Courtesy of GoXavier.com
NEW YORK – After a pair of heroic walk-off hits, Xavier baseball’s Joe Gellenbeck was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday – marking a second straight week an XU player has earned the award.
Xavier came back in dramatic fashion on both Saturday and Sunday, overcoming a five-run deficit in game two and a four-run deficit in game three to claim a big series win. As a result, the Musketeers are tied for first-place in the BIG EAST standings with three league games to play.
With the series win, Xavier has now won 10 of its last 11 games – including four straight series wins in BIG EAST play. XU also became the first team to beat Creighton in a BIG EAST series since the Bluejays joined the conference for the 2014 season.
Gellenbeck, a Lebanon, Ohio native and St. Xavier grad, provided back-to-back walk-off victories for the Musketeers on Saturday and Sunday, helping the team clinch a series win against first-place Creighton and a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament. The junior first baseman led the team with a .500 batting average (6-for-12) and nine total bases in the series, tying for the team lead with three runs, a homer and five RBI. Gellenbeck also walked twice to post a .571 on-base percentage and picked up a stolen base in the series.
Gellenbeck had at least one hit in all three games for XU, going 3-for-5 with a towering homer to right field to win Sunday’s game in dramatic fashion. The homer was his 10th of the season and first in league play this season. He was also 2-for-4 in Saturday’s game two win, singling through the left side to score the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.
Sophomore Rylan Bannon was also named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after a productive series in the leadoff slot. The third baseman tied for a team high with a .500 batting average (4-for-8), scoring three runs and a homering in the series. Bannon also led Xavier with five walks to post an incredible .714 on-base percentage for the weekend.
The Joliet, Ill. native hit his fourth homer of the season on Sunday to bring XU back to within two runs in the eighth inning. Bannon also had at least one hit and one run scored in all three games of the series and was an on-base machine for Xavier. He walked twice on Saturday and got hit by a pitch, following that up with a season-high three walks on Sunday.
The Musketeers return to action on Tuesday night at Miami (OH), closing out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 6 p.m. first pitch.
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