Xavier University Athletics
Friday, April 1
Normal, Ill.
5:30 P.M.
Xavier University
at
Illinois State
Baseball Travels to Illinois State for Weekend Series
03.31.16 | Baseball
First pitch in the series is set for 5:30 p.m. ET
CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball returns to action this weekend at Illinois State, playing three games at Duffy Bass Field.
The Musketeers (8-17) are coming off midweek losses against Wright State and No. 12 Kentucky.
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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 8-17 start, playing 19 of their first 25 games on the road. The competition has been stiff early, as five of XU's first eight 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 89 of their 99 runs in their last 19 games, including a combined 37 runs in sweeps of CMU and USC Upstate.
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• Illinois State enters the weekend 7-17 overall, 0-5 at home and riding a nine-game losing streak – including recent weekend sweeps at Tulane and at home to Milwaukee.Â
• The Redbirds are hitting .232 as a team and are paced by Owen Miller (.308, 4 HR, 24 RBI). The Redbirds do now run a lot and have recorded just 10 stolen bases on the season.
• Illinois State's pitching staff has produced a team ERA of 5.58. Rhett Rapshus (0.47 ERA, 19 IP) and Jack Landwehr (1.76 ERA, 15.1 IP) have been superb out of the bullpen, while starters Steve Heilenbach (3.05 ERA, 38.1 IP) and David Meade (3.31 ERA, 32.2 IP) have also been reliable.
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• Xavier ranks 18th in the nation with 27 homers and is 22nd in home runs per game (1.08).
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in nine of their last 10 games, totaling 18 longballs over that span.
• Andre Jernigan (7) and Joe Gellenbeck (6) lead the team through 25 games. Both have matched or surpassed last year's leader, Derek Hasenbeck, who hit six in 53 games.
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• Xavier ranks 36th in the nation with a fielding percentage of .976.
• XU has committed 21 errors in 25 games, including 10 games without an error at all.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 12 of 18 (.667) attempted base stealers without an error this season.
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• Xavier's sweep of Central Michigan from 3/18-3/20 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.
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• With 55 stolen bases through March 30, XU ranks fifth nationally in steals and seventh in steals per game (2.2).
• 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 ranked second in the nation with 20 steals and 0.83 steals per game as of March 30. He's swiped a base in five of his last nine games and has 10 steals over that span.Â
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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. 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. Matt Kent made his career debut on Friday at UC, setting down the Bearcats in 1-2-3 fashion.
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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 four wins from tying former coach John Morrey for most wins in school history.
• Googins has 283 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
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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.
The Musketeers (8-17) are coming off midweek losses against Wright State and No. 12 Kentucky.
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 | Â THE MATCHUP |
|  Date – Time |  Follow Live |  Projected Starters |
|  Tues., April 1 – 5:30 p.m. |  Stats / Watch / @XavierBASE |  LHP Zac Lowther vs. RHP Steve Heilenbach |
|  Weds., April 2 – 3 p.m. |  Stats / @XavierBASE |  LHP Brad Kirschner vs. RHP David Meade |
|  Sun., April 3 – 2 p.m. |  Stats / Watch / @XavierBASE |  RHP Damien Richard vs. LHP Jacob Hendren |
| Â AROUND THE HORN |
• The Musketeers are off to a 8-17 start, playing 19 of their first 25 games on the road. The competition has been stiff early, as five of XU's first eight 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 89 of their 99 runs in their last 19 games, including a combined 37 runs in sweeps of CMU and USC Upstate.
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| Â SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION |
• The Redbirds are hitting .232 as a team and are paced by Owen Miller (.308, 4 HR, 24 RBI). The Redbirds do now run a lot and have recorded just 10 stolen bases on the season.
• Illinois State's pitching staff has produced a team ERA of 5.58. Rhett Rapshus (0.47 ERA, 19 IP) and Jack Landwehr (1.76 ERA, 15.1 IP) have been superb out of the bullpen, while starters Steve Heilenbach (3.05 ERA, 38.1 IP) and David Meade (3.31 ERA, 32.2 IP) have also been reliable.
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| Â PROJECTED LINEUP |
| Name (Class) | Position | Notes |
| Will LaRue (So.) | Left Field | Leads team with a .329 batting average and ranks third nationally with 20 stolen bases... has scored a run in eight of his last 11 games... batting .429 (18-for-42) with six multi-hit efforts in last 11 games... |
| Chris Givin (Fr.) | Second Base | Has started at second in nine of 11 games... third on team with a .275 batting average... has a hit in eight of his last 11 games... |
| Daniel Rizzie (Sr.) | Catcher | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury... has hits in each of his last four games and is batting .424 (14-for-33) with three homers in last nine starts... leads team with 10 multi-hit games... |
| Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.) | First Base | Has homered in each of Xavier's first six weekend series... leads Xavier with 16 RBI, second on team with six homers... went 8-for-17 (.471) with a pair of three-hit games in four starts last week to earn a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday... hit first career home run in game two of 2/20 doubleheader at ASU... |
| Andre Jernigan (Sr.) | Shortstop | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... coming off a 3-for-4 game against UC on Sunday that saw him set a career-high with 11 total bases (2 HR, 3B)... leads team with seven homers, including three in last three games... tied for third on XU with 25 hits... leading team with six HBP... has made 134 starts at SS in last two-plus seasons... |
| Nate Soria (So.) | Right Field | Led 2015 team in BA (.335), 2B (11) and OBP (.420)... has reached base in 50 of last 58 games going back to 2015... |
| Blaine Griffiths (So.) | Designated Hitter | Has started 11 of last 13 games... reached base in seven of last nine games... |
| Rylan Bannon (So.) | Third Base | Started season 0-for-16 and is 16-for-54 (.296) with three homers and nine RBI since... riding a four-game hitting streak entering the weekend... |
| Matt Fallon (Jr.) | Center Field | Transfer from Black Hawk College... has reached base in 21 of 25 games this season... knocked in a season-high four runs in the series finale against CMU... |
| Â PROJECTED STARTERS |
| Day | Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Fri. | Zac Lowther (So.) | LHP | Has lasted at least five innings in all six of his turns so far as the Friday night starter... leads team in innings (37) and strikeouts (34)... turned in a brilliant start at USC Upstate (3/4), tying career-highs with seven innings of one-run ball... struck out a career-high eight in six innings of shutout ball against CMU (3/18)... |
| Sat. | Brad Kirschner (Jr.) | LHP | Taking first turn in weekend rotation... made seven relief appearances before starts in his last two outings... has lowered his season ERA in each of his last eight outings... Has a 3.91 ERA as a starter (9.2 innings, 4 ER, 7K)... |
| Sun. | Damien Richard (So.) | RHP | Taking first turn in weekend rotation... making second career start... lasted just 2.1 innings in first career start at Wright State... has multiple strikeouts in six of eight outings... |
| Â BULLPEN |
| Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Garrett Schilling (So.) | RHP | Tied for second on team with nine appearances... Earned back-to-back saves in games two and three at USC Upstate and leads XU with four saves... put up a career-high three innings of one-run relief in game four at ASU... has thrown 10 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 last Tuesday... |
| Trey Schramm (Fr.) | RHP | Leads team with 10 appearances... 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 nine of 10 appearances... |
| Taylor Williams (Fr.) | RHP | Sparkled in career debut, striking out six in 2.1 innings of relief at ASU... struck out three in two innings of quality relief at UC last Friday... |
| 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... pitched a scoreless inning at No. 12 Kentucky on Wednesday... |
| Â BOMBS AWAY |
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in nine of their last 10 games, totaling 18 longballs over that span.
• Andre Jernigan (7) and Joe Gellenbeck (6) lead the team through 25 games. Both have matched or surpassed last year's leader, Derek Hasenbeck, who hit six in 53 games.
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| Â X CAN PICK IT |
• XU has committed 21 errors in 25 games, including 10 games without an error at all.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 12 of 18 (.667) attempted base stealers without an error this season.
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| 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.
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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 ranked second in the nation with 20 steals and 0.83 steals per game as of March 30. He's swiped a base in five of his last nine games and has 10 steals over that span.Â
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| Â YOUNG GUNS IN THE 'PEN |
• Seven arms came into 2016 without a single career appearance. 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. Matt Kent made his career debut on Friday at UC, setting down the Bearcats in 1-2-3 fashion.
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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 283 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
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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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/ 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