Baseball Gets Underway at Arizona State this Weekend

02.18.16 | Baseball

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – 2016 brings a fresh start for the Xavier baseball program, which looks to rebound from a frustrating season a year ago with a solid mix of youth and veteran talent. The Musketeers are set to get underway this weekend at Arizona State. First pitch is scheduled for Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.

THE WEEKEND

Date/Time	Follow Live	Projected Starters
Friday, Feb. 18 – 8:30 p.m.	Stats/Watch/@XavierBASE	LHP Zac Lowther vs. RHP Hever Bueno
Saturday, Feb. 19 – 3:00 p.m.	Stats/Watch/@XavierBASE	LHP Greg Jacknewitz vs. Seth Martinez
Saturday, Feb. 19 – 3:00 p.m.	Stats/Watch/@XavierBASE	RHP Brandon Johnson vs. TBD
Sunday, Feb. 20 – 2:00 p.m.	Stats/Watch/@XavierBASE	LHP Trent Astle vs. TBD

AROUND THE HORN

• Just one year removed from a BIG EAST Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Xavier will be looking to rebound after a frustrating 15-38 (3-15 BIG EAST) season in 2015.
• Head coach Scott Googins begins his 11th season in 2016 with 19 returners, including All-BIG EAST pitcher Trent Astle and BIG EAST Rookie of the Year Nate Soria. Seniors Dan Rizzie and Andre Jernigan were also selected preseason All-BIG EAST.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

• Xavier has three seniors on the 2016 roster after graduating 14 from its 2015 squad.
• The Musketeers lost 15 letterwinners overall and have 13 newcomers on the 2016 roster.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Name (Class)	Position	Notes
Matt Fallon (Jr.)	Center Field	Transfer from Black Hawk College... first season with XU.
Nate Soria (So.)	Designated Hitter	Led 2015 team in BA (.335), 2B (11) and OBP (.420).
Daniel Rizzie (Sr.)	Catcher	2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury.
Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.)	Right Field	Appeared in 24 games... collected seven RBI.
Ethan Schmidt (Jr.)	First Base	Appeared in 29 games... fourth on team with three homers.
David Morton (Sr.)	Second Base	Sixth on team with 41 hits... made just three errors in 39 starts at second base.
Andre Jernigan (Sr.)	Shortstop	2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... made 52 starts in 2015, led team with 16 steals.
Rylan Bannon (So.)	Third Base	Started 48 games at third as a freshman... second on team with 17 walks.
Will LaRue (So.)	Left Field	Appeared in 33 games... scored 20 runs and recorded seven steals.

PROJECTED ROTATION

Name (Class)	Throws	Notes
Zac Lowther (So.)	LHP	Made 17 appearances (five starts)... limited opponents to a .247 batting average.
Greg Jacknewitz (Jr.)	LHP	Sixth in NCAA with 5.37 hits allowed per game... team-high 20 appearances.
Trent Astle (Jr.)	LHP	2015 All-BIG EAST Second Team... led XU in innings pitched (79), strikeouts (55).

BULLPEN

Name (Class)	Throws	Notes
Garrett Schilling (So.)	RHP	Made seven appearances... struck out eight in 7.1 innings.
Brandon Johnson (So.)	RHP	Made eight appearances... picked up first career save against Georgetown.
Brad Kirschner (Jr.)	LHP	Made 10 starts in 2015... second on team with 61.1 innings pitched.
Trey Schramm (Fr.)	RHP	Making XU debut in 2016.
Damien Richard (So.)	RHP	Made six appearances in 2015... threw 4.1 innings.
Taylor Williams (Fr.)	RHP	Making XU debut in 2016.
Jason Hall (Jr.)	RHP	Made 10 appearances as a freshman in 2014... redshirted in 2015.
Noah Malone (Fr.)	RHP	Making XU debut in 2016.
Matt Kent (Fr.)	RHP	Making XU debut in 2016.
Sam Czabala (Fr.)	LHP	Making XU debut in 2016.
Christian Glass (So.)	RHP	Redshirted in 2015... Making XU debut in 2016
Mitchel Makarewicz (Fr.)	RHP	Making XU debut in 2016.

YOUTH MOVEMENT IN 'PEN

• Outside of junior Brad Kirschner, who enters the year with 99.1 career innings pitched, the options for Xavier in the bullpen have a combined 31 appearances and 32.2 innings pitched.

• The bullpen options consist of 12 pitchers, but no seniors. Two juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen make up the 'pen.
• Seven arms – Schramm, Williams, Malone, Kent, Czabala, Glass and Makarewicz – will potentially make career debuts in 2016.

BIG EAST PROGNOSTICATIONS

• Xavier was picked fourth in the BIG EAST preseason coaches' poll, coming in just behind Seton Hall, Creighton and St. John's.
• It's the third straight season the Musketeers have been selected to finish fourth in the poll.

TWO NAMED ALL-BIG EAST

• Seniors Dan Rizzie and Andre Jernigan were both tabbed preseason All-BIG EAST in a vote by the league's coaches.
• Rizzie earned the honor for a second straight season and is back to full health after missing a majority of the 2015 season with a hand injury.
• Rizzie, a 2014 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, is one of the top returning catchers in the conference. After missing most of last season with a hand injury, Rizzie will look to get back to the production level he showed in 2014 when he hit .307 to go with five home runs, 41 runs scored and 38 RBI.
• Jernigan earned preseason honors for the first time and has racked up 110 starts for Xavier at shortstop in the past two seasons. A career .251 hitter, Jernigan brings a combination of speed and power to the shortstop position. In 2015, he led the Musketeers with 210 at-bats and 16 stolen bases, while ranking second on the team with 10 doubles and adding 13 multi-hit games.

RETURN OF RIZZIE

• Xavier returns one of the best catchers in the BIG EAST in Dan Rizzie for the 2016 season.
• As a junior, Rizzie appeared in just 14 games for Xavier in 2015, batting .275 in 51 plate appearances.
• Rizzie was All-BIG EAST First Team as a sophomore in 2014, starting 56 games and hitting .307 with five home runs and 38 RBI.

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM

• Senior Andre Jernigan has reached base the hard way at a prolific clip, getting hit by a pitch 11 times in each of the last two seasons. Both seasons are tied for eighth all-time in the XU record book.
• His career total of 22 is tied for seventh, trailing all-time leader Mark Elwell (41 HBP, 2009-13) by 19.
• Sophomore Nate Soria reached via HBP 12 times as a freshman, a mark that was tied for fifth in a single season by a Musketeer.

GOOGINS CLOSING IN ON XU MARK

• Head coach Scott Googins, now in his 11th year at Xavier, is just 12 wins from tying former coach John Morrey for most wins in school history.
• Googins has 275 wins in his first 10 seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).

THE CENTURY MARK

• The Musketeers second win of 2016 will give the program 1,000 wins all-time.
• Xavier enters the season with a 998-1,170 record in the modern era (since 1973).

ROAD WARRIORS

• The Musketeers play their first 14 games on the road before welcoming local rival Miami (OH) to Hayden Field for the 2016 home opener on Wednesday, March 16 at 3:00 p.m.
• Xavier travels to eight states total as part of its 2016 regular season schedule, including Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey. The Musketeers also play in Washington, D.C.

FAMILIAR & UNFAMILIAR FACES

• In the non-conference season, Xavier will face off with eight teams it played a season ago, including Wright State, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Cincinnati, Kentucky, Ball State, Northern Kentucky and Indiana.
• Xavier faces Arizona State for the first time in program history this season.
• Xavier continues its longstanding rivalry with Cincinnati in 2016, facing the Bearcats at least three times – not including potential games in the Joe Nuxhall Classic.
• The two programs have met 140 times throughout their history with UC holding a 90-49-1 edge in the series. XU has won five of the last eight in the series.
• In-state rivals Dayton and Ohio are both missing from the schedule for the first time since 2006.

2016 OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

• Xavier's 22 opponents posted a combined record of 672-565 (.543), which averages out to 30.5 wins per team.
• 15 of Xavier's 22 opponents had records of .500 or better last season.
• Xavier faces eight NCAA Tournament teams from 2015, including five in its first six series of the non-conference season.
• During its first six series, Xavier faces off against five NCAA Tournament teams.
• The combined 2015 record for XU's first six opponents is 226-140 (.618).
• Eight teams made trips to the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including Arizona State, Mercer, Wright State, Louisville, Morehead State, Indiana, Vanderbilt and St. John's.
• Xavier faces four teams that won at least 41 games in 2015, including Wright State (43), Vanderbilt (51), Louisville (47) and St. John's (41).
• In addition, eight more teams on the schedule posted 30-win seasons in 2015.
• The 2014 NCAA Champions, Vanderbilt advanced to the College World Series again last season before losing to Virginia in the best-of-three series. The Commodores have won at least 51 games in each of the last three seasons.

2016 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

• The 2016 BIG EAST Tournament will be held in Aberdeen, Md. at Ripken Stadium – home of the Baltimore Orioles Single-A affiliate Aberdeen IronBirds.
• It will be the third different venue in the last three years for the conference tournament after stops in Brooklyn, N.Y. (2014) and Omaha, Neb. (2015).

XAVIER BASEBALL VS. CANCER

• Xavier baseball has teamed up with the Vs. Cancer Foundation this spring to raise money to fight cancer nationally, as well as here in Cincinnati.
• The team will be collecting donations from now until April 10 when 31 members of the program have pledged to shave their heads in support of the cause. The head-shaving will occur following Xavier's home game against Morehead State.