Baseball Travels to Eastern Kentucky for Midweek Match-Up

Baseball Travels to Eastern Kentucky for Midweek Match-Up

04.02.19 | Baseball

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball returns to the field on Wednesday, April 3 with a trip to Earle Combs Stadium Richmond, Ky. to face Eastern Kentucky. First pitch with the Colonels is set for 6:00 p.m.

Xavier enters the game at 9-18 overall after three narrow losses at No. 13 Texas over the weekend. The Musketeers will return home this weekend to open BIG EAST play with a three-game series against Georgetown.

SERIES HISTORY

EKU leads the all-time series 26-20.
The Musketeers and the Colonels split the series last season, with the Musketeers winning 22-13 in Richmond and falling 12-8 at Hayden Field.

OPPONENT NOTABLES

EKU enters the game at 16-13 overall and 5-4 in the OVC. The Colonels took two of three over the weekend against SIUE and have also won series against UT Martin, Oakland and Maryland - Eastern Shore.
The Colonels went 30-31 overall and 15-15 in OVC play last season, finishing their season in the OVC Tournament.
Last season, the Colonels knocked off a pair of top-15 teams, won 30 games and finished five spots higher than predicted in the OVC. EKU also was in the final three of the OVC Tournament.
Second baseman Daniel Harris IV was named to the 2018 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Team after hitting .268 with five homers and 35 RBI in 60 games.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game	Xavier	Eastern Kentucky
Wed.	Henry Miller, RHP	Jacob Ferris, RHP

PROJECTED LINEUP

1.	Chris Givin, SS	.316, BA, 37 H, 10 RBI
2.	Ryan Altenberger, 2B	.274 BA, 8 2B, 6 SB
3.	Conor Grammes, DH	.296 BA, 4 HR, 20 R
4.	Allbry Major, LF	.304 BA, 24 H, 3 3B
5.	Jake Shepski, RF	.312 BA, 19 RBI, 22 BB
6.	Matt Warkentin, 1B	.266 BA, 4 HR, 12 RBI
7.	Natale Monastra, C	.239 BA, 21 H, 10 RBI
8.	Jack Housinger, 3B	.282 BA, 5 2B, 13 RBI
9.	Andrew Sexton, CF	.183 BA, 11 H, 10 BB

LINEUP NOTES

Chris Givin enters the game with a team-best .316 batting average has reached base in 25 of 27 games this season, including the first 19 of the season. Givin has a team-best 37 hits this season which ranks second in the BIG EAST, including five doubles, and has collected 12 walks on the season.
Jake Shepski brings a team-best .433 on-base percentage into Wednesday's game. Shepski enters the game with a batting average of .312 and a team-high and league-high 22 walks. Shepski went 7-of-17 at the plate over the last week, collecting a pair of three-hit games against No. 13 Texas and three walks.
Conor Grammes enters the game with Eastern Kentucky with a team-best 11 game on-base streak. Grammes is hitting .296 and has 32 hits, which ranks in the top five in the BIG EAST, and has four doubles and four home runs.
Ryan Altenberger brings a seven-game hitting streak into the week, hitting .274 with a team-high eight doubles. Altenberger also has a 10-game on-base streak. Altenberger has taken 20 walks on the season, second most in the league behind Shepski, and has an on-base percentage of .413.
Allbry Major is hitting .304 after collecting four hits against Texas. Major leads the team with 11 multi-base hits, including a league-leading three triples.
Matt Warkentin and Natale Monastra each bring a nine-game on base streak into the week. Warkentin collected a hit in all five games last week, eight hits in total, including a 3-of-4 day at the plate at Wright State. Monastra collected five hits over the last week, including a season-best three in the series closer at Texas.

X ON THE MOUND

Henry Miller makes his first start of the season on Wednesday. The right handed sophomore has appeared in two games, pitching 1.1 innings total, allowing two earned runs on two hits and four walks with one strike out.
Lane Flamm lead the team in appearances and innings pitched, appearing in 13 games with 31 innings pitched. He has a ERA of 3.77 with a record of 2-2 with three saves.
Conor Grammes leads the team with seven starts, pitching 29.2 total innings with a 7.58 era.
Sam Czabala has a team-best ERA of 1.64, for pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched, through 11 innings pitched in eight appearances. His ERA ranks ninth in the BIG EAST.

RECORD WATCH

Junior Conor Grammes entered the season for 11th all-time in career batting average at XU with a .331 mark. Grammes stands at .328 currently with a season batting average of .296.
Senior Chris Givin's 11 career triples rank fourth in program history, tying John McCambridge in the record book with his second of the season yesterday at Wright State. He tied the XU single season mark with six in 2018 and could make a run at all-time leader Dan Froehle's mark of 18.
Givin should also enter the program's all-time top 10 in both hits and doubles this season with numbers similar to his past seasons. His 212 hits trail the No. 10 spot in program history by six and his 37 doubles are just two outside the program's top 10.
Senior Matt Kent's career ERA of 3.44 entering the season ranks 11th in program history. The righty made his 62nd career appearance last week against Wright State, just eight appearances from entering the program's top 10.

ROAD WARRIORS

Xavier plays its first 20 games on the road this spring before returning to Cincinnati last weekend to open the home schedule on March 22 against Evansville.
XU will play a total of 39 games on the road. After today's game, the Musketeers will play a pair of games at Cincinnati for the Joe Nuxhall Classic next week, before heading to St. John's for the first BIG EAST road series.

X CAN PICK IT

Xavier has been a reliable defensive unit so far, posting a BIG EAST-leading .980 fielding percentage with 20 errors in 27 games. The Musketeers rank 12th nationally.
The Musketeers also lead the league in double plays with 23 on the season.
Xavier posted a .973 fielding percentage in 2018, ranking fourth in program history.
Xavier has set three of the top four program marks in fielding percentage in the last three seasons, including a program record mark of .977 in 2017.

BOMBS AWAY

After going without a home run in their season-opening series at No. 7 UNC, the Musketeers exploded for seven in their series at Samford. That included a five homer game in the Friday opener. The Musketeers now have 22 longballs for the 2019 season.
So far this season, 10 Musketeers have hit a home run, led by four each for Conor Grammes and Matt Warkentin.
Xavier baseball has become one of the most prolific power-hitting teams in the country in recent years, breaking the XU program record with 68 bombs in 2018.
The previous program record was 64 hit by the 1997 Musketeers. Xavier has now hit 129 homers in the last two seasons, the most in successive seasons in the history of the program.
Last year's total of 68 led the BIG EAST by 21 and ranked 21st in the NCAA.
Matt Warkentin led the team and the BIG EAST with 14 homers as 13 different batters provided a longball for XU.
Xavier returns eight players who contributed a homer in 2018, totaling 42 longballs. That number would have ranked second in the league.

ABOUT XAVIER

The Musketeers returned 20 letter-winners and six starters from last season's team, which went 7-11 in the BIG EAST Conference and failed to reach the postseason for just the second time in five years. Xavier returns a number of standouts, including sophomore pitcher/outfielder Allbry Major, who took home All-BIG EAST Second Team, Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors.
The Musketeers also return top hitters Conor Grammes (.330, 10 HR, 27 RBI) and Chris Givin (.342, 4 HR, 45 RBI) in addition to the power bat of Matt Warkentin, who hit 14 homers in his first season with the program last year. Incoming freshman Kody Darcy should slot into the everyday lineup at third base and could be an impact freshman, already earning Preseason BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors from D1Baseball.com and Baseball America.

2019 AWARDS

Conference/National Awards

Conor Grammes	BIG EAST Co-Preseason Player of the Year	Link
Conor Grammes	Preseason All-BIG EAST	Link
Chris Givin	Preseason All-BIG EAST	Link
Allbry Major	Preseason All-BIG EAST	Link

Weekly Awards

Jake Shepski	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (2/18)	Link
Nick Zwack	BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week (2/25)	Link
Matt Warkentin	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (2/25)	Link
Lane Flamm	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (3/4)	Link
Conor Grammes	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (3/4)	Link
Chris Givin	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (3/18)	Link
Conor Grammes	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (3/25)	Link
Jake Shepski	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (4/1)	Link

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

The Musketeers had a down season in 2018, but have won three BIG EAST Championships in the last five seasons overall.
XU won its last title in 2017, sweeping their way to a BIG EAST Championship in Omaha, Neb. XU swept the regular season and tournament titles in 2016 and also won the tournament in 2014, its first year in the league.
Since joining the league in 2014, Xavier has won three of five BIG EAST Championships (2014, 2016, 2017) and ranks third all-time in league championships with Seton Hall, Rutgers and Connecticut. XU and Seton Hall are tied for the most BIG EAST titles amongst current league members.
With back-to-back wins in 2016 and 2017, Xavier became the first team since Louisville in 2008 and 2009 to repeat as tournament champions.

BILLY BALL

After a decorated playing career and four years as an assistant on the Xavier baseball staff, Billy O'Conner enters his second season at the helm of the program in 2019.
During his time on the staff, XU has posted three 30-win seasons, made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament and had nine players selected in the MLB First Year Player Draft. That number includes three straight years with at least one selection and a program record four selections in the 2017 draft.
Billy O'Conner's first career win came at No. 8 Kentucky on Feb. 20, 2018 and he picked up a second top-10 victory on Feb. 26 of this season as XU took down No. 8 Louisville, 5-4, on the road.
Prior to his time as an assistant at XU, O'Conner spent one year as an assistant at Northern Kentucky and two years in the volunteer assistant role at Xavier.

ARMS APLENTY

Xavier went through attrition and injuries with its pitching staff last season, beginning 2018 with the loss of seven seniors and 373.1 innings of total production (70% of total innings). Last season's weekend rotation featured two true freshmen and just 52.2 innings of career experience, all belonging to Damien Richard.
This spring will be a different story as the Musketeers bring back 91 percent of their total innings from 2018. XU lost just four pitchers who logged a total of 42 innings last season.
Fifth year righty Damien Richard is now two seasons removed from Tommy John surgery, while Taylor Williams and David Williams return from the same surgery this season.
Xavier lost time to injury from five pitchers a year ago, including Trey Schramm, Taylor Williams, David Williams, Henry Miller and Roger Danison.

DRAFTING MUSKETEERS

Xavier has had a number of players go on to play professionally in recent years, including at least one MLB Draft selection in each of the last three years.
Lefty pitcher Zac Lowther was the highest-ever selection by a Xavier baseball player, going in the second round compensatory selections of the 2017 MLB Draft at 74th overall. XU's previous high pick was Seth Willoughby, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2012 by the Colorado Rockies.
Xavier had a program record four players selected in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Additionally, two committed players were taken in the draft for the first time in program history.
Xavier's four draft picks were: Zac Lowther (Comp. Round B, 74th pick, Baltimore Orioles), Rylan Bannon (8th Round, 250th pick, LA Dodgers), Garrett Schilling (18th Round, 536th pick, Colorado Rockies), Greg Jacknewitz (22nd Round, 666th pick, San Francisco Giants)
Xavier has had at least one player drafted in 12 of the last 14 years.
17 total XU players have been drafted since 2005.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS

As a team, Xavier was picked to finish fourth in the league with 25 points in the annual BIG EAST coaches poll. XU was just behind Creighton and Seton Hall, who tied for second in the poll with 25 points. Defending league champion St. John's was picked to repeat in 2019 with 36 points.
Conor Grammes was named the BIG EAST Co-Preseason Player of the Year, marking the second time an XU player has received the honor (Joe Gellenbeck, 2017).
Chris Givin, Conor Grammes and Allbry Major were each selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
XU was picked to finish fourth in the league for the fourth time.
Xavier was picked second in last season's poll and was picked to win the league ahead of the 2017 season.

First place votes in ( )
1. St. John's (6) – 36 points
T2. Creighton (1) – 25 pts.
T2. Seton Hall – 25 pts.
4. Xavier – 24 pts.
5. Butler – 17 pts.
6. Georgetown – 13 pts.
7. Villanova – 7 pts.

LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE

Xavier announced a 56-game schedule in October, featuring 16 home contests, four home series and road trips to 11 different states.
The 2018 schedule features eight NCAA Tournament participants, including two College World Series participants in North Carolina and Texas.
16 of Xavier's 23 opponents posted a .500 or better record a year ago.
Overall, the Musketeers will face a challenging schedule that features opponents that combined for a 720-579-1 (.554) record in 2018.

XU TO HOST LEAGUE TOURNEY

Xavier will co-host the 2019 BIG EAST Championships at Prasco Park for the second straight season. The tournament will last from May 23-26.
There will be no charge for admission or concessions for BIG EAST Championship fans in attendance.
The finale of the 2019 BIG EAST Championship will air on FS2. All other games will be available to stream on the BIG EAST Digital Network, a dedicated channel on the FOX Sports GO app. FOX Sports is the BIG EAST Conference's broadcast partner.
Prasco Park is only the second ballpark to host the BIG EAST Baseball Championship not on the East Coast. TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, home of the 2014 and 2016 championships, is the other.