Baseball Travels West to face No. 18 Oregon State for Four Games, No. 23 Oregon for a Pair

Friday, March 6

Corvallis, Ore.

8:35 PM ET

Xavier University

Oregon State

Baseball Travels West to face No. 18 Oregon State for Four Games, No. 23 Oregon for a Pair

03.05.26 | Baseball

Live Stats Live Stream (OSU)Live Stream (Oregon)

Musketeers get underway with the Beavers on Friday at 8:35 PM ET

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball heads back west for a six-game road trip, first heading to Corvallis, Ore., for a four-game series at No. 18 Oregon State, running Friday, March 6 through Monday, March 9. Xavier then travels to Eugene, Ore. to face Oregon for a pair of games, set for Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11.

The games against the Beavers will be aired locally in the Portland area on KRCW (Portland's CW) and KOIN. Friday, Sunday and Monday's games will be available for stream on Pac-12 Insider and KOIN+ in their entirety. The streaming option for Saturday's game starts at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The games against Oregon will be available on Big Ten Plus.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Oregon State - Game 1: March 6 - 8:30 p.m. ET
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Oregon State - Game 2: March 7 - 6:05 p.m. ET
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Oregon State - Game 3: March 8 - 6:05 p.m. ET
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Oregon State - Game 4: March 9 - 8:35 p.m. ET
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Oregon - Game 1: March 10 - 6:05 p.m. ET
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Oregon - Game 2: March 11 - 6:05 p.m. ET
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MUSKETEER NOTABLES

Xavier enters the weekend at 5-7 on the season after taking a midweek win at Ohio State and 2-of-3 at Cal State Fullerton, Xavier's second series win of the season.
After sitting out the first seven games due to injury OF Clay Burdette has started in the last five games, posting a .500 average at the plate, driving in seven RBI and scoring six runs. Among his eight hits so far this season, Burdette has three for extra bases, including hitting his first home run of the season on Wednesday against Ohio State.
IF Eddie Peters has a .340 average at the plate, with a BIG EAST-leading six doubles among his 16 hits. Peters has come around to score nine runs.
IF/OF Josh Stonehouse leads the conference and ranks 16th in NCAA DI with six home runs among his 13 hits. He also leads the Musketeers in RBIs (11) and runs scored (11).
OF JD Crisp is batting .317 on the season, with a pair of home runs among his 13 hits. Crisp has eight runs scored on the year.
Jonathan Fitz is batting .300 for the season, with five extra base hits among his 12 hits for the season. Fitz leads the Musketeers with eight walks.
Ryan Piech has an ERA of 1.93 across three starts, allowing just three runs on three hits through 14.0 innings pitched. For the year Piech 21 strikeouts to just three walks after throwing a career-high 10 Ks in the win at Cal State Fullerton on Friday. Piech has a BIG EAST-best WHIP of 0.57, ranked No. 17 in NCAA DI, and is holding opposing batters to a .106 average at the plate.
Jack Nobe has made three starts on the mound, with a 3.68 ERA through 14.2 innings pitched. For the season he has 13 strikeouts to five walks, and has a record of 1-0.
Garrett Helsel has made five appearances out of the bullpen, with a 2.16 ERA and a WHIP of 0.72 through 8.1 innings of work. He's allowed just two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out 12, and has picked up a pair of saves.
Ashton Chronister has a 4.22 ERA through 10.2 innings pitched across six appearances, including two starts.

OREGON STATE

Oregon State is 7-4 on the season, taking wins over Arizona, Stanford and Michigan at the College Baseball Series in Surprise, Ariz., during the opening weekend, taking a win over Baylor at the Round Rock Classic, wins over Houston and Iowa at the Frisco College Baseball Classic, and a midweek win over No. 23 Oregon.
The Beavers enter the week as a consensus Top 25 team, coming in at No. 18 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and in D1Baseball's rankings, No. 22 in the NCBWA Poll and ranked No. 25 by Baseball America.
Four Beavers were named Preseason All-Americans by the NCBWA, RHP Dax Whitney (First Team), RHP Isaac Yeager (Second Team), LHP Ethan Kleinschmit (Third Team) and RHP Eric Segura (Fourth Team).
Oregon State went 48-16-1 last season, playing as an independent.
The Beavers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, winning four-straight after falling in the opening game to advance out of the Corvallis Regional. The Beavers hosted Florida State in the Corvallis Super Regional, taking 2-of-3 to move on to the College World Series.
At the CWS, Oregon State opened up play with a win over Louisville before being eliminated with losses to Coastal Carolina and UofL.
Xavier is 0-5 against Oregon State all time, facing the Beavers twice last season in the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic.

OREGON

Oregon enters the weekend at 10-2 after opening the season with four-game sweeps of George Mason and Youngstown State. The Ducks also picked up wins over Arizona and Vanderbilt at the 2026 Live Like Lou Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. UO will face Purdue for a three-game series in West Lafayette, Ind. this weekend, ahead of the games with Xavier.
The Ducks are ranked in the top 25 of a pair of polls, coming in at No. 23 in the USA TODAY Coaches Pll and No. 24 in the NCBWA rankings.
Oregon was picked to finish second in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, and three Ducks, 2B Ryan Cooney, SS Maddox Molony and RHP Cal Scolari, were named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list. Molony was also named a Preseason All-American by Perfect Game.
Oregon went 42-16 last season, with a 22-9 record in Big 10 play, falling in pool play of the Big 10 Tournament.
The Ducks earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, hosting a regional. Oregon was eliminated with losses to Utah Valley and Cal Poly.
Xavier is 0-7 against Oregon all-time, last facing the Ducks in the 2023 NCAA Nashville Regional Final, one of six match-ups between Xavier and Oregon that season.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After picking up a series win at Cal State Fullerton last weekend, Xavier baseball swept the BIG EAST Weekly Awards, with outfielder Clay Burdette earning Player of the Week and RHP Ryan Piech picking up Pitcher of the Week honors.
After sitting out the first seven games due to injury, Burdette had a team-best .545 average at the plate through four games last week, finishing with a team-high matching six hits, also getting aboard with a walk and three hit-by pitches for a team-leading .588 on-base percentage. Burdette, a junior from Cincinnati, also matched for team highs in RBIs (3) and runs scored (4). In Xavier's midweek match-up against IU, he went 3-3 and was hit by a pitch in his first game of the season, coming around to score a pair of runs. In Xavier's 3-0 win in game one at Cal State Fullerton, Burdette finished 2-2 with a pair of RBIs on two sac flys. In the Musketeers' 3-2 win in game two to clinch the series, he scored a run after getting aboard on a hit-by-pitch. In the finale with the Titans, he went 1-3 with a walk, driving in an RBI and scoring a run.
In Xavier's 3-0 win in game one at Cal State Fullerton, Piech pitched 6.0 scoreless innings in the start, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out 10, topping his career-high of nine Ks set last week against Arkansas. Piech, a junior from Aurora, Ohio, picked up the win, his first of the season. Piech combined with Garrett Helsel to limit Fullerton to a season-low two hits, while striking out 14, in the Xavier staff's first shutout of the season.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier returns home for an eight-game homestand, starting with a three-game series with Evansville, set to run Friday, March 13 through Sunday, March 15 at Hayden Field.

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).

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.

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