Xavier University Athletics
Friday, April 29
Indianapolis, Ind.
3 P.M.
Xavier University
at
Butler
Baseball Continues BIG EAST Play at Butler
04.28.16 | Baseball
Musketeers looking to build on series win against St. John's last weekend at home
CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball returns to BIG EAST play this weekend, facing off against Butler in a three-game series on the road at Bulldog Park.
The first two games of the series will be broadcasted nationally, with Friday's contest appearing on the BIG EAST Digital Network and Saturday's game getting picked up by FOX College Sports.
The Musketeers are 16-26 overall (3-3 BIG EAST) and coming off a weekend series win against St. John's.
• Friday's game will be shown on the BIG EAST Digital Network with play-by-play from Mark Minner and analysis by Nick Gardner.
• Saturday's game will be the first on national television for the Musketeers this season, featuring play-by-play from Bob Brainerd and analysis by Chase Byerly.
• Fans can locate FOX College Sports Atlantic through this channel finder.
• 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 surpassed last season's win total with a 1-0 win over St. John's on Sunday.
• The Musketeers are off to a 16-26 start, playing 29 of their first 42 away from Hayden Field. The competition has been stiff early, as seven of XU's first 11 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.
• 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 291 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.
• The Bulldogs are 12-28 overall and 3-6 in BIG EAST play, coming off a series win against Georgetown last weekend.
• Butler won game one against the Hoyas in 13 innings, getting a walk-off single from Chris Marras, and picked up another win in the rubber match on Sunday.
• As a team, Butler bats .236 with a .309 on-base percentage. The pitching staff has compiled a 5.76 ERA, allowing 438 hits in 353.1 innings (.305 batting average against).
• Tyler Houston leads BU with a .305 batting average and 21 RBI.
• Chris Marras has caught just 23.5% (8-for-34) of attempted base stealers and will be tested against XU.
• Friday starter Bobby Napoleon has a 4.66 ERA in 13 appearances and will be making his sixth start. The lefty has fanned 15 in 29 innings.
• Saturday starter Nick Morton has a 4.14 ERA in 10 starts, covering 63 innings. He has struck out just 28, but rarely allows a free pass with just eight walks allowed.
• Sunday starter Jeff Schank leads the Butler staff with a 3.14 ERA in 10 starts, striking out 47 in 66 innings.
• Defensively, Butler has committed 70 errors in 40 games for a fielding percentage of .955. The Bulldogs have been prolific in turning two, however, ranking 65th in the nation with 34 double plays.
• The Bulldogs have won two-of-three against the Musketeers in each of the last two weekend series between the two programs in 2015 and 2014. XU got its last series win in 2013, taking two-of-three.
• Xavier ranks 15th in the nation with 44 homers and is 18th in home runs per game (1.05).
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in 17 of their last 27 games, totaling 35 longballs over that span.
• With 44, XU leads the BIG EAST Conference in homers by 26. The next closest team is Villanova with 18 total.
• Xavier has more homers than Butler (7), Seton Hall (7), Creighton (7), and St. John's (16) combined.
• Andre Jernigan ranks 18th in the nation with 12 longballs, including four in his last six games.
• Joe Gellenbeck ranks 53rd in the nation with nine longballs and has homered in eight of XU's 11 weekend series.
• XU boasts the top three home run hitters in the BIG EAST Conference: Jernigan (12), Gellenbeck (9), Rizzie (8)
• No other individual in the conference has more than five homers.
• 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.
• Xavier ranks 42nd in the nation with a fielding percentage of .975.
• XU has committed 39 errors in 42 games, including 16 errorless outings.
• The Musketeers rank 51st in the NCAA with 36 double plays turned.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 62.5 percent (15-for-24) of attempted base stealers with just one error this season.
• With 74 stolen bases, XU ranks 14th nationally in steals and 18th in steals per game (1.76).
• 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 13th in the nation with 23 steals and 22nd in the nation with 0.56 steals per game.
• 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.
• Seven pitchers for XU came into 2016 without a single career appearance and five have thrown significant innings for the Musketeers this spring.
• 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 (17), while throwing a combined 66.1 innings of relief.
• Kent has worked his way into the weekend rotation after making his first career start against Miami (OH) on April 12.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 first two games of the series will be broadcasted nationally, with Friday's contest appearing on the BIG EAST Digital Network and Saturday's game getting picked up by FOX College Sports.
The Musketeers are 16-26 overall (3-3 BIG EAST) and coming off a weekend series win against St. John's.
 | THE SCHEDULE |
| Date – Time | Follow Live |
| Fri., April 29 – 3 p.m. | Stats / BEDN / @XavierBASE |
| Sat., April 30 – 1 p.m. | Stats / FCS / @XavierBASE |
| Sun., April 31 – 1 p.m. | Stats / @XavierBASE |
| TELEVISION INFORMATION |
• Friday's game will be shown on the BIG EAST Digital Network with play-by-play from Mark Minner and analysis by Nick Gardner.
• Saturday's game will be the first on national television for the Musketeers this season, featuring play-by-play from Bob Brainerd and analysis by Chase Byerly.
• Fans can locate FOX College Sports Atlantic through this channel finder.
| PROJECTED STARTERS |
| Friday | LHP Zac Lowther (4-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. LHP Bobby Napoleon (0-4, 4.66 ERA) |
| Saturday | RHP Matt Kent (1-1, 1.11 ERA) vs. LHP Nick Morton (2-4, 4.14 ERA) |
| Sunday | TBA vs. LHP Jeff Schank (1-6, 3.14 ERA) |
| AROUND THE HORN |
• The Musketeers are off to a 16-26 start, playing 29 of their first 42 away from Hayden Field. The competition has been stiff early, as seven of XU's first 11 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.
| XU'S WINNINGEST COACH |
• Googins has 291 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.
| SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION |
• Butler won game one against the Hoyas in 13 innings, getting a walk-off single from Chris Marras, and picked up another win in the rubber match on Sunday.
• As a team, Butler bats .236 with a .309 on-base percentage. The pitching staff has compiled a 5.76 ERA, allowing 438 hits in 353.1 innings (.305 batting average against).
• Tyler Houston leads BU with a .305 batting average and 21 RBI.
• Chris Marras has caught just 23.5% (8-for-34) of attempted base stealers and will be tested against XU.
• Friday starter Bobby Napoleon has a 4.66 ERA in 13 appearances and will be making his sixth start. The lefty has fanned 15 in 29 innings.
• Saturday starter Nick Morton has a 4.14 ERA in 10 starts, covering 63 innings. He has struck out just 28, but rarely allows a free pass with just eight walks allowed.
• Sunday starter Jeff Schank leads the Butler staff with a 3.14 ERA in 10 starts, striking out 47 in 66 innings.
• Defensively, Butler has committed 70 errors in 40 games for a fielding percentage of .955. The Bulldogs have been prolific in turning two, however, ranking 65th in the nation with 34 double plays.
• The Bulldogs have won two-of-three against the Musketeers in each of the last two weekend series between the two programs in 2015 and 2014. XU got its last series win in 2013, taking two-of-three.
| PROJECTED LINEUP |
| Name (Class) | Position | Notes |
| Rylan Bannon (So.) | Third Base | Started season 0-for-16 and is 32-for-113 (.283) with three homers and 11 RBI since... had an 11-game hitting streak snapped on April 12 at Miami (OH)... has reached base in 17 of his last 21 games... |
| Will LaRue (So.) | Left Field | Ranks third on team with a .260 batting average and 13th nationally with 23 stolen bases... tied for third on team with 24 runs scored... second on team with 18 walks... went 4-for-12 (.333) with two runs scored and three doubles in St. John's series... |
| Daniel Rizzie (Sr.) | Catcher | 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST... missed most of last season with hand injury... named to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after hitting .357 with three homers in four games last week... batting .343 (33-for-96) with eight homers in last 25 starts... leads team with 15 multi-hit games... |
| Joe Gellenbeck (Jr.) | First Base | Has homered in eight of XU's 11 weekend series... second on team with nine homers... second on team with 29 RBI... second in BIG EAST with 84 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 12 homers and 91 total bases... leads team and is tied for third in BIG EAST with 32 RBI... also leads team with eight HBP and 27 runs scored... has made 150 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 59 of last 72 games going back to 2015... had a streak of five straight multi-hit games snapped last Tuesday at NKU... is batting 14-for-36 (.389) over last 10 games... had first career multi-HR effort on Saturday in game two win against St. John's (2-for-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI)... |
| Chris Givin (Fr.) | Second Base | Has started at second in 26 of last 28 games... fifth on team with a .257 batting average... has a hit in 13 of his last 18 games... slammed first career homer on Saturday in game two against St. John's... |
| Ethan Schmidt (Jr.) | Designated Hitter | Has started nine straight games and is riding a seven game hitting streak... 10-for-30 (.333) with a homer in last nine starts... hit second homer of season in last Tuesday's 8-1 win at NKU... |
| Matt Fallon (Jr.) | Center Field | Transfer from Black Hawk College (JC)... has reached base in 36 of 41 games this season, including all three games St. John's last weekend... leads team with 26 walks... OBP of .386 is second on team... |
| PROJECTED STARTERS |
| Day | Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Fri. | Zac Lowther (So.) | LHP | Has lasted at least five innings in all 10 of his turns so far as the Friday night starter... leads team in innings (62.2) and strikeouts (55)... is sixth in the BIG EAST in IP and fourth in strikeouts... tied for BIG EAST lead with 21 strikeouts looking... 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. | Matt Kent (Fr.) | RHP | Leads team with 1.11 ERA in 24.1 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 (4/17)... picked up first career win in series-clincher against St. John's last Sunday, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings and striking out three... |
| Sun. | TBA | - | - |
| BULLPEN |
| Name (Class) | Throws | Notes |
| Garrett Schilling (So.) | RHP | Tied for team lead with 17 appearances... second on team with a 1.35 ERA... leads XU and ranks 30th in the nation with eight saves, including one in each of XU's last two wins... 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 17 appearances... has pitched 1+ innings in 13 of 17 appearances... has thrown 10.2 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 17 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 last 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 last Wednesday... |
| Damien Richard (So.) | RHP | Has made 12 appearances, including eight out of the bullpen and four starts... has taken two turns in weekend rotation... started first career game at Wright State (3/8)... has thrown 23 innings out of the bullpen, compiling a 2.35 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)... helped XU seal a win on Saturday, throwing 4.1 innings of one-run relief against St. John's (4/23)... |
| 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 last Wednesday without allowing an earned run (4/20)... |
| BOMBS AWAY |
• The Musketeers have homered at least once in 17 of their last 27 games, totaling 35 longballs over that span.
• With 44, XU leads the BIG EAST Conference in homers by 26. The next closest team is Villanova with 18 total.
• Xavier has more homers than Butler (7), Seton Hall (7), Creighton (7), and St. John's (16) combined.
• Andre Jernigan ranks 18th in the nation with 12 longballs, including four in his last six games.
• Joe Gellenbeck ranks 53rd in the nation with nine longballs and has homered in eight of XU's 11 weekend series.
• XU boasts the top three home run hitters in the BIG EAST Conference: Jernigan (12), Gellenbeck (9), Rizzie (8)
• No other individual in the conference has more than five homers.
• 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.
| X CAN PICK IT |
• XU has committed 39 errors in 42 games, including 16 errorless outings.
• The Musketeers rank 51st in the NCAA with 36 double plays turned.
• Catcher Dan Rizzie has been a standout behind the plate, throwing out 62.5 percent (15-for-24) of attempted base stealers with just one error this season.
| 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 13th in the nation with 23 steals and 22nd in the nation with 0.56 steals per game.
| 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.
| 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 (17), while throwing a combined 66.1 innings of relief.
• Kent has worked his way into the weekend rotation after making his first career start against Miami (OH) on April 12.
| YOUTH MOVEMENT |
• The Musketeers lost 15 letterwinners overall and have 13 newcomers on the 2016 roster.
| BIG EAST PROGNOSTICATIONS |
• It's the third straight season the Musketeers have been selected to finish fourth in the poll.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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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