Baseball Set to Host Creighton for Three Games at Hayden Field

Friday, April 12

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 PM

Xavier University

Creighton

Tickets

Baseball Set to Host Creighton for Three Games at Hayden Field

04.11.24 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers and Bluejays get underway on Friday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m.

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball is set for the first home BIG EAST series of the season, facing Creighton for three games at Hayden Field starting Friday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m. The series continues on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and wraps up on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games will be live streamed on FloSports.

The Musketeers are 15-17 overall on the season and are 1-2 in BIG EAST play after opening the conference schedule at UConn.

PROJECTED STARTERS

Friday - Nick Boyle (RHP) vs TBD
Saturday - Logan Schmidt (RHP) vs. Chad Saner (RHP)
Sunday - TBD vs. Jimmy Burke (RHP)

CREIGHTON NOTABLES

Creighton is 25-5 overall, with series wins over Coppin State, UMass Lowell, Portland, San Francisco, Stanford and Charleston Southern in non-conference play.
CU opened BIG EAST play at home with Butler last weekend, going 2-1 against the Bulldogs.
The Bluejays were picked fourth in the BIG EAST Preseason poll, with a pair of players, Jack Grace and Dominic Cancellieri earning Preseason All-Conference honors.
Creighton went 25-14 overall last season with a 10-11 record in BIG EAST play to finish fifth in the standings.
Xavier is 19-18 against the Bluejays all-time after going 3-0 in the 2023 series in Omaha.

XAVIER NOTES

Nick Boyle is set to start on Friday, his eighth start of the season. He has a 5.40 ERA through 31.2 innings of work this season, with a team-high matching 40 strikeouts.
Logan Schmidt is projected as Saturday's starter, making his seventh start and 11th appearance of the season. He has an 8.07 ERA through 35.2 innings pitched with 28 strikeouts.
Luke Hoskins has a 5.94 ERA through a team-high 47.0 innings pitched, with a team-high matching 40 strikeouts to just six walks.
Jake Hooker made his first start of the season on Sunday at UConn, marking his 11th appearance this season. He has a 2.20 ERA through 16.1 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts on the season.
Connor Bailey made his third start of the season on Tuesday against Cincinnati, with an ERA of 5.09 through23.0 innings pitched across 13 appearances.
Jonathan Kelly has made 13 appearances, including one start, and is now up to 87 career appearances as a Musketeer, fifth most in program history. with a 3.42 ERA through 26.1 innings pitched, picking up three saves so far this season.
Alex Vera has made a team-leading 19 appearances, including one start, allowing 18 earned runs in 21.0 innings of work with three saves on the season.
Nolan Hughes has made 10 appearances, coming out of the bullpen in six games. He has a 6.19 ERA through 16.0 innings pitched, striking out 30 so far this season.
3B Luke Hammond has 33 hits on the season, including 14 for extra bases, has driven in 19 RBI and scored 20 runs. He enters the weekend with a team-best seven game hit streak.
Connor Misch, who has played in 23 games and started in 17, batting .294 on the season with eight of his 20 hits going for extra bases.
1B Matt McCormick has reached base in 31 games this season, with a .286 average at the plate and a team-leading 30 RBI. He has a team-leading 10 home runs among his 34 hits, and has scored a team-high matching 23 runs and has a team-high 20 walks.
Hayden Christiansen has an average of .294, best among Xavier's everyday players, and an 11-game reached safely streak entering the weekend. He has a team-high 37 hits on the season, including 11 for extra bases, driving in 25 RBI.
Catcher Matthew DePrey has 35 hits on the season, including 11 for extra bases, has 16 walks and has scored 20 runs.
2B Jared Cushing has reached base in the last 16 games, with a 10-game hitting streak entering the weekend. He has 22 hits on the season, with 11 going for extra bases, has driven in 24 RBI and scored 22 runs.
Carter Hendrickson has a .273 ERA in 25 games played, making 19 starts in the outfield. Ten of his 21 hits have gone for extra bases, and he's come around to score 17 runs.
Aedan Anderson has played in 31 games, making 18 starts, with .244 average at the plate. He has 19 hits, including seven home runs, and 15 walks on the season and a team-high matching 23 runs scored.
Grant Stephenson has started in 24 games, with 12 hits on the season, eight going for extra bases, and nine walks. He's driven in seven RBI and scored eight runs
Tyler Stack has played in nine games this season, making seven starts at DH, with a .217 average with five hits and seven walks, five RBI and five runs scored.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After helping Xavier to a BIG EAST-opening win at UConn on Friday, right-handed pitcher Luke Hoskins earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the league announced on Monday.
Hoskins, a junior from Arvada, Colo., went a career-long 8.0 innings in the start on Friday at UConn, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts to just one walk. Hoskins picked up the win in Xavier's 9-5 victory to move to 4-3 on the season.

RETURNING MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers, who received votes in the NCBWA Preseason Poll, return seven every-day players from the 2023 roster that won the program's fourth BIG EAST Championship and made the program's fifth NCAA appearance. The Musketeers took part in the 2023 Nashville Regional, advancing to the Regional Finals before wrapping up the season at 39-25, tying the school record for wins (Also set in 2009).
Matthew DePrey, the 2023 All-BIG EAST First Team selection at catcher, started all 64 games behind the plate for the Musketeers, tying the Xavier single-season record for appearances. He batted .278, primarily hitting No. 2 in the order, with 10 doubles and a team-high matching 14 home runs among his 73 hits, finishing the season with a .475 slugging percentage. DePrey, who drove in 42 RBI and scored 50 runs last season, was named to D1Baseball's Preseason Top 50 Catchers list.
Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Matt McCormick was a second-team all-conference pick last season after starting in 62 games, mostly at first base. McCormick batted primarily in the five-hole, finishing with a .309 average for the season. He had 12 doubles and team-high matching 14 home runs among his 69 hits for a .552 slugging percentage, best among Xavier's everyday players, driving in in 44 RBI and scoring 40 runs. He also had 32 walks on the season, leading Xavier's starters with a .421 on-base percentage. McCormick was named to D1Baseball's Preseason Top 50 list for first basemen.
Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Jared Cushing was the All-BIG EAST Second Team pick at second base in 2023, after starting in a school-record matching 64 games. He batted .284, finishing the season with 71 hits, including 10 doubles, a triple and a team-high matching 14 home runs for a .500 slugging percentage, driving in 50 RBI and scoring 43 runs. Cushing, who was named to D1Baseball's Preseason Top 50 list for second basemen, posted a .980 fielding percentage and helped the Musketeers turn 35 double plays.
The league's preseason pick at third base, Grant Stephenson, was a 2023 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection after batting .236 on the season, with a .313 average at the plate in BIG EAST play. He finished with 10 doubles and three home runs among his 48 hits, driving in 29 RBI and scoring 27 runs.
Outfielder Garrett Schultz, was a 2024 Preseason All-BIG EAST Selection after starting in 39 games at center field last season. Schultz, who dealt with a mid-season injury in 2023, batted .278 with 40 hits, including six doubles and three home runs. He drove in 23 RBI and scored 17 runs.
Carter Hendrickson played in 58 games last season, starting in 55, splitting time between right and center field. The junior batted .250 for the season, collecting 46 hits, including eight doubles, a triple and five home runs, and drove in 23 RBI and scored 39 runs. He finished with an on-base percentage of .398, taking 31 walks on the season. He was hit by pitches 15 times, second most in a single season in Xavier's records. During the BIG EAST Tournament, he batted .308 through four games, going 4-of-13 with two walks and scoring four runs to earn All-BIG EAST Tournament Team honors.
After dealing with an early-season injury, Tyler DeMartino started in 43 games for the Musketeers, including 41 at DH, batting .255 primarily in the cleanup spot. He finished the season with 40 hits, including five doubles, a triple and 10 home runs, driving in 32 RBI and scoring 28 runs. DeMartino was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team after batting .308 through the four games of the tournament, finishing 4-of-13 at the plate with three walks and three hit-by-pitches, driving in three RBI.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier travels across town to face Cincinnati on Wednesday, April 17, set for a 5:00 p.m. start at UC Baseball Stadium.
Following the game with the Bearcats, Xavier heads to New Jersey for a three-game series at Seton Hall, running Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21.
Xavier is scheduled to face nine programs that played in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, including four teams that advanced to a Super Regional and a pair of teams that competed in the College World Series.

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

In 2023, Xavier finished second in the BIG EAST regular season and won the BIG EAST Tournament Championship to earn a bid to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2017. Xavier, the No. 2 seed in the league tournament, beat the No. 3 seed Seton Hall in the opening game and No. 1 seed UConn in the winner's bracket to advance to the Championships series. UConn took game one of the series, forcing a deciding game seven of the tournament, where the Musketeers posted a five-run ninth inning to come from behind and take the 7-3 win and clinch the title.
The 2023 championship was the program's fourth tournament title in the nine times the league has held the event since Xavier joined the conference for the 2013-14 season.
The Musketeers have made the four-team BIG EAST Tournaments seven times since joining the conference, including every season the event has been held since 2019.
Xavier has advanced to the conference championship series in each of its seven trips to the league tournament, claiming the tournament championship four times (2014, 2016, 2017, 2023) and finishing runners up three times (2019, 2021, 2022). Xavier also won the regular season title in 2016.

PRESEASON PICKS

Xavier, coming off the 2023 BIG EAST Tournament Championship, was picked to finish second in the league, earning a pair of first place votes in the coaches' poll.
Four Musketeers earned Preseason All-BIG EAST honors, as voted on by the league's coaches, including a trio of infielders, Matt McCormick, Jared Cushing and Grant Stephenson, as well as right-handed pitcher Luke Hoskins.

Preseason Player of the Year
Jake Studley, OF, UConn

Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Stephen Quigley, SP, UConn

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, Georgetown
1B – Matt McCormick, Xavier ^
2B – Jared Cushing, Xavier
3B – Grant Stephenson, Xavier ^
SS – Max Viera, Seton Hall
DH – Jack Grace, Creighton
OF – Joey Urban, Butler
OF – Jake Studley, UConn ^
OF – Devin Hack, Seton Hall
SP – Garrett Coe, UConn
SP – Stephen Quigley, UConn ^
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Creighton
SP – Cody Bowker, Georgetown
SP – Luke Hoskins, Xavier
RP – Ryan Reich, Seton Hall

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

BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. UConn (6) – 48
2. Xavier (2) – 44
3. Seton Hall – 35
4. Creighton – 29
4. Georgetown – 29
6. St. John's – 17
7. Butler – 14
8. Villanova – 8

XU TO HOST THE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

The 2024 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 four-team tournament opens on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 and is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 25, 2024.
The BIG EAST announced in 2023 that Prasco Park would extend the partnership, which began in 2018, with Xavier remaining the co-host of the annual postseason tournament through 2028.