrendered just 13 walks. Mitch's numbers are even better in BIG EAST play, delivering a 3-1 mark with a 2.34 ERA in 42.1 innings. Ragan recorded 37 strikeouts and walked a mere four hitters! An Omaha native, Ragan limited BIG EAST hitters to a paltry .214 batting average, notching one complete came and one partial shutout.
Servais may have set the tone for the 2019 season being a special one as the Bluejay head coach collected his 700th career win in the season opening win over Arkansas-Little Rock on Feb. 15. In his 16th season at Creighton at Creighton, Servais has a record of 734-400-2 (.647) and a 552-318-1 (.634) with the Bluejays. This is Servais' second BIG EAST Coach of the Year award, he was a four-time coach of the year in the Missouri Valley (2004, 2005, 2007, 2011). He was the 2008 FieldTurf National Coach of the Year and also served as the an assistant coach for USA Baseball during the summer of 2013.
Holton, Ragan and the Bluejay squad open BIG EAST play on Thursday, May 23 in the opening game of the BIG EAST Tournament versus Seton Hall, with first pitch set for 1:30 pm (CT).
 BIG EAST Major Awards Since 2014
| Player | Pitcher | Freshman | COY | ||
| 2019 | Jake Holton, Creighton, Jr., 1B | Mitch Ragan, Creighton, Sr., RHP | Nick Lorusso, Villanova, RHP/3B | Creighton - Ed Servais | |
| 2018 | John Valente, St. John's, Grad, 3B | Ricky DeVito, Seton Hall, So., RHP | Allbry Major, Xavier, Fr., OF/RHP | St. John's - Ed Blankmeyer | |
| 2017 | Rylan Bannon, Xavier, Jr., 3B | Sean Mooney, St. John's, Fr., RHP | Sean Mooney, St. John's, Fr., RHP | St. John's - Ed Blankmeyer | |
| 2016 | Andre Jernigan, Xavier, Sr., SS | Thomas Hackimer, St. John's, Sr., RHP (RP) | Josh Shaw, St. John's, Fr., 2B | Xavier - Scott Googins | |
| 2015 | Nick Collins, Georgetown, Jr., C/DH | Ryan McCormick, St. John's, Jr. | Nate Soria, Xavier, Fr., C | St. John's - Ed Blankmeyer | |
| 2014 | Reagan Fowler, Creighton, So., 1B | Josh Prevost, Seton Hall, Sr., RHP | Michael Donadio, St. John's, Fr., OF | Creighton - Ed Servais | |
| D.J. Ruhlman, Seton Hall, Jr., SS | |||||
2019 BIG EAST Regular Season Awards and All-Conference Teams
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Player of the Year
Jake Holton, Creighton, Jr., 1B
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Pitcher of the Year
Mitch Ragan, Creighton, Sr., RHP
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Freshman of the Year
Nick Lorusso, Villanova, Fr., RHP/3B
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Coaching Staff of the Year
Creighton, Head Coach Ed Servais
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2019 All-BIG EAST First Team
Connor Schultz, Butler, So., RHP
Mitch Ragan, Creighton, Sr., RHP
Joe LaSorsa, St. John's, Jr., LHP
^ Conor Grammes, Xavier, Jr., RHP/DH
Gavin Hollowell, St. John's, Jr., RHP (RP)
^Jake Holton, Creighton, Jr., 1B
Isaac Collins, Creighton, Jr., 2B
^ Chris Givin, Xavier, Sr., SS
Eddie McCabe, Georgetown, So., 3B
^ Wyatt Mascarella, St. John's, Sr., C
Harrison Freed, Butler, Jr., OF
^ Mike Antico, St. John's, Jr., OF
Tyler Schedler-McAvoy, Seton Hall, Jr., OF
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2019 All-BIG EAST Second Team #
(listed alphabetically by school)
Denson Hull, Creighton, Sr., LHP
Evan Johnson, Creighton, Sr., RHP
Will Robertson, Creighton, Jr., OF
Jared Wegner, Creighton, Fr., DH
Jeremiah Burke, Georgetown, Jr., RHP
Jack Cushing, Georgetown, Sr., RHP
Kyle Ruedisili, Georgetown, Grad., OF
Ryan Weisenberg, Georgetown, Sr., 2B
Ricky DeVito, Seton Hall, Jr., RHP
Matt Toke, Seton Hall, Jr., 1B
Nick Lorusso, Villanova, Fr., RHP/3B
Jack Housinger, Xavier, Fr., 3B
Lane Flamm, Xavier, Fr., RHP (RP)
Natale Monstra, Xavier, Jr., C
Matt Warkentin, Xavier, Sr., 1B
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^ - denotes unanimous first team selection
# - there is a 15-member second team due to a tie in voting
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Players Mentioned
INF
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INF
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LHP
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RHP
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RHP
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OF
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