2008 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament

The 2008 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Bright House Field in Clearwater, FL. This was the twenty fourth annual Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, and second to be held at Bright House Field. The Louisville Cardinals won their first tournament championship and claimed the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Louisville joined the league prior to the 2006 season.[3]

2008 Big East Conference
Baseball Tournament

Teams	8
Format	Double-elimination tournament
Finals site	Bright House Field Clearwater, Florida
Champions	Louisville (1st title)
Winning coach	Dan McDonnell (1st title)
MVP	Chris Dominguez, Louisville

2008 Big East Conference baseball standings
	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
No. 29 St. John's  ‍†‍‍^y	20	–	7	–	0		.741			41	–	19	–	0		.683
Cincinnati  ‍‍‍	19	–	8	–	0		.704			39	–	20	–	0		.661
Notre Dame  ‍‍‍	16	–	10	–	0		.615			33	–	21	–	1		.609
Louisville  ‍‍‡‍^y	16	–	11	–	0		.593			41	–	21	–	0		.661
Seton Hall  ‍‍‍	15	–	12	–	0		.556			31	–	25	–	0		.554
South Florida  ‍‍‍	14	–	13	–	0		.519			31	–	27	–	0		.534
West Virginia  ‍‍‍	13	–	14	–	0		.481			31	–	27	–	0		.534
Villanova  ‍‍‍	12	–	15	–	0		.444			30	–	28	–	0		.517
Connecticut  ‍‍‍	11	–	16	–	0		.407			27	–	28	–	0		.491
Rutgers  ‍‍‍	11	–	16	–	0		.407			23	–	29	–	1		.443
Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍	7	–	19	–	0		.269			19	–	34	–	0		.358
Georgetown  ‍‍‍	7	–	20	–	0		.259			18	–	32	–	0		.360
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 2008[1][2]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Format and seeding

The Big East baseball tournament was an 8 team double elimination tournament in 2008. The top eight regular season finishers were seeded one through eight based on conference winning percentage only. The field was divided into two brackets, with the winners of each bracket meeting in a single championship game.[3]

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Seed
St. John's	20	7	.741	–	1
Cincinnati	19	8	.704	1	2
Notre Dame	16	10	.615	3.5	3
Louisville	16	11	.593	4	4
Seton Hall	15	12	.556	5	5
South Florida	14	13	.519	6	6
West Virginia	13	14	.481	7	7
Villanova	12	15	.444	8	8
Connecticut	11	16	.407	9	–
Rutgers	11	16	.407	9	–
Pittsburgh	7	19	.269	12.5	–
Georgetown	7	20	.259	13	–

Tournament

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	St. John's	0†
	8	Villanova	12†
						8	Villanova	3†
						4	Louisville	14†
	4	Louisville	12
	5	Seton Hall	3
											4	Louisville	13	—
										8	Villanova	6	—
	1	St. John's	6
	5	Seton Hall	12
						8	Villanova	10
						5	Seton Hall	0
																4	Louisville	6
																2	Cincinnati	3
	2	Cincinnati	11
	7	West Virginia	5
						2	Cincinnati	11†
						6	South Florida	1†
	3	Notre Dame	3
	6	South Florida	9
											2	Cincinnati	13‡	—
										6	South Florida	2‡	—
	7	West Virginia	13
	3	Notre Dame	6
						6	South Florida	12
						7	West Virginia	5

† - Indicates game was suspended after seven innings due to 10 run mercy rule. ‡ - Indicates game was suspended after 8 innings due to 10 run mercy rule.[3]

All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the All-Tournament team.[3]

Position	Player	School
P	Justin Marks	Louisville
P	Bill Hoffman	Villanova
C	Ryan Baker	Cincinnati
IF	Josh Harrison	Cincinnati
IF	Mike Spina	Cincinnati
IF	Justin McClanahan	Louisville
IF	Chris Dominguez	Louisville
OF	Austin Markel	West Virginia
OF	Jamel Scott	Cincinnati
OF	Josh Richmond	Louisville
DH	Stephen Hunt	South Florida

Jack Kaiser Award

Chris Dominguez was the winner of the 2008 Jack Kaiser Award. Dominguez was a sophomore third baseman for Louisville.[3]

References

1. 2012 Big East Baseball Media Guide. Big East Conference. p. 61. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
2. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 2008". boydsworld.com. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
3. 2012 Big East Baseball Media Guide. Big East Conference. pp. 61–66. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2013.