Baseball Opens Four-Game Homestand with EKU on Tuesday

Baseball Opens Four-Game Homestand with EKU on Tuesday

04.24.23 | Baseball

Musketeers and Colonels set to play at 3:00 p.m. at Hayden Field

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball returns home to host four games this week, starting with a midweek match-up against Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, April 24, at Hayden Field. The game against the Colonels is set for a 3:00 p.m. start on FloSports.

The Musketeers are 25-15 overall and 7-2 in BIG EAST play after sweeping Villanova over the weekend, moving back to the top of the BIG EAST standings.

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OPPONENT NOTES

The Colonels are 19-21 overall with a 9-9 record in ASUN play, coming off a three-game sweep of North Alabama.
Eastern Kentucky went 38-20 overall last season, with a 20-10 record in the ASUN, winning the west division and earning the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament.
EKU advanced to the ASUN Tournament Semifinals where they were eliminated by Liberty
Xavier is 20-28 all-time against the Colonels after falling in the lone match-up last season.

THE LINEUP

Left fielder Andrew Walker is batting .316 on the season, with a team-high 55 hits and 36 RBIs, also a team high. Among his hits are 11 doubles and five home runs.
Catcher Matthew DePrey has a .321 average at the plate on the season. Among his 54 hits are eight doubles and 10 home runs, matching for team-high. He's driven in 28 RBI and scored 34 runs.
Shortstop Jack Housinger is batting .211, with 18 of his 32 hits going for extra bases, including a team-high matching 10 home runs. Housinger has 28 RBI, a team-high 38 runs scored on the season, and is second in the BIG EAST with 35 walks.
Tyler DeMartino returned from injury to make his first appearance against Michigan and has started in 24 games. He's batting .283 with 23 RBI and 21 runs scored, with nine home runs on the season.
Matt McCormick has made 39 starts, primarily at first base, with a .343 average at the plate. Among his 49 hits are 18 for extra bases, including eight doubles and a team-high match 10 home runs.
Carter Hendrickson has made 35 starts, primarily in the outfield, with a .267 average at the plate. Among his 32 hits are 11 for extra bases, including four home runs. Hendrickson has 19 RBI and 24 runs scored on the season.
Second baseman Jared Cushing has a .288 average at the plate, with six doubles and nine home runs, driving in 23 RBI and scoring 31 runs.
Alex Helmin has appeared in 21 games, starting in 13. Helmin has a .377 batting average, has 18 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Third baseman Grant Stephenson is batting .240 on the season, including nine hits for extra bases after hitting a pair of home runs in the series against UConn. He has 17 RBI and 16 runs scored.
Garrett Schultz has 27 starts in center field, with a .255 average at the plate. He has 14 walks for the season, has driven in 17 RBI and scored 14 runs. He's reached base in 27 games.
Connor Misch has appeared in 20 games, posting a .250 batting average with eight hits, eight RBIs and four runs scored.
Luke Hammond has played in 20 games, with a .250 average the plate. He has three RBI and six runs scored.
Aedan Anderson has played in 20 games, has four hits and five walks on the season and has come around to score six times.
Hayden Christiansen has appeared in 14 games, starting at DH in nine. He's batting .436, highest among Xavier players that have appeared regularly. Among his 17 hits are two doubles and two home runs for a .641 slugging percentage.

ON THE MOUND

Jack Niedringhaus is set to make his first start of the season against EKU. He made his fourth appearance of the season against Villanova and has a 0.00 ERA through 4.1 innings pitched, with one run allowed, unearned, on five hits and seven strikeouts to no walks.
Ethan Bosacker has made 10 starts, with a 3.48 ERA through 62.0 IP after pitching his first complete 9.0 inning game against Villanova, with 24 earned runs allowed on the season. Bosacker leads the BIG EAST with 67 strikeouts, only allowing 17 walks. He has a WHIP of 1.16 and is 5-1 on the season.
Brant Alazaus has made 10 starts, with a 4.29 ERA in 56.2 innings pitched. He's 5-3 on the season, has allowed 31 earned runs, and has 61 strikeouts to just eight walks.
Justin Loer has made 19 appearances, including one start, posting a 2.15 ERA through 37.2 innings, allowing nine earned runs on 25 hits, with 41 Ks to 13 walks. He's 4-3 on the season.
Nick Boyle has made seven appearances, including three starts, with a 7.11 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched, allowing 10 runs on 12 hits with 13 strikeouts to 13 walks.
Luke Hoskins has made 14 appearances, including nine starts, and has a 5.63 ERA through 46.1 innings pitched. He's allowed 29 earned runs on 45 hits, with 32 Ks to 12 walks.
Luke Bell has made 11 appearances, including five starts, with a 6.99 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched and 29 Ks to 18 walks.
Connor Bailey has made 10 appearances including one start. Bailey has a 7.15 ERA through 11.1 innings pitched, allowing nine earned runs on 12 hits, with eight strikeouts to eight walks.
Jonathan Kelly has a 4.42 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched, making a team-high 21 appearances including one start. Kelly has 21 strikeouts to 11 walks.
Clay Schwaner has made 14 appearances out of the bullpen, with a 5.48 ERA through 21.1 innings pitched, and has five saves on the season.
Creighton Hansen has a 2.45 ERA through 7.1 IP in eight appearances. He's allowed just one earned run on two hits, and has seven strikeouts to 10 walks.
Jake Zicka (3.0 IP) has an ERA of 6.00 after making his third appearance of the season, allowing two runs on two hits with three strikeouts to four walks.
Nathan Stahl has a 7.71 ERA through 2.1 innings of work across three appearances, with three Ks to three walks.
Ryan Rumsey made his first appearance of the season against UC, allowing three earned runs on four hits and a walk in 1.0 IP.
Carter Hendrickson made his first appearance on the mound during the NIU series, allowing two runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in 1.0 inning of work.

WEEKLY AWARDS

First baseman Matt McCormick earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll following a week where he led Xavier's every day players with a .545 average at the plate.
McCormick, a senior from Chicago, Ill., had six hits through four games, with three going for extra bases, including his team-high matching 10th home run of the season, finishing the week with a 1.000 slugging percentage.
McCormick also had five walks for the week, with a .688 on-base percentage. He posted two multi-hit games for the week, going 2-3 with three RBI in the series opener against Villanova, and 3-3 in the series finale with the Wildcats. McCormick finished the week with four RBIs and five runs scored, helping Xavier to a 3-1 record, with a series sweep of VU.

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.
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 from the BIG EAST. 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.

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 51 for his time as a Musketeer, tied for second most program history, and just 11 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 179, fourth 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 167, second 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 continues the home stand with a three-game series against Seton Hall, set to run Friday through Sunday.
The Pirates are 20-18 overall with a 5-4 record in BIG EAST play, sitting in fourth place in the conference, with series wins over St. John's and Georgetown.
Seton Hall went 18-35 overall last season, with a 7-13 record in BIG EAST play.
Xavier is 13-15 all-time against the Pirates after going 1-2 in the 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.