Baseball Heads to South Carolina to Face Wofford

Saturday, March 18

Spartanburg, SC

3 PM

Xavier University

Wofford

Baseball Heads to South Carolina to Face Wofford

03.17.23 | Baseball

Live Stats

Three-game series with Terrier moved south due to weather

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball heads back out on the road, traveling south this weekend after weather forced the series with Wofford to Spartanburg, S.C. The Musketeers and Terriers will play two on Saturday, starting at 3:00 p.m., then wrap up the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Russell C. King Field.

The Musketeers are 7-9 on the season after falling to Michigan in the home opener on Wednesday.

OPPONENT NOTABLES

The Terriers enter the game at 14-2, with series wins over Southern Illinois, Kent State, Sacred Heart and Cincinnati, as well as wins over UNC Asheville, Winthrop and Michigan State. Prior to falling at Georgia on Tuesday, Wofford had won 14 straight games.
Wofford went 42-16-1 last season with a 16-4-1 record in SoCon play, winning the regular season league championship and earning the No. 1 seed to the conference tournament.
The Terriers opened up the SoCon Tournament with back to back wins, over UNC Greensboro and Samford, before falling twice to UNC Greensboro.
Xavier is 2-6 all-time against the Terriers.

THE LINEUP

Garrett Schultz has made every start at center field, and has a .246 average at the plate. Schultz has 15 hits and 10 walks on the season, driving in 10 RBI. His current hitting streak of six is the best among the Musketeers at the moment, and he's reached safely in all 16 games this season.
Andrew Walker has made each start at left, with a .333 average at the plate. Among his team-high 22 hits are five doubles, and has driven in a team-high 13 RBI.
Shortstop Jack Housinger bats in the three-hole, with 10 hits, including seven for extra bases, and leads the team with 11 walks so far in the season. Among his hits are three doubles, a triple and three home runs. Housinger has 10 RBI and eight runs scored on the season.
Third baseman Grant Stephenson has a .258 average (16-62) at the plate, and has driven in eight RBI.
First baseman Matt McCormick currently has a .321 batting average, with 18 hits, including four home runs, with a .571 slugging percentage.
Jared Cushing has made the start at second base in every game. He has a .224 average at the plate, with three home runs. Cushing has 10 RBI and eight runs scored to his credit.
Catcher Matthew DePrey has a .277 average, with 10 of his 18 hits going for extra bases, including a team-high seven home runs, the most in the BIG EAST. He's scored a team-high 13 runs and has nine RBI.
Hayden Christiansen has started nine games at DH, has a team-best .412 average at the plate (14-34), including a double and a home run (.529 slugging percentage). He's scored seven runs and driven in four RBI.
Carter Hendrickson has made 12 starts with a .263 average (10-38) including two doubles and a home run, hit in his first collegiate at-bat, and has come around to score seven runs. He's reached safely in all 12 games he's played in.
Aedan Anderson has made six starts, two at DH and four at right field. Anderson has three hits (3-17) with three runs scored and an RBI.
Teddy Deters has also made a pair of starts at DH, batting .333 (2-6) including his first collegiate home run, driving in an RBI and scoring a pair of runs.
Connor Misch has started a pair of games, one at first base, one at DH. Luke Hammond and Alex Helmin have each appeared in the starting line-up as well.

ON THE MOUND

Ethan Bosacker has made four starts, with a 2.35 ERA through 23.0 IP. Bosacker has a .224 opposing batting average, allowing six earned runs on 19 hits. He has team-high 24 strikeouts to six walks, with a WHIP of 1.09 and is 2-1 on the season.
Brant Alazaus has made four starts, with a 6.75 ERA in 20.0 innings pitched. He's allowed 15 earned runs on 19 hits with 22 strikeouts to four walk and is 2-2 on the season after picking up a win at Saint Mary's.
Nick Boyle has made three starts, with a 10.12 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched, allowing eight runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts to nine walks.
Luke Hoskins has made six appearances, including four starts, and has a 5.68 ERA through 19.0 innings pitched. He's allowed 12 runs on 20 hits, with 18 Ks and four walks.
Justin Loer has made eight appearances, including one start, posting a 2.45 ERA through 14.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits, with 15 Ks to five walks. He's 1-1 on the season.
Jonathan Kelly has a 5.52 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched, making a team-high nine appearances out of the bullpen. Kelly has 12 strikeouts to just three walks.
Clay Schwaner has made six appearances out of the bullpen, with a 3.68 ERA through 7.1 innings pitched, and has three saves on the season.
Connor Bailey has made five appearances out of the bullpen with a 2.45 ERA through 7.1 IP, allowing two earned runs on seven hits.
Luke Bell has made five appearances out of the pen with a 7.90 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched, with 14 Ks to five walks. He went career-long 5.2 innings in game three against UC Santa Barbara, not allowing a run.
Nick Kolze has made a pair of appearances with a 0.00 ERA through 3.0 innings. He hasn't allowed a hit, and has one strikeout to one walk, with a record of 1-0.
Creighton Hansen has a 0.00 ERA through 2.1 IP in three appearances. He's not allowed a run, has given up just one hit, and has three strikeouts to three walks.
Jake Zicka (1.0 IP) and Bryce Barnett (0.1 IP) both posted an ERA of 0.00 during the opening weekend.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Following a 2-1 week for Xavier in California, a pair of Musketeers, Andrew Walker and Brant Alazaus, were named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the league announced on Monday.
Alazaus, a graduate student from Alliance, Ohio, made the start in game two of Saturday's doubleheader at Saint Mary's, going 6.0 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits. He finished the game with five strikeouts to one walk, bringing his season total to 22 Ks. Xavier took the 5-2 win over the Gaels, with the lefty picking up the W to move to 2-2 on the season.
Walker, an outfielder from Pittsburgh, Pa., led the Musketeers a the plate during a 2-1 week in California, finishing with a .417 average. The graduate student recorded three hits (3-4) with a walk with three stolen bases at Cal Poly, driving in three RBI and scoring a run as Xavier took the 7-1 win. Walker also recorded a multi-hit game in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's, going 2-4 with a walk. Among his hits was a two-run homer, his first home run of the season. Walker also scored a pair of runs in the 5-2 win for the Musketeers.
For the week, Walker had a team-high five hits, and team-high five RBI, matched for team-high with three runs scored and two walks, and was 4-4 in stolen base attempts.

DEPREY ON POSEY WATCH LIST

Xavier junior catcher Matthew DePrey was named to the Watch List for the 2023 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award, released by the Wichita Sports Commission on Friday.
Sixty-five catchers were nominated for the award by their schools. Because the award is given annually to the top division one collegiate catcher, the list will be updated to include other candidates until May 8, 2023. The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, announced on May 22, 2023.
DePrey is one of three catchers from the BIG EAST on the list. Ballots will be sent to the national voting committee at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 6, 2023.
A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced on June 29, 2023.

VS. CANCER PLEDGE IT CAMPAIGN

Xavier Baseball is once again joining forces with Vs. Cancer to raise money in support of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, taking part in a "Pledge It" campaign though seven games during the 2023 season.
Donors can pledge a donation per hit or per strikeout the team collects during the series against Butler (April 6-8), Xavier's weekday game as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic set for April 11, and the series against UConn (April 14-16). Those interested can visit GoXavier.com/PledgeIt.
The team will conclude the campaign with a head-shaving event after the game on April 16, to show support of kids across the country battling cancer.
Fans wishing to support the fundraising efforts can make a donation per hit or per strikeout, pledging that amount for the team's total of either hits or strikeouts through those eight games. Sponsors can also choose to make outright gift of any amount. The Musketeers last took part in a "Pledge It" campaign to support Vs. Cancer in 2021, raising over $22,000.
Xavier Baseball has worked with Vs. Cancer since 2014 to help support children battling cancer, raising over $60,000 for the cause in that time.
Those funds were, in part, used to help the Vs. Cancer organization make a $100,000 gift to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. With the donation, Cincinnati Children's Hospital was assisted in being able to establish its Proton Therapy Center, one of only two such centers in the world owned by a children's hospital.

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 48 for his time as a Musketeer, fourth most in program history and just 14 shy of matching the school record of 62.
After setting the single season school record of 68 runs scored last season, Housinger now has a career total of 149, ninth most in program history, with the current school record standing at 211.
He also had 47 walks on the season for 2022, the sixth most in a single season in program history, with his current total standing at 143, third most career walks for a Musketeer. The current school record is 188.

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 home next week to host Cincinnati on Wednesday, March 22 at 3:00 p.m. at Hayden Field.
Cincinnati went 24-31 overall and 12-12 in AAC play last season.
The Bearcats were the No. 4 seed in the AAC Tournament, opening play with a win over Tulane before being eliminated by loss to ECU and Tulane.
Xavier is 51-70 all-time against the Bearcats after going 4-0 in the season series last season.

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, score 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.

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 it's 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.