Xavier University Athletics
Tuesday, April 12
Oxford, OH
7 P.M.
Xavier University
at
Miami (OH)
Baseball Heads to Joe Nuxhall Classic in Final Tune-Up Before BIG EAST Play
04.11.16 | Baseball
Musketeers will face Miami (OH) and UC/Wright State as part of annual event celebrating Nuxhall's legacy
CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball hits the road again for a pair of midweek games as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday at Miami University.Â
The Musketeers will face hosting Miami (OH) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. before getting either Wright State or Cincinnati on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
It will be XU's final tuneup before beginning conference play this weekend with a three-game set at Georgetown, beginning with first pitch on Friday, April 15 at 4 p.m.
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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 11-21 start, playing 23 of their first 32 games on the road. The competition has been stiff early, as six of XU's first nine 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.
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• Head coach Scott Googins, now in his 11th year at Xavier, is just one win from tying former coach John Morrey for most wins in school history.
• Googins has 286 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
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• Xavier ranks 30th in the nation with 31 homers and is 33rd in home runs per game (0.97).
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in 12 of their last 17 games, totaling 22 longballs over that span, although XU did not connect for a homer over the weekend against Morehead State.
• Andre Jernigan and Joe Gellenbeck both rank 39th in the nation and are tied for the team lead with eight homers through 32 games. Both have surpassed last year's team leader in homers, Derek Hasenbeck, who hit six in 53 games.
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• Xavier ranks 64th in the nation with a fielding percentage of .972.
• XU has committed 32 errors in 32 games, including 10 games without an error at all.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 13 of 21 (.619) attempted base stealers with just one error this season.
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• Xavier's sweep of Central Michigan from March 18-20 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 61 stolen bases, XU ranks ninth nationally in steals and 11th in steals per game (1.91).
• Xavier stole seven bases in back-to-back games at Mercer, tallying 17 for the weekend series.
• Prior to the Mercer series (Feb. 26-28), the last time Xavier stole seven bases in a game was on March 31, 2015 at Dayton.
• Sophomore Will LaRue ranks seventh in the nation with 21 steals and 10th in the nation with 0.71 steals per game.
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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, March 25 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 has been clipped by a pitch eight times already this season, moving into fourth all-time in XU history in HBP.
• Jernigan's career total of 30 – 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 12.
• 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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• 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).
The Musketeers will face hosting Miami (OH) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. before getting either Wright State or Cincinnati on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
It will be XU's final tuneup before beginning conference play this weekend with a three-game set at Georgetown, beginning with first pitch on Friday, April 15 at 4 p.m.
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 | Â THE MATCHUP |
|  Date – Time |  Follow Live |  Projected Starters |
|  Tues., April 12 – 7 p.m. |  Stats / Watch ($) / @XavierBASE |  RHP Matt Kent vs. RHP Bailey Martin |
|  Weds., April 13 – 3 p.m. |  Stats / @XavierBASE |  LHP Trent Astle vs. TBA |
| Â AROUND THE HORN |
• The Musketeers are off to a 11-21 start, playing 23 of their first 32 games on the road. The competition has been stiff early, as six of XU's first nine 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.
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| Â GOOGINS CLOSING IN ON XU MARK |
• Googins has 286 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
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| Â PROJECTED LINEUP |
| Name (Class) | Position | Notes |
| Will LaRue (So.) | Left Field | Ranks fifth on team with a .278 batting average and ranks seventh nationally with 22 stolen bases, including two over the weekend against Morehead State... has scored a run in 11 of his last 18 games... |
| Chris Givin (Fr.) | Second Base | Has started at second in 16 of last 18 games... second on team with a .288 batting average... has a hit in six of his last eight games... |
| Daniel Rizzie (Sr.) | Catcher | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury... has hits in nine of last 11 games... batting .365 (23-for-63) with four homers in last 16 starts... leads team with 13 multi-hit games... |
| Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.) | First Base | Has homered in eight of XU's nine weekend series... tied for team lead with eight homers... leads XU with 25 RBI... hit first career home run in game two of Feb. 20 doubleheader at ASU... |
| Andre Jernigan (Sr.) | Shortstop | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... tied for team lead in homers (8) and runs scored (21)... leading team with eight HBP... has made 141 starts at SS in last three-plus seasons... |
| Nate Soria (So.) | Right Field | Led 2015 team in BA (.335), 2B (11) and OBP (.420)... has reached base in 52 of last 62 games going back to 2015... |
| Blaine Griffiths (So.) | Designated Hitter | Has started 16 of last 20 games... reached base in 11 of last 16 games... put up a career-high three hits in last Sunday's win at Illinois State... |
| Rylan Bannon (So.) | Third Base | Started season 0-for-16 and is 26-for-76 (.342) with three homers and 10 RBI since... leads team with 11 game hitting streak... named to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after hitting .500 over XU's last four games... |
| Matt Fallon (Jr.) | Center Field | Transfer from Black Hawk College... has reached base in 27 of 32 games this season... |
| Â PROJECTED STARTER |
| Day | Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Tues. | Matt Kent (Fr.) | RHP | Making first career start... Has pitched nine innings over five appearances without giving up an earned run... coming off back-to-back three inning, scoreless relief appearances against Ball State and Morehead State... |
| Weds. | Trent Astle (Jr.) | LHP | 2015 All-BIG EAST Second Team... off to a slow start with a 8.90 ERA in seven starts... coming off a four inning, four strikeout outing in relief at Illinois State... |
| Â BULLPEN |
| Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Garrett Schilling (So.) | RHP | Tied for second on team with 11 appearances... leads team with a 1.50 ERA... has thrown 13 straight innings without giving up an earned run... 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... |
| 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 | Tied for team lead with 12 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... tied a season-high with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday against Morehead State... has pitched 1+ innings in 11 of 12 appearances... |
| Taylor Williams (Fr.) | RHP | Tied for team lead with 12 appearances... 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... has turned in back-to-back two inning scoreless outings at Ball State and against Morehead State... |
| Jason Hall (Jr.) | RHP | Made season debut on Sunday at Mercer, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief... threw a scoreless inning in Friday's 12-1 win at Illinois State... |
| Â BOMBS AWAY |
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in 12 of their last 17 games, totaling 22 longballs over that span, although XU did not connect for a homer over the weekend against Morehead State.
• Andre Jernigan and Joe Gellenbeck both rank 39th in the nation and are tied for the team lead with eight homers through 32 games. Both have surpassed last year's team leader in homers, Derek Hasenbeck, who hit six in 53 games.
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| Â X CAN PICK IT |
• XU has committed 32 errors in 32 games, including 10 games without an error at all.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 13 of 21 (.619) attempted base stealers with just one 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 (Feb. 26-28), the last time Xavier stole seven bases in a game was on March 31, 2015 at Dayton.
• Sophomore Will LaRue ranks seventh in the nation with 21 steals and 10th in the nation with 0.71 steals per game.
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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, March 25 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 has been clipped by a pitch eight times already this season, moving into fourth all-time in XU history in HBP.
• Jernigan's career total of 30 – 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 12.
• 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 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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/ 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