Friday, April 22
Hayden Field
3 P.M.
Xavier University
vs
St. John's
Baseball Continues BIG EAST Play Against St. John's This Weekend
04.21.16 | Baseball
Musketeers will be nationally-televised on FOX Sports Atlantic in Friday's series opener at 3 p.m.
CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball continues BIG EAST play this weekend at home, facing St. John's for a three-game set at Hayden Field.
The Musketeers are 14-25 overall (1-2 BIG EAST) after splitting a pair of midweek games at NKU and at home against Indiana.
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* Friday's game will be nationally-televed on FOX College Sports Atlantic. Bob Brainerd will have the call, while Mike Schmaltz will provide color commentary.
* Find the channel through entering your zip code and television provider HERE
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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 14-25 start, playing 29 of their first 39 away from Hayden Field. The competition has been stiff early, as six of XU's first 10 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, surpassed former coach John Morrey for most wins in school history last Friday at Georgetown.
• Googins has 289 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
• Read about some of Coach Googins' biggest accomplishments at Xavier.
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• St. John's enters the weekend at 19-14-1 overall with a 4-2 record in BIG EAST action. The Red Storm are 10-10-1 on the road.
• SJU took two of three last weekend on the road against Villanova, winning the final two games in the series by a combined score of 11-3. The Red Storm have also taken 2-of-3 against Georgetown in league play.
• The Red Storm lead the BIG EAST in batting average, hitting .286 as a team and are paced by senior outfielder Alex Caruso (.328, 34 R, 18 RBI). Five total SJU batters are hitting .300 or more, including Jamie Galazin (.321, HR, 18 RBI), Josh Shaw (.310, 1 HR, 24 RBI), Jesse Berardi (.310, 5 HR, 32 RBI) and Michael Donadio (.308, 2 HR, 22 RBI).
• Caruso leads the BIG EAST in runs scored with 34, while Berardi paces the league with 32 RBI.
• Friday starter Kevin Torres will be making his first start of the season on Friday after posting a 2.87 ERA in 12 appearances out of the bullpen, totaling 15.2 innings.
• Saturday starter Ryan McAuliffe has a 3.38 ERA in nine starts this season, leading the team with 45.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 30 and posted a 4-0 record overall.
• Sunday starter Kevin Magee has made four starts and a relief appearance, logging a 5.52 ERA over 14.2 innings.
• Closer Thomas Hackimer leads the nation in ERA (0.27) and has been lights out with five saves in 16 appearances. The senior righty has allowed just 10 hits, striking out 45 batters in 33 innings pitched.
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• Xavier ranks 26th in the nation with 37 homers and is 32nd in home runs per game (0.95).
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in 15 of their last 24 games, totaling 28 longballs over that span.
• XU leads the BIG EAST Conference in homers by 20 with the next closest team being Villanova with 17.
• Xavier has more homers than Butler (6), Seton Hall (5), Creighton (5), and Villanova (17) combined. St. John's and Georgetown each have 15 apiece.
• Andre Jernigan ranks 11th in the nation with 11 longballs, including two on Sunday at Georgetown and another on Tuesday at NKU.
• Joe Gellenbeck ranks 38th in the nation with nine longballs and has homered in eight of XU's 10 weekend series.
• Both have surpassed last year's team leader in homers, Derek Hasenbeck, who hit six in 53 games.
• Xavier has already passed last season's team total of 27 longballs.
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• Xavier ranks 57th in the nation with a fielding percentage of .973.
• XU has committed 39 errors in 39 games, including 13 errorless outings.
• The Musketeers rank 66th in the NCAA with 31 double plays turned.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 63.6 percent (14-for-22) of attempted base stealers with just one error this season.
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• With 71 stolen bases, XU ranks ninth nationally in steals and 11th in steals per game (1.82).
• 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 10th in the nation with 23 steals and 17th in the nation with 0.61 steals per game.
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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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• Seven pitchers for XU came into 2016 without a single career appearance and five have thrown significant innings for the Musketeers this spring.Â
• Four true freshmen – Trey Schramm, Taylor Williams, Noah Malone and Sam Czabala – all made their Xavier debuts during opening weekend at Arizona State. Another rookie, Matt Kent, made his career debut on Friday, March 25 at UC, setting down the Bearcats in 1-2-3 fashion.
• Schramm and Williams are both tied for the team lead in appearances (15), while throwing a combined 62.1 innings of relief.
• Kent has worked his way into the weekend rotation after making his first career start against Miami (OH) on April 12.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.
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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 are 14-25 overall (1-2 BIG EAST) after splitting a pair of midweek games at NKU and at home against Indiana.
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 | Â THE MATCHUP |
|  Date – Time |  Follow Live |  Projected Starters |
|  Fri., April 20 – 3 p.m. |  Stats  / TV / @XavierBASE |  LHP Zac Lowther vs. RHP Kevin Torres |
|  Sat., April 21– 1 p.m. |  Stats / Video / @XavierBASE |  LHP Brad Kirschner vs. RHP Ryan McAuliffe |
|  Sun., April 22 – 12 p.m. |  Stats / Video / @XavierBASE |  RHP Matt Kent vs. LHP Kevin Magee |
* Friday's game will be nationally-televed on FOX College Sports Atlantic. Bob Brainerd will have the call, while Mike Schmaltz will provide color commentary.
* Find the channel through entering your zip code and television provider HERE
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| Â AROUND THE HORN |
• The Musketeers are off to a 14-25 start, playing 29 of their first 39 away from Hayden Field. The competition has been stiff early, as six of XU's first 10 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 XU'S WINNINGEST COACH |
• Googins has 289 wins in his first 10+ seasons, while Morrey had 287 over 12 years (1993-2004).
• Read about some of Coach Googins' biggest accomplishments at Xavier.
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| Â SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION |
• SJU took two of three last weekend on the road against Villanova, winning the final two games in the series by a combined score of 11-3. The Red Storm have also taken 2-of-3 against Georgetown in league play.
• The Red Storm lead the BIG EAST in batting average, hitting .286 as a team and are paced by senior outfielder Alex Caruso (.328, 34 R, 18 RBI). Five total SJU batters are hitting .300 or more, including Jamie Galazin (.321, HR, 18 RBI), Josh Shaw (.310, 1 HR, 24 RBI), Jesse Berardi (.310, 5 HR, 32 RBI) and Michael Donadio (.308, 2 HR, 22 RBI).
• Caruso leads the BIG EAST in runs scored with 34, while Berardi paces the league with 32 RBI.
• Friday starter Kevin Torres will be making his first start of the season on Friday after posting a 2.87 ERA in 12 appearances out of the bullpen, totaling 15.2 innings.
• Saturday starter Ryan McAuliffe has a 3.38 ERA in nine starts this season, leading the team with 45.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 30 and posted a 4-0 record overall.
• Sunday starter Kevin Magee has made four starts and a relief appearance, logging a 5.52 ERA over 14.2 innings.
• Closer Thomas Hackimer leads the nation in ERA (0.27) and has been lights out with five saves in 16 appearances. The senior righty has allowed just 10 hits, striking out 45 batters in 33 innings pitched.
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| Â PROJECTED LINEUP |
| Name (Class) | Position | Notes |
| Rylan Bannon (So.) | Third Base | Started season 0-for-16 and is 32-for-101 (.317) with three homers and 11 RBI since... had an 11-game hitting streak snapped last Tuesday at Miami (OH)... has reached base in 17 of his last 18 games... |
| Will LaRue (So.) | Left Field | Ranks sixth on team with a .262 batting average and 10th nationally with 23 stolen bases... third on team with 22 runs scored... second on team with 18 walks... |
| Daniel Rizzie (Sr.) | Catcher | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury... has hits in 13 of last 18 games... batting .337 (28-for-83) with five homers in last 22 starts... leads team with 14 multi-hit games... |
| Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.) | First Base | Has homered in eight of XU's 10 weekend series... second on team with nine homers... tied for team lead and for second in BIG EAST with 28 RBI... second in BIG EAST with 78 total bases... hit first career home run in game two of Feb. 20 doubleheader at ASU... |
| Andre Jernigan (Sr.) | Shortstop | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... leads team and BIG EAST with 11 homers and 83 total bases... tied for team lead and for second in BIG EAST with 28 RBI... also leads team with eight HBP and 26 runs scored... has made 147 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 57 of last 69 games going back to 2015... had a streak of five straight multi-hit games snapped on Tuesday at NKU... is still batting 11-for-26 (.423) over last seven games despite 0-for-8 midweek line... |
| Chris Givin (Fr.) | Second Base | Has started at second in 23 of last 25 games... fourth on team with a .261 batting average... has a hit in 11 of his last 15 games... |
| Ethan Schmidt (Jr.) | Designated Hitter | Has started six straight games and is riding a four game hitting streak... 7-for-20 (.350) with a homer in last six starts... hit second homer of season in Tuesday's 8-1 win at NKU... |
| Matt Fallon (Jr.) | Center Field | Transfer from Black Hawk College (JC)... has reached base in 33 of 38 games this season, including all three games at Georgetown last weekend... |
| Â PROJECTED STARTER |
| Day | Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Fri. | Zac Lowther (So.) | LHP | Has lasted at least five innings in all nine of his turns so far as the Friday night starter... leads team in innings (55.1) and strikeouts (50)... 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)... spun six innings of scoreless ball against Illinois State on Friday, striking out seven to improve to 3-3... won again last Friday (4/8), limiting Morehead State to one run over seven innings... |
| Sat. | Brad Kirschner (Jr.) | LHP | Taking fourth turn in weekend rotation in 2016... made seven relief appearances before starts in his last five outings... has a 4.09 ERA as a starter (24.2 innings, 11 ER, 17 K)... |
| Sun. | Matt Kent (Fr.) | RHP | Leads team with 1.42 ERA in 19 innings... didn't make career debut until March 25 at Cincinnati, but tossed 10.1 innings before allowing an earned run... still has yet to allow an earned run in relief (9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 8 K)... made first career start at Miami (OH) on April 12, throwing four innings and allowing just one earned run... went a career-high six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three against Georgetown last Sunday... |
| Â BULLPEN |
| Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Garrett Schilling (So.) | RHP | Tied for team lead with 15 appearances... second on team with a 1.52 ERA... leads XU with five saves... had a streak of 16.2 innings without an earned run snapped at Georgetown (4/17)... Earned back-to-back saves in games two and three at USC Upstate (3/5-6)... put up a career-high three innings of one-run relief in game four at ASU (2/21)... |
| Brandon Johnson (So.) | RHP | Allowed five earned runs in first career start in game three at ASU (2/20)... tossed a scoreless inning at nationally-ranked Louisville (3/15)... |
| Trey Schramm (Fr.) | RHP | Tied for team lead with 15 appearances... has pitched 1+ innings in 13 of 15 appearances... has thrown 8.2 straight scoreless innings... Threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in career debut at ASU (2/20)... tossed 3.2 innings with four strikeouts in series finale at Mercer (2/28)... earned first career win in Saturday game at USC Upstate, going three innings and striking out three (3/5)... tied a season-high with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief against Morehead State (4/10)... |
| Taylor Williams (Fr.) | RHP | Tied for team lead with 15 appearances... sparkled in career debut, striking out six in 2.1 innings of relief at ASU (2/20)... struck out three in two innings of quality relief at UC (3/25)... went a career-high four innings at Miami (OH), striking out four (4/12)... |
| Jason Hall (Jr.) | RHP | Made season debut at Mercer, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief (2/28)... threw a scoreless inning at Illinois State (4/1)... finished out XU's midweek loss to IU on Wednesday... |
| Greg Jacknewitz (Jr.) | LHP | Has made eight starts and three appearances out of the bullpen... twirled 6.2 innings of two-run ball in first outing at ASU (2/20)... went six innings and allowed just two runs in a win at USC Upstate (3/5)... struck out five in 2.1 innings of relief vs. UC (4/13)... tossed two innings in XU's midweek loss to Indiana on Wednesday... |
| Damien Richard (So.) | RHP | Tied for fifth on team with 11 appearances, including seven out of the bullpen and four starts... has made two turns in weekend rotation... started first career game at Wright State (3/8)... has thrown 18.2 innings out of the bullpen, compiling a 2.47 ERA as a reliever... tossed five innings, allowing three runs and striking out three to get the win at Illinois State (4/3)... pitched well in last start at NKU, going a career-high six innings and limiting the Norse to one run on three hits (4/19)... |
| Trent Astle (Jr.) | LHP | 2015 All-BIG EAST Second Team... has recorded a 7.85 ERA in 11 appearances (nine starts)... third on team with 39 innings pitched... pitched four innings against IU on Wednesday without allowing an earned run (4/20)... |
| Â BOMBS AWAY |
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in 15 of their last 24 games, totaling 28 longballs over that span.
• XU leads the BIG EAST Conference in homers by 20 with the next closest team being Villanova with 17.
• Xavier has more homers than Butler (6), Seton Hall (5), Creighton (5), and Villanova (17) combined. St. John's and Georgetown each have 15 apiece.
• Andre Jernigan ranks 11th in the nation with 11 longballs, including two on Sunday at Georgetown and another on Tuesday at NKU.
• Joe Gellenbeck ranks 38th in the nation with nine longballs and has homered in eight of XU's 10 weekend series.
• Both have surpassed last year's team leader in homers, Derek Hasenbeck, who hit six in 53 games.
• Xavier has already passed last season's team total of 27 longballs.
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| Â X CAN PICK IT |
• XU has committed 39 errors in 39 games, including 13 errorless outings.
• The Musketeers rank 66th in the NCAA with 31 double plays turned.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 63.6 percent (14-for-22) of attempted base stealers with just one error this season.
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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 10th in the nation with 23 steals and 17th in the nation with 0.61 steals per game.
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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 YOUNG GUNS |
• Four true freshmen – Trey Schramm, Taylor Williams, Noah Malone and Sam Czabala – all made their Xavier debuts during opening weekend at Arizona State. Another rookie, Matt Kent, made his career debut on Friday, March 25 at UC, setting down the Bearcats in 1-2-3 fashion.
• Schramm and Williams are both tied for the team lead in appearances (15), while throwing a combined 62.1 innings of relief.
• Kent has worked his way into the weekend rotation after making his first career start against Miami (OH) on April 12.
| 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)
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Sunday, May 11