Baseball Wraps Up Regular Season with Three-Game Series at Penn State

Thursday, May 15

State College, PA

5:30 PM

Xavier University

Penn State

Baseball Wraps Up Regular Season with Three-Game Series at Penn State

05.14.25 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers and Nittany Lions get underway on Thursday at 5:30 PM on Big Ten Network Plus

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at Penn State, set to get underway on Thursday, May 15, set for a 5:30 p.m. start at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in University Park, Pa. The series continues on Friday at FNB Field in Harrisburg, Pa., set for a 6:00 p.m. first pitch. The series finale is scheduled for Saturday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, set for a 1:00 p.m. start. All three games will be live streamed on the Big Ten Network Plus.

The Musketeers are 30-23 overall, marking the Musketeers' fourth-straight 30-win campaign. The Musketeers remained in the top 50 of the RPI, with a top 5 Non-Conference Strength of Schedule. Xavier wrapped up BIG EAST regular season play at 14-7, and secured one of the four bids to the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament.

PENN STATE

Penn State is 29-21 overall and 15-15 in Big Ten play entering the final weekend of the regular season.
The Nittany Lions, who went 29-24 overall last season with a 12-12 record in Big Ten play, had three selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, outfielders Ryan DeSanto and Paxton Kling, as well as infielder Bryce Molinaro.
In last season's Big Ten Tournament, Penn State took a win over Illinois and two wins over Michigan to advance to the Championship game where the Nittany Lions fell to Nebraska.
Xavier is 3-4 all-time against Penn State, last playing in a three-game series in 2018.

XAVIER NOTES

RHP Ben Weber has pitched a team-high 77.0 innings through 16 appearances, including 10 starts, with a 3.51 ERA, the best among Xavier's qualified pitchers, and a WHIP of 1.34. He has 38 strikeouts to 22 walks, and a team-high six wins on the season.
RHP Ryan Piech has made a team-leading 12 starts, allowing 25 earned runs through 54.2 innings of work and has limiting opposing batters to a team-best .176 average at the plate with a WHIP of 1.41. Piech has a team-high 60 strikeouts.
RHP Logan Schmidt has made 17 appearances, including eight starts, allowing 35 earned runs through 60.2 innings of work, striking out 53 and walking just 19, with a WHIP of 1.34.
2B Nolan Tucker leads the Musketeers with a .345 average at the plate, with 50 hits on the season, including eight doubles, two triples and three home runs.
1B Connor Misch is batting .322 on the season, with 15 hits for extra bases among his 55 hits, driving in 43 RBI. He also has 42 walks and 17 hit-by-pitches, for a .489 on-base percentage, scoring 34 runs. Misch enters the weekend with a 10-game reached safely streak.
OF Carter Hendrickson is has a team-high 57 hits on the season to go with 39 walks and 16 hit-by-pitches, scoring a team high-matching 49 runs and driving in 36 RBI.
SS Jake Lambdin has 52 hits to go with a team-best 45 walks, coming around to score a team high-matching 49 runs.
OF Clay Burdette has 20 hits for extra bases on the season among his 53 hits for the season, including 11 home runs, with a .536 slugging percentage. He's driven in 36 RBI and scored 40 runs for the season.
DH Isaac Wachsmann has a team-high 27 hits for extra bases, leading the team with 14 doubles to go with a team high 12 home runs, driving in a team-leading 46 RBI.
Xavier has 82 stolen bases on the season with Hendrickson leading the way with 18 (18-19), Burdette and Lambdin each with 13, and OF Aedan Anderson at 11 of 12.

UPCOMING opponents

Xavier clinched a bid to the four-team BIG EAST Tournament, set to take place at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, from Wednesday, May 21 through Saturday, May 24.
UConn, Creighton and St. John's have also secured bids to the 2025 conference tournament, with seeding to be determined with this weekend's games.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Following a 6.0 inning outing without an earned run allowed, right-handed pitcher Ryan Piech earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the league office announced on Monday.
Piech, a sophomore from Aurora, Ohio, earned the win in Xavier's 4-2 victory at Creighton on Sunday. He finished with seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work, allowing three hits and one run, unearned. The seven strikeouts also matched his season high.

RETURNING MUSKETEERS

Xavier returns 10 players who appeared in the lineup last season, including eight who played in at least a third of Xavier's games. The returnees accounted for 307 of the Musketeers' 531 total hits last season, including over 67 percent of Xavier's home runs (62 of 92). The returning Musketeers drove in 195 RBI last season and scored nearly 60 percent of Xavier's runs (216 of 363).
Aedan Anderson, a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection in the outfield, played in 55 games last season, starting 42 in the outfield. He batted .271 overall, with 46 hits and a team-high 44 runs scored. Among his hits were 26 for extra bases, including a BIG EAST-leading 18 home runs. He posted a .641 slugging percentage for the season, trailing only teammate Isaac Wachsmann among league players. He also led the Musketeers with 35 walks on the season.
Connor Misch, the league's selection to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team at designated hitter, played in 46 games last season, making 40 starts and earning a spot on the All-BIG EAST second team. He batted .268 for the season overall finishing with 41 hits and 27 runs scored. He had 19 hits for extra bases, with 11 doubles and eight home runs.
Luke Hammond, the Preseason All-BIG EAST selection at third base, started at third in all 56 games he played in last season. He batted .290 overall for 2024, collecting 64 hits and scoring 43 runs, both marks ranking second on the team. Among his 64 hits were 25 for extra bases, including 14 doubles and 11 home runs, posting a .502 slugging percentage on the season. He also had 26 walks for the season.
Isaac Wachsmann played in 28 games last season, starting in 27, despite dealing with a mid-season injury. He batted .330, the best average among Xavier's everyday players, finishing with 31 hits, including 10 home runs, drove in 20 RBI, and scored 21 runs. Wachsmann also led Xavier's everyday players in slugging percentage (.691) and on-base percentage (.434). He was picked as the 2025 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by D1Baseball.com.
Carter Hendrickson started in 42 of the 49 games he played in, collecting 50 hits, including 19 for extra bases. He drove in 18 RBI and came around to score 37 runs. His .303 batting average and .407 on-base percentage ranked second among Xavier's everyday players. Hendrickson led the team in doubles with 15 and was second on the team in stolen bases with 12, the most among the returning Musketeers.
Hayden Christiansen played in 52 games in 2024, starting in 44. He totaled 53 hits, including 15 for extra bases, drove in 34 RBI, and scored 24 runs. His .288 average at the plate was fourth best among Xavier's everyday players.
Jake Lambdin played in 21 games as a position player, collecting 11 hits, including two extra-base hits, nine RBI, and nine runs scored. He finished with nine walks and went 2-2 on stolen base attempts.
Tyler Stack started at designated hitter in 12 of the 19 games he played in last season. He finished his freshman season with nine hits, including three for extra bases, drove in six RBI and scored six runs.

XAVIER BULLPEN

The Musketeers' bullpen returns nine who made an appearance last season, including five who pitched at least 15.0 innings. Xavier also returns a pair who missed all of 2024 due to injury, graduate student Jared Gadd and sophomore Ryan Piech.
Jake Hooker appeared in 11 games and started in one in 2024 before an injury brought his season to an end in mid-April. He posted a 2.20 ERA through 16.1 innings pitched and tallied 16 strike outs. Hooker finished his shortened freshman season with a pair of saves.
Nick Boyle made 19 appearances, including eight starts in 2024. In 46.1 innings of work had a 6.02 ERA and held opposing batters to a .256 batting average, the second best among Xavier's starters. Boyle finished with 58 strikeouts, the most among returning Musketeers.
Luke Hoskins made a team-high 15 starts last season, leading the team in innings pitched with 70.1. He posted an ERA of 6.78 and finished the season with 49 strikeouts to just 15 walks, the fewest bases on balls allowed among Xavier's regular starters.
Logan Schmidt made 16 appearances for the Musketeers in 2024, starting in 11 games. He had a 7.01 ERA and collected 52 strikeouts in 68.0 innings of work, second most innings pitched on the team. He finished the season with five wins, matching the team high for 2024.
Jake Lambdin made 17 appearances on the mound in 2024, compiling a 3.43 ERA in 21.0 innings of work. He finished with 26 strikeouts and 15 walks and held opposing batters to a .171 batting average. Lambdin collected three saves and had a W-L record of 2-0.

2025 schedule

The Musketeers face teams from 10 conferences outside of BIG EAST play, as well as Pac-12 member Oregon State, which is competing as an independent in baseball this season.
Nine of the teams on Xavier's schedule played in last season's NCAA Tournament, including four teams that advanced to Super Regionals and two teams that took part in the College World Series, including defending National Champions Tennessee.
The Musketeers played the first 21 games of the season on the road, traveling to six different states before hosting Ball State at Hayden Field on March 21.
Six of Xavier's non-conference opponents are ranked in Preseason Polls, including four squads that earned top 15 rankings from NCBWA: No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 LSU, No. 7 Oregon State and No. 14 Vanderbilt.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST SELECTIONS

Three Musketeers, Luke Hammond, Connor Misch and Aedan Anderson, where selected to the 2025 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team, as voted on by the coaches.
Luke Hammond, a senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, was picked to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team at third base. Hammond started at third in all 56 games he played in last season. He batted .290 overall for 2024, collecting 64 hits and scoring 43 runs, both marks ranking second on the team. Among his 64 hits were 25 for extra bases, including 14 doubles and 11 home runs, posting a .502 slugging percentage on the season. He also had 26 walks for the season.
In BIG EAST play, Hammond batted .292 through 21 games, finishing with 26 hits and a team-high matching 18 runs scored against league opponents. He drove in 15 of his 36 RBI in conference action. Hammond was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team following the season.
Connor Misch, a junior from Dyer, Ind., was the league's selection to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team at DH. He played in 46 games last season, making 40 starts. He batted .268 for the season overall finishing with 41 hits and 27 runs scored. He had 19 hits for extra bases, with 11 doubles and eight home runs.
In 19 games played in BIG EAST play, Misch had a .315 average at the plate with 23 hits and 16 runs scored. Eleven of his extra base hits came against league opponents, including six home runs, third most among league players. Of his 23 RBI on the season, 14 came in BIG EAST action. Misch was named to the 2024 All-BIG EAST Second Team following the regular season.
Aedan Anderson, a senior from Laguna Niguel, Calif., was named a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection in the outfield. Anderson played in 55 games last season, starting 42 in the outfield. He batted .271 overall, with 46 hits and a team-high 44 runs scored. Among his hits were 26 for extra bases, including a BIG EAST-leading 18 home runs. He posted a .641 slugging percentage for the season, trailing only teammate Isaac Wachsmann among league players. He also led the Musketeers with 35 walks on the season.
Anderson made 20 starts in BIG EAST play, finishing with a .267 average at the plate. Thirteen of his 20 hits in conference play went for extra bases including a team-high eight home runs against league foes. He led the Musketeers in conference play with 17 walks and matched Hammond for team-high with 18 runs scored. He also led the Musketeers with 22 runs batted in during league play, third most among BIG EAST players. His 17 walks in conference play led the league.

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

Xavier is coming off a 2024 season where the Musketeers posted 30 wins for a third-straight year, going 30-27 overall with a 12-9 record in BIG EAST play to earn the No. 4 seed the BIG EAST Tournament. Xavier opened the league tournament with a win over No. 1 seed UConn before falling to St. John's and Georgetown.
The Musketeers have made the four-team BIG EAST Tournament eight times since joining the conference in 2013, including every season the event has been held since 2019.
Xavier has advanced to the conference championship series seven times in the Musketeers' eight 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.

XU TO HOST THE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

The 2025 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 21, 2025 and is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 24, 2025.
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.

BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL

Preseason Player of the Year
Maddix Dalena, 1B, Jr., UConn

Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Ian Cooke, RHP, Sr., UConn ^

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, Georgetown
1B – Maddix Dalena, UConn
2B – Kyle Hess, Creighton
3B – Tyler Minick, UConn
3B – Luke Hammond, Xavier
SS – Bryan Padilla, UConn
SS – Luke Orbon, St. John's
DH – Connor Misch, Xavier
OF – Jack Moroknek, Butler
OF – Caleb Shpur, UConn
OF – Nolan Sailors, Creighton ^
OF – Kavi Caster, Georgetown
OF – Jackson Tucker, St. John's
OF – Aedan Anderson, Xavier
SP – Ian Cooke, UConn ^
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Creighton
SP – Andrew Williams, Georgetown
SP – Evan Chaffee, St. John's
SP – Ryan Reich, Seton Hall ^
RP – Brady Afthim, UConn
RP – Louis Marinaro, St. John's

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

BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. UConn (7) – 49
2. Xavier – 38
3. St. John's (1) – 37
4. Creighton – 30
5. Georgetown – 25
6. Seton Hall – 24
7. Villanova – 12
8. Butler – 9