Baseball Hosts St. John's for Three Game Series at Hayden Field

Friday, April 26

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 PM

Xavier University

St. John's

Tickets

Baseball Hosts St. John's for Three Game Series at Hayden Field

04.25.24 | Baseball

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Game one with the Red Storm set for 3:00 p.m. on Friday

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball returns to Hayden Field this weekend, hosting St. John's for a three-game series running from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28. Game one with the Red Storm is set for a 3:00 p.m. start on Friday. The series continues at

The Musketeers are 21-20 overall on the season and 5-4 in BIG EAST play after taking two of three against Seton Hall last weekend and splitting a pair of midweek games against Miami (Ohio) and NKU.

THE RED STORM

The Red Storm are 25-10-1 overall and 6-3 in BIG EAST play, with a three-game sweep of Villanova, a 2-1 series win against Butler, and a 1-2 record against UConn.
St. John's, which is currently in second place in the league standings, was picked to finish sixth in the conference's preseason poll.
The Johnnies have a league-leading .303 team batting average on offense and also lead the BIG EAST with four shutouts on defense.
SJU's Blake Mayberry ranks second among everyday players in the league in both batting average (.387) and on-base percentage (0.489).
St. John's went 28-25 overall in 2023, with an 8-12 record in BIG EAST play, finishing sixth in the league standings.
Xavier is 17-16 all-time against the Red Storm after going 2-1 in last season's series in New York.

BIG EAST Standings

SCHOOL	CONF	CPCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
UConn	7-2	.778	22-18	.550	11-4	10-13	1-1	W5
St. John's	6-3	.667	25-10-1	.708	16-2-1	8-8	1-0	L2
Georgetown	8-4	.667	27-13	.675	15-5	12-5	0-3	W1
Xavier	5-4	.556	21-20	.512	10-6	11-13	0-1	W1
Creighton	4-5	.444	30-9	.769	14-3	12-5	4-1	W2
Villanova	5-7	.417	14-24	.368	3-5	11-19	0-0	L1
Seton Hall	2-7	.222	19-22	.463	6-12	11-9	2-1	L2
Butler	2-7	.222	16-23	.410	3-9	11-11	2-3	W2

XAVIER NOTES

RHP Luke Hoskins has made 10 starts this season, with a 5.67 ERA through a team-high 54.0 innings pitched. Hoskins has 44 strikeouts to just seven walks, and ranks first in the BIG EAST an No. 6 in NCAA DI in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.17 and also lead the league and ranks in the top 15 in the country with a 6.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
LHP Alex Vera leads NCAA DI with 25 appearances this season, and has a 6.25 ERA through 31.2 innings pitched, collecting a team-high four saves.
RHP Jonathan Kelly has a 3.23 ERA through 39.0 innings pitched across 15 appearances, including two starts, giving him 89 career appearances which matches Brad Kirschner (2014-17) for fourth-most career appearances in program history. Kelly has a win (1-1) and three saves on the season.
RHP Nick Boyle has made 12 appearances, including eight starts, with a 5.59 ERA through 37.0 innings. Boyle leads the Musketeers with 46 strikeouts.
IF/RHP Jake Lambdin has made 12 appearances on the mound in relief, with a 2.60 ERA through 17.1 innings pitched, earning three saves.
OF Aedan Anderson hit two home run in Xavier's win over NKU, his second multi-home run game of the season, to match for team-high and league-high with 12 homers. His slugging percentage of .660 leads Xavier's regular players and ranks second in the BIG EAST. Anderson is batting .274 overall and has reached safely in the last nine games. McCormick leads the Musketeers with 26 walks and has driven in a team-high 38 RBI.
1B Matt McCormick matches Anderson with a team-high and BIG EAST leading 12 home runs as well, helping the Musketeers to a BIG EAST-leading 61 home runs so far this season. He's batting .289 for the season and has reached base in all but one game, entering the weekend with a nine-game reached safely streak.
2B Jared Cushing leads Xavier's everyday players with a .291 average at the plate, has a team-best hitting streak of eight games entering the weekend and has reached safely in the last nine games.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Xavier baseball second baseman Jared Cushing led Xavier with a .444 average at the plate through a 3-1 week for the Musketeers to earn a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the league office announced on Monday.
Cushing, a graduate student from Naperville, Ill, also led Xavier's everyday players with a .611 slugging percentage, with three of his eight hits going for extra bases, and .474 on-base percentage as the Musketeers took a midweek win over Cincinnati and two of three against Seton Hall. Cushing finished 2-of-5 with a run scored at UC and recorded a pair of hits in the series opener at Seton Hall on Friday.
In Saturday's win at Seton Hall, Cushing went 2-of-4 with a walk, driving in three RBI with a double during Xavier's seventh inning rally to put the Musketeers back in front in the 6-5 win. He also scored a pair of runs. On Sunday, Cushing finished 2-of-4 at the plate.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The Musketeers will not play a midweek game next week, and will be back in action on Friday, May 3 at Butler, the first of three games against the Bulldogs in Indianapolis.
Xavier returns home for a pair of midweek games the following week, hosting Kentucky on Tuesday, May 7 and Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday, May 8, both set for 3:00 p.m. starts at Hayden Field.
The Musketeers travel to Georgetown the following weekend for the final road series of the BIG EAST schedule.
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.

DEPREY NAMED TO POSEY WATCH LIST

Matthew DePrey was among the 63 catchers named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List by the Wichita Sports Commission. The award honors the nation's top Division I collegiate catcher as voted on by head coaches and sports information directors.
DePrey, a native of Sun Prairie, Wis., has started all 36 games behind the plate for the Musketeers, with a 38 hits, including 12 for extra bases, and 17 walks on the season, driving in 11 RBI and scoring 26 runs. On defense, the senior has caught 13 runners stealing so far this season. This is DePrey's second time earning a spot on the Watch List.
DePrey is one of three BIG EAST catchers on the watch list, joined by St. John's Jimmy Keenan and Georgetown's Owen Carapellotti.
The 2024 Watch List features 63 student-athletes from NCAA Division 1 universities throughout the country. "Since 2000, the Wichita Sports Commission has acknowledged the hard work and talent of the most demanding position in baseball," said Kevin Jenks, President/CEO of the Wichita Sports Commission. "The Buster Posey Award has become one of college baseball's most coveted and prestigious awards. It's always special to have all three finalists, their families and coaches attend the event."
The 2024 winner will be announced on June 26th at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet. Three finalists will be invited to attend the banquet hosted by the Wichita Sports Commission. Nominations from head coaches and sports information directors will continue until May 8th.

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.

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.