Xavier University Athletics
Tuesday, March 22
Columbus, Ohio
5:05 P.M.
Xavier University
at
Ohio State
Baseball Travels to Ohio State for Midweek Tilt
03.21.16 | Baseball
Musketeers are riding a four-game winning streak after sweep of Central Michigan
CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball travels to Columbus on Tuesday for a midweek matchup against Ohio State at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.
Â
Â
Â
• Just one year removed from a BIG EAST Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Xavier is looking to rebound after a frustrating 15-38 (3-15 BIG EAST) season in 2015.
• The Musketeers are off to a 7-12 start, playing all 15 of their first 19 games on the road. The competition has been stiff early, as five of XU's first seven weekend opponents were 2015 NCAA Tournament teams.
• Head coach Scott Googins is in 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.
• It's been feast or famine so far this season for XU. The Musketeers opened the year with seven straight losses before ripping off a weekend sweep at USC Upstate. Xavier then dropped four straight – three of those coming against No. 2 Vanderbilt – before rebounding with a 12-4 win at home against Miami (OH) on Wednesday and a weekend sweep of Central Michigan.
• Xavier's bats have woken up lately, as the Musketeers have scored 70 of their 80 runs in their last 13 games, including a combined 37 runs in sweeps of CMU and USC Upstate.
Â
• Ohio State enters the game at 11-6-1 overall and coming off a weekend sweep of Hofstra. The Buckeyes are riding a four-game win streak overall.
• OSU is hitting .262 as a team led by Nick Sergakis' .419 batting average. The Buckeyes boast four players with .300+ batting averages, including Sergakis, Brady Cherry (.326, 3 HR), Jacob Bosiokovic (.325, 5 HR, 12 R) and Ronnie Dawson (.320, 5 HR, 21 RBI).
• Tuesday's OSU starter is righty Ryan Feltner, a freshman from Hudson, Ohio (Walsh Jesuit). A 25th round draft choice of the Toronto Blue Jays, he will be making his third career start (fourth appearance) of the season and owns a 3.09 ERA. Feltner has struck out 11, but has also given up 14 hits and seven walks in 11.2 innings of work.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
• Xavier's weekend sweep of Central Michigan was its second of the season and gave the Musketeers a four-game winning streak for the first time since April 9-13, 2014.
• Xavier's last weekend sweep came at USC Upstate from March 4-6 and snapped a season-opening seven game losing streak.
• Prior to that, XU's last weekend sweep was from April 11-13, 2014 against Villanova at Hayden Field.Â
Â
• With 49 stolen bases on the season, XU is tied for first nationally in steals (49) with High Point and is first in steals per game (2.58).
• Xavier stole seven bases in back-to-back games at Mercer, tallying 17 for the weekend series.
• Prior to the Mercer series (2-26/28), the last time Xavier stole seven bases in a game was on March 31, 2015 at Dayton.
• Sophomore Will LaRue ranks second in the nation with 19 steals and 1.00 steals per game. He's swiped a base in four straight and has nine steals in those four starts.
Â
• Outside of junior Brad Kirschner, who entered the year with 99.1 career innings pitched, the options for Xavier in the bullpen came into 2016 with 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 came into 2016 without a single career appearance. Kent, Glass and Makarewicz will be making their respective career debuts when they next take the hill.
• Four true freshmen – Schramm, Williams, Malone and Czabala – all made their Xavier debuts during opening weekend at Arizona State.
Â
• Xavier has just 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.
Â
• 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.
Â
• 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.
• Jernigan's career total of 28 – including two during Xavier's series against ASU and two more against Vandy – is fourth all-time at Xavier, trailing leader Mark Elwell (41 HBP, 2009-13) by 13.
• 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.
Â
• Head coach Scott Googins, now in his 11th year at Xavier, is just five wins from tying former coach John Morrey for most wins in school history.
• Googins has 282 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
Â
• The Musketeers are wrapping up a road-heavy portion of their schedule, as the season's first 14 games were all road contests. Local rival Miami (OH) visited Hayden Field in the Musketeers' home opener on Wednesday.
• 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.
Â
• Xavier's 22 opponents posted a combined record of 672-565 (.543) in 2015, 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.
• 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.
Â
• 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).
Â
• 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.
Â
 | Â THE MATCHUP |
|  Date – Time |  Follow Live |  Projected Starters |
|  Tues., March 22 – 5:05 p.m. |  Stats / BTN + / @XavierBASE |  LHP Brad Kirschner vs. RHP Ryan Feltner |
| Â AROUND THE HORN |
• The Musketeers are off to a 7-12 start, playing all 15 of their first 19 games on the road. The competition has been stiff early, as five of XU's first seven weekend opponents were 2015 NCAA Tournament teams.
• Head coach Scott Googins is in 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.
• It's been feast or famine so far this season for XU. The Musketeers opened the year with seven straight losses before ripping off a weekend sweep at USC Upstate. Xavier then dropped four straight – three of those coming against No. 2 Vanderbilt – before rebounding with a 12-4 win at home against Miami (OH) on Wednesday and a weekend sweep of Central Michigan.
• Xavier's bats have woken up lately, as the Musketeers have scored 70 of their 80 runs in their last 13 games, including a combined 37 runs in sweeps of CMU and USC Upstate.
Â
| Â SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION |
• OSU is hitting .262 as a team led by Nick Sergakis' .419 batting average. The Buckeyes boast four players with .300+ batting averages, including Sergakis, Brady Cherry (.326, 3 HR), Jacob Bosiokovic (.325, 5 HR, 12 R) and Ronnie Dawson (.320, 5 HR, 21 RBI).
• Tuesday's OSU starter is righty Ryan Feltner, a freshman from Hudson, Ohio (Walsh Jesuit). A 25th round draft choice of the Toronto Blue Jays, he will be making his third career start (fourth appearance) of the season and owns a 3.09 ERA. Feltner has struck out 11, but has also given up 14 hits and seven walks in 11.2 innings of work.
Â
| Â PROJECTED LINEUP |
| Name (Class) | Position | Notes |
| Will LaRue (So.) | Left Field | Leads team and ranks second nationally with 19 stolen bases... has nine steals in last four games... has scored a run in five of last six games... batting .478 (11-for-23) in last six games... collected a career-high four hits last Sunday at Vandy... |
| Blaine Griffiths (So.) | Designated Hitter | Has started eight of last 10 games, ranks fourth on Xavier with a .275 batting average... |
| Daniel Rizzie (Sr.) | Catcher | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury... went 5-for-11 (.455) with two homers in weekend series against CMU... |
| Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.) | First Base | Has homered in each of Xavier's first five weekend series... leads Xavier with five homers and 11 RBI... hit first career home run in game two of 2/20 doubleheader at ASU... |
| Andre Jernigan (Sr.) | Shortstop | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... second on XU with 19 hits... leading team with six HBP... has made 128 starts at SS in last two-plus seasons... |
| Nate Soria (So.) | Right Field | Led 2015 team in BA (.335), 2B (11) and OBP (.420)... riding a four-game hitting streak (6-for-15, .400)... has reached base in 48 of last 53 games going back to 2015... |
| Chris Givin (Fr.) | Second Base | Has made last seven starts at second base and leads team with .333 batting average... has a hit in six of his last seven games... has scored a run in each his last four games... |
| Rylan Bannon (So.) | Third Base | Started season 0-for-16 and is 10-for-31 (.323) with three homers and eight RBI since... went yard Wednesday against Miami (OH) and again on Saturday against CMU... |
| Matt Fallon (Jr.) | Center Field | Transfer from Black Hawk College... has reached base in 16 of 19 games this season... has a pair of three-hit games in the last week... knocked in a season-high four runs in the series finale against CMU... |
| Â PROJECTED ROTATION |
| Day | Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Fri. | Zac Lowther (So.) | LHP | Has lasted at least five innings in all five of his turns so far as the Friday night starter... turned in a brilliant start last Friday at USC Upstate, tying career-highs with seven innings of one-run ball... struck out a career-high eight in six innings of shutout ball against CMU last Friday... |
| Sat. | Greg Jacknewitz (Jr.) | LHP | Twirled 6.2 innings of two-run ball in first outing at ASU... went six innings and allowed just two runs in Saturday's win at USC Upstate... |
| Sun. | TBA |
| Â BULLPEN |
| Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Garrett Schilling (So.) | RHP | Earned back-to-back saves in games two and three at USC Upstate... put up a career-high three innings of one-run relief in game four at ASU... has thrown seven straight scoreless innings... |
| Brandon Johnson (So.) | RHP | Allowed five earned runs in first career start in game three at ASU... tossed a scoreless inning at Louisville on Tuesday... |
| Brad Kirschner (Jr.) | LHP | Struck out the only batter he faced in season debut at ASU... threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday, helping Xavier claim the sweep... picked up the win with 2.2 innings of relief against Miami (OH) on Wednesday... has gone two or more innings in each of last four appearances... |
| Trey Schramm (Fr.) | RHP | Threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in career debut at ASU... tossed 3.2 innings with four strikeouts in series finale at Mercer... earned first career win in Saturday game at USC Upstate, going three innings and striking out three... has pitched 1+ innings in all seven appearances and leads team with a 2.04 ERA and 17.2 innings out of the 'pen... |
| Damien Richard (So.) | RHP | Tied for team-lead with seven appearances... has thrown 1+ innings in all seven of his appearances... has multiple strikeouts in five of seven outings... closed out Sunday's CMU win with a career-high 4.2 innings and four strikeouts... |
| Taylor Williams (Fr.) | RHP | Sparkled in career debut, striking out six in 2.1 innings of relief at ASU... |
| Jason Hall (Jr.) | RHP | Made season debut on Sunday at Mercer, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief... |
| Noah Malone (Fr.) | RHP | Made career debut, tossing 0.2 innings at ASU |
| Sam Czabala (Fr.) | LHP | Tossed 2.1 scoreless innings in Xavier debut at ASU |
| Â BUSTING OUT THE BROOMS |
• Xavier's last weekend sweep came at USC Upstate from March 4-6 and snapped a season-opening seven game losing streak.
• Prior to that, XU's last weekend sweep was from April 11-13, 2014 against Villanova at Hayden Field.Â
Â
| Â BASE BURGLARS |
• Xavier stole seven bases in back-to-back games at Mercer, tallying 17 for the weekend series.
• Prior to the Mercer series (2-26/28), the last time Xavier stole seven bases in a game was on March 31, 2015 at Dayton.
• Sophomore Will LaRue ranks second in the nation with 19 steals and 1.00 steals per game. He's swiped a base in four straight and has nine steals in those four starts.
Â
| Â YOUNG GUNS IN THE 'PEN |
• Seven arms came into 2016 without a single career appearance. Kent, Glass and Makarewicz will be making their respective career debuts when they next take the hill.
• Four true freshmen – Schramm, Williams, Malone and Czabala – all made their Xavier debuts during opening weekend at Arizona State.
Â
| Â YOUTH MOVEMENT |
• The Musketeers lost 15 letterwinners overall and have 13 newcomers on the 2016 roster.
Â
| Â BIG EAST PROGNOSTICATIONS |
• It's the third straight season the Musketeers have been selected to finish fourth in the poll.
Â
| Â TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM |
• Jernigan's career total of 28 – including two during Xavier's series against ASU and two more against Vandy – is fourth all-time at Xavier, trailing leader Mark Elwell (41 HBP, 2009-13) by 13.
• 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.
Â
| Â GOOGINS CLOSING IN ON XU MARK |
• Googins has 282 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
Â
| Â ROAD WARRIORS |
• 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.
Â
| Â 2016 OPPONENT BREAKDOWN |
• 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.
• 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.
Â
| Â 2016 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT |
• 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).
Â
| Â XAVIER BASEBALL VS. CANCER |
• 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.
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballHIGHLIGHTS | Baseball vs. UConn (BIG EAST Tournament)
Thursday, May 22
HIGHLIGHTS | Baseball at Penn State (Game 3)
Saturday, May 17
HIGHLIGHTS | Baseball at Creighton (Game Three)
Sunday, May 11
HIGHLIGHTS | Baseball at Creighton (Game 2)
Sunday, May 11