Baseball Travels to Prasco Park to Face Cincinnati in Joe Nuxhall Classic on Tuesday

Tuesday, April 9

Prasco Park - Mason, Ohio

5:00 PM

Xavier University

Cincinnati

Baseball Travels to Prasco Park to Face Cincinnati in Joe Nuxhall Classic on Tuesday

04.07.24 | Baseball

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Musketeers take on Bearcats at 5:00 p.m., following game between Wright State and Miami (Ohio)

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball travels to Prasco Park on Tuesday, April 9 to face Cincinnati as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic. The game is set for a 5:00 p.m. first pitch, following the game between Wright State and Miami (Ohio) which is now set for a 1:00 p.m. start.

The Musketeers head into this game with a 15-16 overall record after going 1-2 against UConn in the opening weekend of BIG EAST play.

PROJECTED STARTERS

The four-team Joe Nuxhall Classic features Cincinnati, Wright State and Miami at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
Wright State and Miami (Ohio) will play the early game on Tuesday, April 9, set for a 1:00 p.m. start. Xavier and Cincinnati are set to follow with a 5:00 p.m. first pitch.
Xavier has won the last two Joe Nuxhall Classics, securing last season's title with 16-2 win over Miami and a 6-2 win over Wright State.
More information about Prasco Park.

CINCINNATI NOTABLES

Cincinnati is 19-13 overall and has a 7-5 record in Big 12 play so far this season, with conference series wins over Kansas and TCU.
Xavier is 1-0 against the Bearcats this season after winning the first match up of the season, played on 2/27 at Hayden Field. The Musketeers put together an eight-run sixth inning to erase a six-run deficit on the way to an 11-9 win.
The season series is set to continue on Wednesday, April 17, set for a 5:00 p.m. start at UC Baseball Stadium.

XAVIER NOTES

Connor Bailey is set to make the start against the Bearcats on Tuesday, he's made 12 appearances, including a pair of starts, with a 4.95 ERA through 20.0 innings pitched, striking out 17 so far this season.
Jonathan Kelly has made 12 appearances, including one start, and is now up to 86 career appearances as a Musketeer, fifth most in program history. with a 3.24 ERA through 25.0 innings pitched, picking up three saves so far this season.
Alex Vera has made a team-leading 18 appearances, including one start, allowing 18 earned runs in 18.2 innings of work with three saves on the season.
Nolan Hughes has made nine appearances, coming out of the bullpen in five games. He has a 6.91 ERA through 14.1 innings pitched, striking out 26 so far this season.
1B Matt McCormick has reached base in all 31 games this season, with a .296 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 23 runs and has a team-high 20 walks.
Hayden Christiansen has made 29 starts and enters the weekend with a 10-game reached safely streak. He has a team-high 36 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.
Outfielder Connor Misch, who has played in 22 games and started in 16, enters the week having reached safely in the last 13 games. He's batting .294 on the season with eight of his 20 hits going for extra bases.
3B Luke Hammond has 32 hits on the season, including 14 for extra bases, has driven in 19 RBI and scored 20 runs.
2B Jared Cushing has reached base in the last 16 games, with a 10-game hitting streak entering the weekend. He's has 22 hits on the season, with 11 going for extra bases, has driven in 24 RBI and scored 22 runs.

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

The Musketeers return home next weekend to host Creighton for a three-game series, set to start on Friday, April 12 and run through Sunday, April 14, at Hayden Field.
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.