Baseball Travels to Indy for Three-Game Series at Butler

Friday, May 3

Indianapolis, Ind.

3:00 PM

Xavier University

Butler

Baseball Travels to Indy for Three-Game Series at Butler

05.02.24 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream

Game one with the Bulldogs is set for Friday at 3 PM

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball heads out on the road to Indianapolis this weekend, playing Butler in a three-game series running from Friday, May 3 through Sunday, May 5. Game one is set for a 3:00 p.m. start on Friday. Game two is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday

The Musketeers are 22-22 overall on the season and 6-6 in BIG EAST play after going 1-2 against St. John's last weekend.

BUTLER NOTES

The Bulldogs are 17-26 overall and 3-9 in BIG EAST play, going 1-2 against Creighton, St. John's and Seton Hall and going 0-3 against Georgetown.
Kade Lewis leads the Bulldogs with a .369 average at the plate overall, and Joey Urban's .400 average leads Butler's everyday players in conference action.
Butler went 12-43 overall last season with a 5-16 record in BIG EAST action, finishing eighth in the BIG EAST.
Xavier is 68-34 all-time against the Bulldogs after sweeping the three-game series in Cincinnati last season.

BIG EAST Standings


SCHOOL	CONF	CPCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	STREAK
UConn	10-2	.833	25-18	.581	W8
Georgetown	10-4	.714	29-15	.659	L2
St. John's	8-4	.667	28-11-1	.712	W3
Xavier	6-6	.500	22-22	.500	L2
Creighton	4-7	.364	31-11	.738	W1
Seton Hall	4-8	.333	21-24	.467	L2
Villanova	5-10	.333	14-28	.333	L5
Butler	3-9	.250	17-26	.395	L1

XAVIER NOTES

RHP Luke Hoskins has made 11 starts this season, with a 5.62 ERA through a team-high 57.2 innings pitched. Hoskins has 46 strikeouts to just eight walks, ranks first in the BIG EAST and No. 9 in NCAA DI in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.25 and also lead the league and ranks in the top 20 in the country with a 5.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
RHP Jonathan Kelly ranks second among pitchers in the BIG EAST with at least one inning pitched per game played with a 2.74 ERA through 46.0 innings pitched. He's made 16 total appearances, including three starts, to bring his career total to 90 appearances, the fourth-most in program history. Kelly has allowed 41 hits and has 33 strikeouts to 13 walks, with the second-best WHIP in the league at 1.17. He ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in walks allowed per nine innings at 2.54 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 26 appearances this season with a 6.35 ERA through 34.0 innings pitched, collecting a team-high four saves.
RHP Nick Boyle has made 13 appearances, including eight starts, with a 5.31 ERA through 39.0 innings. Boyle leads the Musketeers with 50 strikeouts.
IF/RHP Jake Lambdin has made 13 appearances on the mound in relief, with a 2.45 ERA through 18.1 innings pitched, earning three saves. On offense, Lambdin has an 11-game reached safely streak.
OF Aedan Anderson hit his 13th home run of the season against St. John's, matching for team-high and league-high. His slugging percentage of .647 leads Xavier's regular players and ranks second in the BIG EAST. Anderson is batting .269 overall, has a team-best matching 12 game reached safely streak, and has a team-high 33 runs scored.
1B Matt McCormick matches Anderson with a team-high and BIG EAST leading 13 home runs, helping the Musketeers to a BIG EAST-leading 66 home runs so far this season. He's batting .282 overall and has reached base in all but two games this season. McCormick leads the Musketeers with 27 walks and has driven in a team-high 40 RBI.
OF Hayden Christiansen leads Xavier's everyday players with a .292 average overall, and has a .352 average in BIG EAST play. Among his team-high matching 49 hits are 13 that have gone for extra bases. He ranks as the third-toughest batter in the BIG EAST to strike out, averaging just one K for every 8.8 at-bats.
2B Jared Cushing matches for team high with 49 hits, with a .288 average at the plate overall and a .358 average in BIG EAST play. Cushing enters the weekend having reached safely in the last 12 games, with a team-best hitting streak of 11 games.
3B Luke Hammond leads the Musketeers with a .393 average in BIG EAST action, with 10 of his 22 hits in conference play going for extra bases for a .714 slugging percentage, best among Xavier's everyday players for league play.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

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.

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.