Baseball Set to Host Wofford for Three-Game Series

Friday, March 20

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 PM

Xavier University

Wofford

Baseball Set to Host Wofford for Three-Game Series

03.19.26 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers and Terriers get series underway at 3 PM on Friday at Hayden Field

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball continues its eight-game homestand with a three-game series against Wofford at Hayden Field, set to get underway on Friday, March 20 at 3:00 p.m. The series continues on Saturday, set for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch, and will wrap up on Sunday, scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.

All three games of the series with the Terriers will stream live on ESPN+.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Game 1: March 20 - 3:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch

Game 2: March 21 - 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch

Game 3: March 22 - 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch

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 .367 average at the plate. After sitting out the first seven games due to injury, Burdette started the last 15 in the outfield, collecting 18 hits, including seven for extra bases with a team-best .633 slugging percent. He's also collected six walks and got aboard with six hit-by-pitches for a team-leading .476 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 .333 average at the plate through eight 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 61st 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 56th 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 45th 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 seven appearances, including two starts, with a 4.00 ERA through 18.0 innings pitched.

WOFFORD

The Terriers enter the weekend at 14-8 on the season, sweeping a three-game series with Mercyhurst, taking two of three against Saint Joseph's, and two of four against Belmont and Princeton, as well as picking up wins over Valpo, NJIT, Davidson, Charleston and Presbyterian.
Wofford was picked eighth in the SoCon Preseason Poll and a trio of Terriers earned Preseason All-Conference honors, RHP Champ Davis (first team), 1B James Layman (second team) and 2B Tanner Hardin (second team).
Wofford went 33-27 last season, with an 8-13 record in SoCon play.
The Terriers opened up the SoCon Tournament with wins over UNC Greensboro and The Citadel before being eliminated with losses to Samford and Mercer.
Xavier is 5-6 all-time against Wofford, last facing the Terriers in a three-game series in 2023, with the Musketeers taking the sweep in Spartanburg, S.C.

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

The Musketeers wrap up the eight-game homestand on Tuesday, March 24, hosting Cincinnati as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic.
Xavier heads to Storrs, Conn., next weekend to open up BIG EAST play with a three-game series against UConn. The series with the Huskies gets underway on Friday, March 27 and runs through Sunday, March 29.

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