Friday, March 25
Cincinnati, Ohio
1 P.M.
Xavier University
at
Cincinnati
Baseball Plays Crosstown Rival Cincinnati in Three-Game Set
03.23.16 | Baseball
Xavier has won four of the last seven in the series against Cincinnati
CINCINNATI – Winners of four of five, Xavier baseball takes on crosstown rival Cincinnati in a three-game set this weekend. Two of the games will be played at Marge Schott Stadium, while the series finale will take place at Hayden Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
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• 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 7-13 start, playing 16 of their first 20 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 76 of their 86 runs in their last 14 games, including a combined 37 runs in sweeps of CMU and USC Upstate.
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• Cincinnati enters the weekend at 9-11 overall, boasting an 8-0 record at home and a 1-6 record on the road. The Bearcats are 0-5 in neutral site games.
• UC has won eight straight games, including a four-game sweep of Canisius and a three-game sweep of Northwestern.
• The Bearcats are hitting .244 as a team and are led by Connor McVey, who is hitting .315 with a homer and nine RBI in 20 starts. The sophomore also leads UC with 13 steals.Â
• Cincinnati has a team 4.45 ERA in 20 games. Junior Andrew Zellner has paced the staff with a 2.51 ERA in 32.1 innings, while limiting opposing batters to a .186 average. Sophomore A.J. Olasz has been effective out the pen, posting a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings across five appearances.Â
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• 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
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• With 54 stolen bases on the season, XU is first nationally in steals and steals per game (2.7).
• 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 20 steals and 1.00 steals per game. He's swiped a base in five straight and has 10 steals in those four starts.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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).
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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).
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• 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.
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 | Â THE MATCHUP |
|  Date – Time |  Follow Live |  Projected Starters |
|  Thurs., March 24 – 6 p.m. |  Stats / Watch / @XavierBASE |  LHP Zac Lowther vs. TBA |
|  Fri., March 25 – 6 p.m. |  Stats / Watch / @XavierBASE |  LHP Greg Jacknewitz vs. TBA |
|  Sat., March 26 – 1 p.m. |  Stats / @XavierBASE |  TBA vs. TBA |
| Â AROUND THE HORN |
• The Musketeers are off to a 7-13 start, playing 16 of their first 20 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 76 of their 86 runs in their last 14 games, including a combined 37 runs in sweeps of CMU and USC Upstate.
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| Â SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION |
• UC has won eight straight games, including a four-game sweep of Canisius and a three-game sweep of Northwestern.
• The Bearcats are hitting .244 as a team and are led by Connor McVey, who is hitting .315 with a homer and nine RBI in 20 starts. The sophomore also leads UC with 13 steals.Â
• Cincinnati has a team 4.45 ERA in 20 games. Junior Andrew Zellner has paced the staff with a 2.51 ERA in 32.1 innings, while limiting opposing batters to a .186 average. Sophomore A.J. Olasz has been effective out the pen, posting a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings across five appearances.Â
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| Â PROJECTED LINEUP |
| Name (Class) | Position | Notes |
| Will LaRue (So.) | Left Field | Leads team and ranks second nationally with 20 stolen bases... has 10 steals in last five games... has scored a run in six of last seven games... batting .464 (13-for-28) in last seven games... collected a career-high four hits last Sunday at Vandy... |
| Chris Givin (Fr.) | Second Base | Has made last eight starts at second base and leads team with .345 batting average... has a hit in seven of his last eight games... has scored a run in each his last five games... |
| Daniel Rizzie (Sr.) | Catcher | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury... batting .467 (7-for-15) with two homers in last four starts... has caught 12-of-19 attempted base stealers (63%) in 20 games... |
| Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.) | First Base | Has homered in each of Xavier's first five weekend series... leads Xavier with five homers and 13 RBI... hit first career home run in game two of 2/20 doubleheader at ASU... |
| Andre Jernigan (Sr.) | Shortstop | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... tied for second on XU with 20 hits... leading team with six HBP... has made 129 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.) | Designated Hitter | Has started eight of last 11 games, ranks fifth on Xavier with a .269 batting average... |
| Rylan Bannon (So.) | Third Base | Started season 0-for-16 and is 11-for-35 (.314) with three homers and eight RBI since... went yard last Wednesday against Miami (OH) and again on Saturday against CMU... |
| Matt Fallon (Jr.) | Center Field | Transfer from Black Hawk College... has reached base in 17 of 20 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 five appearances, including his first start on Tuesday against Ohio State (4.2 innings, 2 earned runs)... |
| 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 eight appearances... |
| 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
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| 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 20 steals and 1.00 steals per game. He's swiped a base in five straight and has 10 steals in those four starts.
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| 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.
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| Â YOUTH MOVEMENT |
• The Musketeers lost 15 letterwinners overall and have 13 newcomers on the 2016 roster.
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| Â BIG EAST PROGNOSTICATIONS |
• It's the third straight season the Musketeers have been selected to finish fourth in the poll.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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