Baseball Hosts Miami, NKU for Pair of Midweek Games

Baseball Hosts Miami, NKU for Pair of Midweek Games

04.29.19 | Baseball

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball returns to Hayden Field to host a pair of midweek games against Miami and Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 1, respectively. Both games are set for 3:00 p.m. starts.

Xavier enters the game at 19-24 overall and 9-2 in BIG EAST play, standing in first place in the BIG EAST standings after securing its fourth series win over the weekend, taking two of three at Creighton. Xavier has two BIG EAST series remaining, hosting Seton Hall this weekend and traveling to Villanova from May 10 to May 12.

OPPONENT NOTABLES - MU

Miami enters the game at 31-12 overall and 12-6 in MAC play. The RedHawks have series wins over Murray State, Oakland, Youngstown State, Northern Kentucky, St. Bonaventure, Kent State, Toledo and Bowling Green.
Xavier faced Miami in Oxford last week, taking the 13-4 win over the RedHawks.
Miami captured the Joe Nuxhall Classic title earlier this season, beating Wright State in the first game and taking Cincinnati to 11 innings in the championship game.
Miami finished 2018 at 35-20 overall and 17-10 in MAC play.
The RedHawks reached the MAC Championship in 2018 before falling to Kent State, 14-0.
Miami lost three juniors, Zach Spears, Nick Ernst and Hayden Senger, to the MLB Draft following the season.
The RedHawks have two former Musketeers on staff in head coach Danny Hayden and equipment manager Joe Forney.
Miami leads the all-time series 44-30-1, but Xavier won four of the last five.

OPPONENT NOTABLES - NKU

Northern Kentucky is 10-32 overall, and will face EKU on Tuesday leading into the game with Xavier. The Norse are 8-13 in Horizon League play.
The Norse have taken four of five against Horizon-league foe Youngstown State, and have also won 2-of-3 against in-conference match-up Wright State.
NKU finished last season at 14-39 overall and 9-21 in Horizon League play.
NKU returned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Griffin Doersching, a power-hitting first baseman who blasted 13 homers and drove in 49 runs last season.
Todd Asalon is in his 19th season in charge of the Norse program in 2019. He has a career record of 532-496-1 overall.
Xavier leads the all-time series 34-19-1 and won both matchups last season, including a 7-5 road win and a 14-3 win at Hayden Field.

PROJECTED LINEUP

1. Conor Grammes, DH .315 BA, 53 H, 6 HR
2. Jake Shepski, RF .306 BA, 49 H, 27 BB
3. Allbry Major, LF .292 BA, 11 2B, 23 RBI
4. Matt Warkentin, 1B .282 BA, 46 H, 6 HR
5. Chris Givin, SS .291 BA, 53 H, 4 3B
6. Jack Housinger, 2B .265 BA, 35 H, 9 2B
7. Luke Franzoni, CF .269 BA, 25 H, 7 HR
8. Natale Monastra, C .231 BA, 31 H, 16 RBI.
9. Kody Darcy, 3B .205 BA, 15 H, 15 R

LINEUP NOTES

Conor Grammes leads the team at the plate with a team-best .315 batting average, with a team-high 38 runs scored on 53 hits, which matches Chris Givin for team high, and the second most in the conference. Grammes has 28 walks, also a team high, with 14 of those walks coming in BIG EAST action.
Jake Shepski enters the game with a .306 batting average and an on-base percentage of .404 with 49 hits and 27 walks on the season. Shepski leads the team with 31 RBIs, fifth most in the conference.
Allbry Major enters the game with a .292 batting average and a .514 slugging percentage, with five home runs, and team-high 11 doubles to go with three triples in 42 hits.
Chris Givin enters the series with a .291 batting average and has a team-best matching 53 hits this season, including four triples, the second most in the conference.
Matt Warkentin is batting .282 on the season with 26 runs scored on 46 hits. Warkentin has 28 RBIs on the seaons, including 12 in conference action. His slugging percentage stands at .429 with 70 total bases, with six doubles and six home runs to his credit.
Luke Franzoni enters the game batting . 269 with a team best .527 slugging percentage after he hit his team-high seventh home run of the season against Miami last week. Franzoni has 25 total hits, 10 for extra bases, and 25 RBIs.
Xavier leads the conference in total hits at 407, and has the second best batting average at .268

X CAN PICK IT

Xavier has the nation's best fielding percentage at .983 as the Musketeers have committed just 28 errors in 43 games.
The Musketeers have 32 double plays on the season, the second most in the conference.
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.

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 .330 currently with a season batting average of .315.
Senior Chris Givin's 13 career triples rank fourth in program history, pulling to within two of third place in the record books with his fourth of the season at Creighton. 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 also entered the program's all-time top 10 in both hits and doubles at Cincinnati. His 228 hits rank seventh all-time at Xavier, just five hits away from the No.6 spot, and his 42 doubles rank fifth in program history.
Senior Matt Kent's career ERA of 3.44 entering the season ranks 11th in program history. The righty has 68 careeer appearances after appearing in three games last week, just two appearances from entering the program's top 10.

ROAD WARRIORS

Xavier played its first 20 games on the road this spring before returning to Cincinnati to open the home schedule on March 22 against Evansville.
XU will play a total of 39 games on the road. Following this weekend's home series with Seton Hall, Xavier will play three games at Villanova and a game at Purdue before returning to the Queen City for three games with Cincinnati.
The Musketeers are 10-22 in non-conference play, with a strength of schedule rated No. 1 in the nation by D1Baseball.com.

BOMBS AWAY

After Allbry Major's inside the park home run at Creighton on Friday, the Musketeers now have 38 longballs for the 2019 season, the most in the BIG EAST.
So far this season, 10 Musketeers have hit a home run, led by seven by Luke Franzoni. Matt Warkentin and Conor Grammes each have six on the season.
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 return 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
Ryan Altenberger	BIG EAST Player of the Week (3/11)	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
Allbry Major	BIG EAST Player of the Week (4/8)	Link
Conor Grammes	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (4/15)	Link
Luke Franzoni	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (4/22)	Link
Jake Shepski	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (4/29)	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.