Baseball Continues Homestand with Ohio State on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 18

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 PM

Xavier University

Ohio State

Baseball Continues Homestand with Ohio State on Wednesday

03.17.26 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers and Buckeyes get underway at 3 PM at Hayden Field

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball continues its eight-game homestand on Wednesday, March 18, hosting Ohio State at Hayden Field, set for a 3:00 p.m. start.

The game with the Buckeyes will stream live on XAVIER+.

XAVIER HOME BROADCAST INFO

Xavier Athletics announced that 17 spring home sporting events will be broadcast live via XAVIER+. The baseball and lacrosse broadcasts will be available through a subscription on GoXavier.com.
All 27 home spring sporting events for baseball and lacrosse will be broadcast on either ESPN+ or XAVIER+ .

XAVIER+ Subscription Plans:

Per Game: $10
Spring Season: $120 (includes all 17 games)
Lacrosse Season Pass: $40 (includes all five games)
Baseball Season Pass: $100 (includes all 12 games)
Baseball Weekend Series Pass: $25 (includes all three games in a weekend series vs. St. John's or Creighton)

All purchases are subject to the customer's state sales tax.

A subscription to ESPN+ is required to view the 10 baseball and lacrosse broadcasts. An ESPN+ subscription will also include a number of road baseball and lacrosse contests (determined by the host institution).
A detailed broadcasting list of each home and away baseball and lacrosse contest is available on the sport specific schedule pages at GoXavier.com.

MUSKETEER NOTABLES

Clay Burdette, who earned a spot on Baseball America's College Team of the Week, leads the Musketeers with a .391 average at the plate. After sitting out the first seven games due to injury, Burdette has started the last 14 in the outfield, collecting 18 hits, including seven for extra bases with a team-best .674 slugging percent. He's also collected five walks and got aboard with six hit-by-pitches for a team-leading .492 on-base percentage. The junior has driven in 14 RBI and scored eight runs on the season.
Jorge Valdes returned from injury to play in his first game as a Musketeer on Sunday, March 8, at Oregon State, posting a .360 average at the plate through seven games played so far.
Josh Stonehouse leads the Musketeers with 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored so far in his freshman campaign. He leads Xavier with seven home runs among his 19 hits, third most home runs in the BIG EAST and 55th most in NCAA DI.
Ashton Chronister has made eight appearances on the mound, including four starts, and has a 3.57 ERA through 22.2 innings pitched. Last Sunday he went 7.0 innings in the start against Evansville, a career-long outing for the junior, allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk, striking out a career-best six along the way to give him 13 Ks for the season.
Ryan Piech has made five starts on the mound, with a 4.50 ERA through 24.0 innings pitched. He leads the Musketeers with 33 strikeouts, collecting a career high 10 Ks on Friday, Feb. 27 at Cal State Fullerton. His WHIP of 0.92 ranks second in the BIG EAST and 61st in NCAA DI. Piech has held opposing batters to a .165 average at the plate, and has limited batters to 5.25 hits per nine innings, the best mark among BIG EAST pitchers and 50th in NCAA DI.
Jack Nobe has made five starts, with a 4.50 ERA through a team-high 25.0 innings pitched, striking out 23 so far this season.
Evan Vasiliou has made six appearances, including one start, with a 3.46 ERA through 13.0 innings pitched.

OHIO STATE

Ohio State is 6-12 on the season, sweeping Saint Louis in a three-game series to open the season, picking up a pair of wins over Memphis in the Grind City Classic in Memphis, Tenn., and taking the first of three games at Washington.
The Musketeers took a 13-4 win over the Buckeyes on Wednesday, March 4, with Clay Burdette driving in four RBIs, Josh Stonehouse hitting a two-run home run, and Jonathan Fitz, Luke Hammond, Peter Johnson and JD Crisp each driving in RBIs as well.
Three Buckeyes, junior catcher Mason Eckelman, junior infielder Lee Ellis and sophomore RHP Gavin Kuzniewski, were named to the Big Ten's Preseason Players to Watch List.
OSU went 13-37 overall and 5-25 in Big 10 play last season.
The Musketeers are 10-16 all-time against the Buckeyes. The last meeting between the two schools happened in 2023, with Xavier taking an 8-1 win in Columbus.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Clay Burdette earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after batting a team-best .476 through six games last week. He finished with four hits for extra bases among his team-high 10 hits for the week, including a pair of home runs.
Burdette drove in seven RBI, a team-high, and scored a pair of runs. In the final game at No. 18 Oregon State, he finished with a pair of RBIs and a run scored after hitting his second home run of the season (1-4) and driving in another run with a fly ball.
In the first game at Oregon, Burdette had Xavier's lone hit in the game, coming in the first inning. He was 1-for-1 at the plate and was hit by a pitch twice. In the finale at Oregon, he got aboard with a walk.
In Friday's win over Evansville, he went 3-for-4 with four RBI, a homer, a double and a run. Burdette went 3-4 with a walk, driving in an RBI with a double on Saturday and on Sunday he finished 2-4 at the plate, extending his team-best reached base streak to eight games.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier is back at home this weekend, hosting Wofford for a three-game series, set to run March 20-22 at Hayden Field.
The Musketeers wrap up the eight-game homestand on Tuesday, March 24, hosting Cincinnati as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic.

2026 SCHEDULE

The Musketeers are set to face teams from nine conferences outside of BIG EAST play, as well as Oregon State, which will compete as an independent in baseball this season.
Among the 23 programs Xavier is scheduled to face this season, 10 played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, with three teams taking part in the College World Series.
Six teams on the 2026 schedule were ranked in 2026 USA TODAY Preseason Coaches Poll: No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 11 Louisville, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 18 Vanderbilt and No. 23 Oregon. East Carolina, UConn and Cal State Fullerton also received votes in the poll.
Xavier plays 17 of the first 18 games on the road, traveling to North Carolina, Arkansas, California and Oregon for the first four weekends of the season.
The Musketeers will travel to 10 states outside of Ohio as well as the District of Columbia.
Xavier's non-conference strength of schedule has ranked in the top five in each of the last two seasons, finishing 2025 at No. 5 and 2024 at No. 3.
The Musketeers overall strength of schedule also ranked in the top 40 in the last two seasons (2025 - No. 37, 2024 - No. 25).

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST

Connor Misch (1B) was selected as the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's coaches.
Misch also earned a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, joined on the preseason all-league squad by Clay Burdette and Ryan Piech.
Connor Misch, a senior from Dyer, Ind., was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year and was the league's unanimous preseason pick at first base after earning a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team following the 2025 season. Misch started in all 59 games last season, with a .332 average at the plate, best among Xavier's returning players. He led the team with 65 hits, and had 44 walks for the season, to lead the Musketeers with a .485 on-base percentage. Misch drove in a team-high 50 RBI, and scored 42 runs
In conference play, Misch led the league with a .448 average at the plate through 21 games. Of his 65 hits for the season, 30 came against BIG EAST opponents, including three of his four home runs. Misch, who also led the conference with a .581 on-base percentage in BIG EAST play, drove in a team-high 25 RBI during the BIG EAST regular season.
Misch has also earned a spot on the 2025 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team and the 2024 All-BIG EAST Second Team during his Xavier career.
Clay Burdette, a junior outfielder, earned a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection after playing in 56 games for the Musketeers last season, making 52 starts, and posting a .292 average at the plate overall. Among his 59 hits were 23 for extra bases, including a team-leading 13 home runs, to lead Xavier with a .540 slugging percentage. Burdette's 44 RBI from last season trail only Misch among returning Musketeers, while his 46 runs scored lead the returnees for Xavier.
In BIG EAST regular season play, Burdette started in all 21 games, finishing with a .325 average at the plate in conference play. The native of Cincinnati collected 25 hits, got aboard with 12 walks, drove in 25 RBI, and scored 18 runs against league opponents.
Ryan Piech, a right-handed pitcher from Aurora, Ohio, earned a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection as a starting pitcher after earning All-BIG EAST Second Team honors last season. Piech's all-league selection followed a 2025 season where he made team-high 14 starts, led the Musketeers with 65 strikeouts in 59.2 innings of work, and held opposing batters to a .182 average at the plate, best among Xavier's qualified pitchers.
Piech made six starts in league play, posting a 2.60 ERA through 27.2 innings of work, the best among the Musketeers and fourth-best among qualified pitchers in the BIG EAST. He only allowed eight earned runs and collected 31 strikeouts in the conference regular season. In BIG EAST play, Piech held opposing batters to a .135 average at the plate, best among qualifying pitchers in the conference.

XAVIER VS. CREIGHTON AT GABP

Xavier will host the series opener against Creighton on Thursday, May 14, at Great American Ball Park following the Cincinnati Reds game against the Washington Nationals.
The Reds and the Nationals are scheduled to begin at 12:40 p.m. with the game between the Musketeers and the Bluejays starting approximately 30-45 minutes following its conclusion.
The game at Great American Ball Park begins a three-game series with the Bluejays, with the remainder of the series running through Saturday, May 16, at Xavier's Hayden Field.

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

In 2025, Xavier made its ninth appearance in the four-team BIG EAST Tournament since joining the conference, including earning a spot in the event in every season it has been held since 2019.
Xavier advanced to the conference championship series seven times in the Musketeers' nine 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 2026 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep will be co-hosted by Xavier baseball at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, in the week leading up to Memorial Day Weekend.
The four-team tournament opens on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 and is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 23, 2026.
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
Connor Misch, 1B, Sr., Xavier

Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Steven Svenson, RHP, So., Seton Hall

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team *
Sean Finn, RP, Jr., UConn
Tyler Minick, OF, Jr., UConn
Rob Rispoli, SS, R-So., UConn
Connor Capece, C, Jr., Creighton ^
Wilson Magers, SP, So., Creighton ^
JT Raab, SP, Gr., Georgetown ^
Jon LeGrande, OF, Jr., St. John's ^
Shaun McMillan, 2B/DH, So., St. John's
Jayder Raifstanger, 3B, Jr., St. John's ^
John Downing, RP, Sr., Seton Hall
Steven Svenson, SP, So., Seton Hall
Clay Burdette, OF, Jr., Xavier
Connor Misch, 1B, Sr., Xavier ^
Ryan Piech, SP, Jr., Xavier

^ - 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 (5) - 46
2. Creighton (3) - 43
3. Xavier - 37
4. St. John's - 32
5. Seton Hall - 26
6. Villanova - 19
7. Georgetown - 13
8. Butler - 8