Xavier Baseball Heads South to Face Western Carolina in Three-Game Series

Friday, February 24

Cullowhee, NC

12 PM

Xavier University

Western Carolina

Xavier Baseball Heads South to Face Western Carolina in Three-Game Series

02.23.23 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers and Catamounts set for a noon start on Friday

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball heads to Cullowhee, N.C. this weekend to take on Western Carolina in a three-game series, set to start Friday, Feb. 24 at noon, moved up from 4:00 p.m. due to weather. The series is set to continue Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and conclude on Sunday, set for a 1:00 p.m. start.

Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed on ESPN+ on the WatchESPN platform.

STARTING ROTATION

	Xavier	Western Carolina
Friday	Ethan Bosacker (RHP)	Matt Schepel (RHP)
Saturday	Brant Alazaus (LHP)	Kyle Riesselmann (LHP)
Sunday	Nick Boyle (RHP)	Jonathan Todd (RHP)

OPPONENT NOTABLES

Western Carolina is 2-3 on the season after splitting a four-game series with Akron during the opening weekend and falling to Presbyterian on Wednesday.
Western Carolina went 26-31-1 overall with a 9-11-1 record in the SoCon.
WCU earned the No. 6 seed in the SoCon Baseball Championship, winning its opening game against VMI before being eliminated by Samford and UNCG.
Xavier is 2-4 all-time against the Catamounts, last facing them in a three-game series in 2022 with Xavier going 1-2 at Hayden Field.

THE LINEUP

Garrett Schultz has made all five starts at center field, batting lead-off for the Musketeers. He's currently batting 3-20 with a team-high matching four walks, driving in two RBI and coming around to score twice. Schultz brings a five-game on-base streak into the WCU series.
Andrew Walker has started all five games at left field, batting second in the order. He has a .333 average at the plate (6-18) and enters the weekend on a five-game hitting streak. Among his five hits are a pair of doubles.
Shortstop Jack Housinger batted third in each outing so far, reaching safely in all five games. Housinger's batting .222 (4-18) after the opening week, has scored two runs and driven in a team-high matching three RBI. He brings a four-game hitting streak into the series against the Catamounts.
Grant Stephenson, Xavier's every-day third baseman, batted clean-up in week one, with a .238 average (5-21). He's currently on a four-game hitting streak.
First baseman Matt McCormick, batting fifth in line-up, matches Walker for a team-best average at the plate at .333 after going 3-5 with a pair of home runs at Louisville. He's posted a team-best .722 slugging average and a team-high matching three RBI.
Jared Cushing started all five games at second base, batting sixth. He's currently batting .200 with an RBI and a run scored after hitting his first homer of the season at Louisville.
Catcher Matthew DePrey batted seventh for the Musketeers during the opening week. He's coming off a 3-5 day at the plate at UofL, including his first home run of the season. He has two runs and an RBI to his credit.
Carter Hendrickson has made all five starts in right field, batting ninth. He's batting .200 (3-15) including a double and a home run, knocked in on his first collegiate at-bat, for .467 slugging percentage. He enters the series at Western Carolina on a five-game on-base streak.
Four Musketeers have started at DH, all batting in the eight-hole. Teddy Deters made a pair of starts, batting .333 (2-6) including his first collegiate home run, driving in an RBI and scoring a pair of runs in the series. Hayden Christiansen went 2-4 in the start at Louisville, coming around to score a run. Aedan Anderson and Alex Helmin each started a game at designated hitter.

ON THE MOUND

Ethan Bosacker made the start on Friday, going 7.0 innings in his return after sitting out last season following Tommy John surgery. Bosacker allowed just one earned run on two hits with six strikeouts and currently has a 1.29 ERA.
Brant Alazaus made the start in game one on Saturday, allowing nine runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
Nick Boyle made the start on Sunday, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit, with five strikeouts and five walks.
Justin Loer made the start in game two on Saturday, and entered in relief for the Musketeers against Louisville. He has a 7.20 ERA through 5.0 innings of work, allowing four earned runs and striking out four.
Luke Hoskins made the start at Louisville, going 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts. He has a .318 ERA for the season with four strikeouts.
Clay Schwaner made his third appearance out of the bullpen against Louisville. He has a 10.12 ERA in 2.2 innings pitched with three earned runs allowed on five hits and two walks, with four strikeouts.
Luke Bell has gone 3.1 innings in two appearances, with a 13.50 ERA, allowing six runs and striking out four.
Jonathan Kelly has made a pair of appearances, going 3.1 innings total with a 13.50 ERA, with five runs allowed on seven hits with four strikeouts.
Connor Bailey made an appearance in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, not allowing a run in 1.2 innings of work.
Jake Zicka (1.0 IP) and Bryce Barnett (0.1 IP) both posted an ERA of 0.00 for the opening weekend.

XAVIER BULLPEN - 2022

The Musketeers return a strong core from last season's bullpen which posted a new school record of 482 strikeouts.
RHP Ethan Bosacker made the start in the season opener last Friday, returning to the rotation after sitting out last season due to injury. Prior to Friday, Bosacker was last in action in 2021, making 12 appearance, including 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.34 through 62.0 innings pitched and 53 strikeouts.
Lefty Brant Alazaus started game one of the Saturday doubleheader, his first appearance for the Musketeers after transferring from Walsh University. Alazaus started in 12 games last season at Walsh, pitching a total of 78.1 innings in 15 appearances. He finished had 2.88 ERA, had 100 strikeouts and only seven walks, and finished with a 6-1 record.
Justin Loer (LHP) made start in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. Last season he made 15 appearances, including three starts, finishing with an ERA of 3.55 through 25.1 innings pitched and a record of 2-0, with 18 strikeouts.
RHP Nick Boyle made the start for the Musketeers in the series finale on Sunday, his first career appearance for Xavier.
Among the returners, Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Luke Bell's 59 strikeouts from last season leads the way. Bell made 25 appearances for the Musketeers, including a team-high 10 starts, posting a 4-0 record. He had a 4.31 ERA through 56.1 innings pitched.
Bryce Barnett (40), Jared Gadd (38) and Jonathan Kelly (32), key contributors to last season's strikeout record, also return for Xavier.
Xavier also returns contributors from last season Conner Bailey and Luke Hoskins, as well as letterwinners Ryan Rumsey and Jake Zicka.
Off the transfer portal, Xavier added righties Clay Schwaner (Wofford), Creighton Hansen (Wichita State) and Nathan Stahl (Indiana).
The Musketeers also added freshmen Nick Kolze (RHP) Jack Niedringhaus (LHP) to the bullpen.

THE MUSKETEERS - 2022

The Musketeers bring back seven every-day position players and eight contributors from last season's school-record breaking offensive lineup. Xavier is coming off a season where they drove in a school record 425 RBI, scored a program-best 450 runs, and had 100 home run season, crushing the previous school record of 68.
Among the returners, Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year and the league's Preseason All-BIG EAST selection at shortstop, Jack Housinger, led the way with 16 home runs last season. The mark tied the previous school record and trails only Luke Franzoni's 29 home run season in 2022 in Xavier's single season records. last season, Housinger started at shortstop in all 60 games, batting .311 for the season, with 30 of his 71 hits going for extra bases for a .588 slugging percentage.
Garrett Schultz joined Housinger on the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad. Last season he played in 58 games, starting in 56, primarily in center field, batting .322, with 66 hits, including 14 for extra bases, and took 23 walks. Schultz drove in 33 RBI and came around to score 28 times.
Andrew Walker played in 57 games in 2022, starting in 56, all in left field. Walker batted .309 for the season, with hits 23 going for extra bases for a .505 slugging percentage. Among the extra base hits, he had 15 doubles and five home runs. He took 35 bases on balls, and finished with a career-best .437 on-base percentage.
Tyler DeMartino appeared in 57 games last season, making 55 starts, including 44 at center field and 11 at DH. DeMartino batted .309 for the season, driving in 47 RBI and scoring 40 runs on 63 hits. He had a .564 slugging percentage, collecting 27 hits for extra bases, including 14 doubles and 12 home runs.
Jared Cushing appeared in 58 games, starting in 54, making 34 starts at third base and 20 starts at second base. He Batted .290 for the season knocking in 31 RBI and scoring 33 runs on 60 hits. Of those hits, 20 went for extra bases including 10 home runs.
Matthew DePrey appeared in 42 games, starting in 26 last season, making 20 starts at catcher and six at DH. DePrey batted .266 with 29 hits, scoring 20 runs and driving in 16 RBI.
Alex Helmin appeared in 39 games in 2022, making 16 starts, primarily in right and center field. He finished with a .253 average at the plate, with 19 hits, including three doubles, and seven walks.
Grant Stephenson appeared in 27 games last season, starting in 26, all at third base, batting .310 for the season, with 27 hits, driving in 19 RBI and coming around to score 14 runs.

FOR THE RECORD

After helping Xavier rewrite several records last season, BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, shortstop Jack Housinger is positioned to make moves in the Xavier career records.
Housinger moved into Xavier's top five for career doubles, with 45 for his time as a Musketeer after hitting 13 in 2022. He currently stands at 45 now making him 16 shy of the school record of 62.
Housinger's single season school record of 68 runs scored last season brought his career runs scored total to 141, 10th most in program history, with the current school record standing at 211. His total now stands at 143.
He also had 47 walks on the season for 2022, the sixth most in a single season in program history, to bring his career total to 132, third most career walks for a Musketeer. The current school record is 188. Housinger's current total is 134.

ROAD WARRIORS

Xavier opens the season on the road, playing 18 away games before opening the home portion of the schedule on Wednesday, March 15 against Michigan.
Overall, Xavier will play 36 games on the road, facing opponents from 12 different conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
Among Xavier's 24 scheduled opponents are six teams that competed in last season's NCAA Tournament.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier returns to the Cincinnati area to face Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, February 28, set for a 2:00 p.m. start in Highland Heights, Ky.
The Norse are 3-1 on the season, taking 2-of-3 against Eastern Michigan and then topping EKU. They'll host Western Michigan for a three-game series this weekend.
NKU went 19-35 overall in 2022, and 11-17 in Horizon League play.
Northern Kentucky earned the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, winning its opening round game before being eliminated.
Xavier is 37-20-1 all-time against the Norse after splitting the two-game series last season.

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

The Musketeers have made the four-team BIG EAST Tournaments six times since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season.
Xavier has advanced to the conference championship series in each of its six trips to the league tournament, claiming the tournament championship three times (2014, 2016, 2017), as well as winning the regular season title in 2016.
The Musketeers have advanced to the championship series and finished runners-up in each of the last three tournaments held (2019, 2021, 2022).

X IN THE PROS

A pair of Musketeers were selected in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft, with junior Jack Lynch going to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 18th round, and senior Luke Franzoni selected in the 19th round by the Los Angeles Angels.
The two selections in 2022 makes it 20 total Musketeers selected in the MLB Draft since 2005.
At least one Xavier player has been selected in seven of the last nine years, and the 2022 draft marked the fourth time in that period that multiple Musketeers were picked.

PRESEASON PICKS

Ahead of the 2023 season, Xavier was picked the finish third in BIG EAST by the league coaches.
Graduate student Jack Housinger was named the Preseason Player of the Year, and was the coaches' preseason All-League pick at shortstop.
Senior outfielder Garrett Schultz and Senior RHP Luke Bell were also selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

2023 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year
Jack Housinger, Gr., SS, Xavier

Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Ian Cooke, So., RHP, UConn

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, So.., Georgetown
1B – Ben Huber, Gr., UConn
2B – Andrew Meggs, Sr., Creighton
3B – Kevin Michaels, RJr., St. John's
SS – Jack Housinger, Gr., Xavier
DH – Jack Grace, Sr., Creighton
OF – Korey Morton, Jr., UConn
OF – David Glancy, RJr., St. John's
OF – Will Gale, RJr., Seton Hall
OF – Garrett Schultz, Sr., Xavier
SP – Ian Cooke, So., UConn ^
SP – Cade Lommel, Jr., Creighton
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Jr., Creighton
SP – Luke Bell, Sr., Xavier
RP – Tommy Steier, Gr., Creighton

^ - denotes unanimous selection
* due to a tie in voting, there is an extra member on the preseason all-conference team.

Preseason Coaches' Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. UConn (7) – 49
2. Creighton (1) – 43
3. Xavier – 36
4. Georgetown – 30
5. Seton Hall – 23
6. St. John's – 21
7. Villanova – 15
8. Butler – 7

XU TO HOST LEAGUE TOURNEY

The 2023 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep will be co-hosted by Xavier baseball at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, during Memorial Day Weekend.
The BIG EAST Tournament will open on Wednesday, May 24 and is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 27. The opening day of the tournament has been moved up a day from previous years.
The BIG EAST announced in 2019 that Prasco Park would extend the partnership, which began in 2018, with Xavier remaining the co-host of the annual postseason tournament.