Top-Seeded St. John’s Opens BIG EAST Tournament with 4-2 Win Over Creighton

Thursday, May 21

Mason, Ohio (Prasco Park)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

31-24

Creighton

29-25

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Creighton	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	7	0
St. John's	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	X	4	9	0

Liam O'Leary guides top-seeded St. John's past Creighton

Photo by: D'Andra Seymore / BIG EAST

Top-Seeded St. John’s Opens BIG EAST Tournament with 4-2 Win Over Creighton

5/21/2026 3:43:00 PM | Baseball

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Red Storm to play winner of UConn and Xavier in the winners bracket tomorrow

MASON, Ohio – The St. John's baseball team opened the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament, presented by Jeep, with a 4-2 win over fourth-seeded Creighton on Thursday afternoon at Prasco Park.

St. John's, which has won its opening game four times in its last five BIG EAST Tournament appearances, has advanced to the winners bracket and will face the winner of this afternoon's game between UConn and Xavier.

After falling in behind in the top of the third, the Red Storm (31-24, 15-6 BIG EAST) broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run double from Dylan Fitzsimmons to take the lead.

Unanimous First Team All-BIG EAST selection Liam O'Leary tossed 8.0 stellar innings of two-run ball and punching out six Bluejays on a season-high 137 pitches. This was the fifth time in his 15 starts that O'Leary threw 8.0 or more innings. Victor Frederick struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning to record his fifth save of the season.

With today's eight innings of work, O'Leary is one of just five pitchers in St. John's history and the first since Sean Mooney in 2017 to throw 100 innings in a single season.

St. John's was led offensively by Fitzsimmons and Jayder Raifstanger who each collected a pair of hits. Five other Johnnies notched a hit. Fitzsimmons had two RBIs while Raifstanger and Cristian Bernardini collected an RBI each. Jon LeGrande scored two runs and stole a base.

Creighton (29-25, 13-8 BIG EAST) opened the scoring in the top of the third inning to make it 1-0.

After leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the third and fourth inning, St. John's broke through in the bottom of the fifth. LeGrande singled to start the inning and stole second before Raifstanger walked. Shaun McMillan singled to load the bases. Fitzsimmons laced a double to right center to score LeGrande and Raifstanger and put the Johnnies ahead for good. After Ayden Frey got plunked, Bernardini worked a walk to score McMillan and make it 3-1.

The Red Storm added another run in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead. After LeGrande worked a walk, Raifstanger sent a ball to left field past a diving Creighton outfielder to score the speedy LeGrande from first to make it 4-1.

The Bluejays scored a run in the top of the eighth to cut into the lead, but O'Leary closed the door to halt the Creighton momentum and keep the score at 4-2.

In the top of the ninth, Creighton sent the tying run to plate before Frederick responded with a pair of strike outs to seal the deal for the Red Storm.

St. John's will play in the winners bracket against the winner of the UConn and Xavier game. First pitch for tomorrow's contest will be announced later today.