Xavier University Athletics
Saturday, May 27
Mason, Ohio / Prasco Park
2:00 PM
Xavier University
vs
UConn
Baseball Set to Face UConn for 2023 BIG EAST Title
05.26.23 | Baseball
Musketeers need one win in double elimination tournament to secure conference championship, NCAA bid
MASON, Ohio - Xavier baseball looks to claim the program's fourth BIG EAST Championship on Saturday, May 27, facing the No. 1 seed UConn at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. First pitch between the Musketeers and the Huskies set for a 2:00 p.m. start on FloSports.Â
Xavier, the No. 2 seed, advanced to play for the title with a 6-5 win over No. 3 seed Seton Hall in the opening round, and a 10-2 win over UConn in the winner's bracket, just needing one win to claim the title in the double elimination format.Â
The championship appearance marks the seventh time Xavier has advanced to play for the BIG EAST title, with the Musketeers making the championship series in each year XU has made the tournament since joining the league. A win would mark the fourth BIG EAST Championship in program history (2014, 2016, 2017) and the fifth NCAA bid for the Musketeers (2009, 2014, 2016, 2017). Xavier stands at 36-22 on the season, the second highest win total in program history.Â
The Huskies, who are currently ranked as high as No. 9 in the country, opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over No. 4 win over Georgetown before falling to Xavier on Thursday evening, 10-2. In Friday's elimination game, UConn took a 10-1 win over the Hoyas to move on to Saturday.
Should UConn win the 2:00 p.m. game on Saturday, it would force a deciding second game in the championship series, set to be played following game one at approximately 5:30 p.m., if necessary.
In Xavier's first two games of the tournament, the Musketeers are batting .282 as a team, led by shortstop Jack Housinger's .718 average at the plate, going 5-7 with four walks with eight runs scored so far in the tournament. Housinger leads four Musketeers averaging .300 or above at the plate for the tournament, with outfielder Carter Hendrickson batting .500, designated hitter Tyler DeMartino averaging .429 at the plate, and outfielder Andrew Walker batting .300 with a tournament-high five RBIs after two games.
The Musketeers also got strong outings from its starters in the first two games, with Brant Alazaus going 8.1 innings in Wednesday's win, allowing four earned runs and striking out six, and Ethan Bosacker going 7.2 innings in Thursday's win, giving up just a pair of earned runs while striking out five.
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Xavier, the No. 2 seed, advanced to play for the title with a 6-5 win over No. 3 seed Seton Hall in the opening round, and a 10-2 win over UConn in the winner's bracket, just needing one win to claim the title in the double elimination format.Â
The championship appearance marks the seventh time Xavier has advanced to play for the BIG EAST title, with the Musketeers making the championship series in each year XU has made the tournament since joining the league. A win would mark the fourth BIG EAST Championship in program history (2014, 2016, 2017) and the fifth NCAA bid for the Musketeers (2009, 2014, 2016, 2017). Xavier stands at 36-22 on the season, the second highest win total in program history.Â
The Huskies, who are currently ranked as high as No. 9 in the country, opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over No. 4 win over Georgetown before falling to Xavier on Thursday evening, 10-2. In Friday's elimination game, UConn took a 10-1 win over the Hoyas to move on to Saturday.
Should UConn win the 2:00 p.m. game on Saturday, it would force a deciding second game in the championship series, set to be played following game one at approximately 5:30 p.m., if necessary.
In Xavier's first two games of the tournament, the Musketeers are batting .282 as a team, led by shortstop Jack Housinger's .718 average at the plate, going 5-7 with four walks with eight runs scored so far in the tournament. Housinger leads four Musketeers averaging .300 or above at the plate for the tournament, with outfielder Carter Hendrickson batting .500, designated hitter Tyler DeMartino averaging .429 at the plate, and outfielder Andrew Walker batting .300 with a tournament-high five RBIs after two games.
The Musketeers also got strong outings from its starters in the first two games, with Brant Alazaus going 8.1 innings in Wednesday's win, allowing four earned runs and striking out six, and Ethan Bosacker going 7.2 innings in Thursday's win, giving up just a pair of earned runs while striking out five.
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Players Mentioned
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