Musketeers Wrap Up Regular Season by Hosting Three-Game Series vs Villanova

Thursday, May 16

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 PM

Xavier University

Villanova

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Musketeers Wrap Up Regular Season by Hosting Three-Game Series vs Villanova

05.15.24 | Baseball

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Game one set for 3:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon at Hayden Field

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball wraps up the 2024 regular season this weekend with a three-game series against Villanova, set to begin on Thursday, May 16, with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch at Hayden Field. Game two is set for Friday, May 17 at 2:00 p.m. and the series finale is scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. start on Saturday. The Musketeers will celebrate Senior Day prior to the series finale, set to begin at 9:35 a.m. All three games will be live streamed through the BEDN on FloSports.

The Musketeers moved up to 26th in the most recent RPI rankings, now standing at 28-23 overall and 11-7 in BIG EAST play. Xavier went 3-1 last week, taking the midweek win over Miami (Ohio) and two-of-three at Georgetown to secure a top-four finish in the league and a spot in the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. The Musketeers currently rank fourth in the BIG EAST standings with one BIG EAST series remaining.

VILLANOVA

Villanova is 15-33 overall on the season and 6-12 in BIG EAST play, currently matching Seton Hall for the fifth best record in the league going into the final weekend of the season.
The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in the league in the BIG EAST Preseason coaches poll.
Villanova went 14-37 overall last season with a 7-13 record in BIG EAST play to finish seventh in the league standings.
Xavier is 18-9 all-time against the Wildcats after sweeping the three-game series last season at Villanova.

BIG EAST Standings

SCHOOL	CONF	CPCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	STREAK
UConn	14-4	.778	29-21	.580	L1
St. John's	13-5	.722	33-13-1	.713	W2
Georgetown	11-6	.647	32-18	.640	W2
Xavier	11-7	.611	28-23	.549	L1
Seton Hall	6-12	.333	23-28	.451	L2
Villanova	6-12	.333	15-33	.312	L3
Creighton	5-12	.294	33-16	.673	W2
Butler	5-13	.278	20-32	.385	W2

XAVIER NOTES

RHP Luke Hoskins has made 12 starts this season, with a 6.82 ERA through a team-high 63.1 innings pitched. Hoskins, who has 47 strikeouts to 12 walks, ranks first in the BIG EAST and No. 30 in NCAA DI in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.71 and also leads the league with a 3.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
RHP Jonathan Kelly ranks in the top 10 among pitchers in the BIG EAST with at least one inning pitched per game played with a 3.93 ERA through 55.0 innings pitched. He's made 18 total appearances, including five starts, to bring his career total to 92 appearances, the fourth-most in program history. Kelly has 42 strikeouts to 19 walks, and has recorded a pair of wins (2-1) and three saves on the season.
LHP Alex Vera leads the BIG EAST and ranks fifth in NCAA DI with 30 appearances this season, the seventh most appearances in single season by a Musketeer. He has a 5.44 ERA through 43.0 innings pitched, collecting a team-high four saves.
LHP Nolan Hughes has made 21 appearances total, including four starts, posting a 3.56 ERA through 30.1 innings pitched. Hughes leads the Musketeers with 58 strikeouts on the season.
RHP Nick Boyle has made 17 appearances, including eight starts, with a 5.89 ERA through 44.1 innings, collecting 55 strikeouts.
IF/RHP Jake Lambdin has made 15 appearances on the mound in relief, with a 3.54 ERA through 20.1 innings pitched, earning three saves. On offense, Lambdin has an 12-game reached safely streak.
OF Aedan Anderson hit his team-leading and conference-leading 16th home run of the season against Georgetown, with his .640 slugging percentage leading eligible players in the BIG EAST. Anderson is batting .267 overall and has a team-high 41 runs scored.
OF Carter Hendrickson leads Xavier's everyday players with a .315 average at the plate, with 19 of his 47 hits going for extra bases, including a team-leading 15 doubles. Hendrickson has come around to score 32 runs and enters the week with a 12-game reached safely streak and a team-best seven game hitting streak.
1B Matt McCormick stands at 14 home runs on the season, helping the Musketeers to a BIG EAST-leading 82 home runs so far this season. He's batting .272 overall and has reached base in all but two games this season. McCormick leads the Musketeers with 32 walks and has driven in 43 RBI.
2B Jared Cushing has a team-leading 60 hits, with a .296 average at the plate overall and a .342 average in BIG EAST play. After driving in seven RBI last week, he has a team-leading 44 for the season.
3B Luke Hammond has a .284 average at the plate, and is batting .308 in BIG EAST action. For the season, Hammond has 57 hits, second most on the team, with 14 doubles and 10 home runs.
OF Connor Misch is batting .286 overall with a .317 average in BIG EAST play, with 20 of his 38 hits coming against conference opponents. Misch has a team-best 16-game reached safely streak entering the weekend.
DH/OF Isaac Wachsmann returned to Xavier's everyday lineup last week, collecting six hits, including four home runs and driving in eight RBI. He's batting .384 for the season with a .808 slugging percentage.

WEEKLY AWARDS

In his first full week back from injury, Isaac Wachsmann earned BIG EAST Player of the Week honors after leading the Musketeers with eight RBI and hitting two ninth-inning home runs in come-back wins during a 3-1 week for Xavier. Left-handed pitcher Alex Vera also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Wachsmann, a sophomore from Centennial, Colo., started all four games last week at DH last week, finishing with six hits, including four home runs, and three walks and scoring a team-high matching five runs. On Wednesday against Miami (Ohio), Wachsmann hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the ninth that tied the game at 11-11 to set the Musketeers up for the walk-off win
In Friday's come-back win in the series opener with Georgetown, Wachsmann scored the tying run in the eighth, getting aboard with a walk, moving to second on a wild pitch and scoring on a single from Jared Cushing to tie the game at 7-7 on the way to Xavier's 9-7 win. On Saturday, Wachsmann went 2-of-5, hitting his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot in the ninth that tied the game and forced extra innings, where the Musketeers won in the 110th inning to secure the series victory.
Wachsmann capped the week off with a two-home run day in the series finale on Sunday, finishing 3-of-4, driving in a career-high four RBI and scoring a pair of runs.
Vera, a graduate student from Joliet, Ill., posted a 1.93 ERA, best among Xavier players who pitched at least 1.0 inning last week, through 4.2 innings, helping Xavier to wins in both games he appeared in. He allowed just one earned run and finished with six strikeouts without issuing a walk through the two games he appeared in.
On Wednesday against Miami (Ohio), Vera entered with one on and two outs in the sixth, going 1.2 innings without allowing a run, giving up two hits and striking out a pair. In Xavier's come-back 9-7 win in the series opener with Georgetown, Vera entered with one on and two outs in the sixth, allowing just one run on three hits in 3.0 innings of work. He finished with a season-high four strikeouts without issuing a walk.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The Musketeers have clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament, Xavier's fifth-straight bid to the league tournament and eighth trip in the 10 seasons its been held since XU joined the league.
The four-team tournament opens on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 and is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 25, 2024.
Xavier has advanced to the Championship series in all seven trips to the tournament, winning the league title four times (2014, 2016, 2017, 2023) and finishing runners-up three times (2019, 2021, 2022).
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 51 games behind the plate for the Musketeers, with a 47 hits, including 13 for extra bases, and 25 walks on the season, driving in 14 RBI and scoring 31 runs. On defense, the senior has caught 16 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.

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.