Baseball Faces Wright State as Part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic on Tuesday

Tuesday, April 7

Mason, Ohio

5:00 PM

Xavier University

Wright State

Baseball Faces Wright State as Part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic on Tuesday

04.06.26 | Baseball

Live Stream (AWRE)Live Stats

Musketeers and Raiders play at 5 PM at Prasco Park

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball travels north to Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, on Tuesday, April 7, to take on Wright State as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic, set for a 5:00 p.m. start.

A live stream will be available through AWRE TV.

JOE NUXHALL CLASSIC

The four-team Joe Nuxhall Classic features Cincinnati, Wright State and Miami (Ohio), will conclude with a pair of games at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, on April 7 and 8.
Due to Miami and Wright State's first round game being rained out, opponents for the games at Prasco Park were predetermined. Xavier will face Wright State on Tuesday, April 7, while Cincinnati will face Miami on April 8.
The Musketeers took a 4-3 walk-off win over Cincinnati on March 24 at Hayden Field as part of the Joe Nuxhall Classic.
Xavier took a 6-4 win over Miami before falling to Wright State, 10-8, in the championship game last season.

MUSKETEER NOTABLES

Clay Burdette leads Xavier and is second in the BIG EAST with a .378 average the plate, with 20 hits for extra bases among his team-leading 37 hits for the season. Burdette's 27 RBIs and 19 runs scored leads the Musketeers. Burdette also leads the Musketeers with a .765 slugging percentage, ranked second in the BIG EAST and 26nd in NCAA DI, and he a .458 on-base percentage, leading Xavier's everyday players
Jorge Valdes has a .310 average at the plate, with 21 hits, 14 runs scored and eight RBIs in 19 games played since returning from injury.
Josh Stonehouse added two home runs to his team-high total against Ball State, giving him 10 for the year, third most in the conference and 63rd most in NCAA DI. His 24 RBIs and 18 runs scored both rank second on the team.
Ryan Piech has a 3.60 ERA through 40.0 innings pitched across eight starts. His WHIP of 1.10 leads Xavier's regular pitchers, and has held opposing batters to a .190 average at the plate. Piech also leads the Musketeers and ranks second in the BIG EAST with 52 strikeouts on the season, with a league-best 11.70 strikeouts per nine innings, ranking No. 63 in NCAA DI. His hits allowed per nine innings (6.08) ranks second in the conference and No. 54 in the nation.
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.
Ashton Chronister has made 11 appearances, including seven starts, with a 4.50 ERA through 36.0 innings pitched, striking out a career-high 22 while only issuing nine walks so far this season.
Evan Vasiliou has made nine appearances, including three starts, with a 4.50 ERA through 28.0 innings pitched.

WRIGHT STATE

The Raiders are 14-14 on the season and 8-1 in Horizon League play this season.
Wright State went 40-21 overall last season with a 25-5 mark in Horizon League play. The Raiders won the Horizon League Tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. WSU fell to host Vanderbilt in the opening game but then took wins over ETSU and the Dores to advance to the regional championship, where the Raiders fell to Louisville.
Xavier went 1-2 against the Raiders last season, taking an 11-5 win at Hayden Field, falling in the Joe Nuxhall Classic Championship game, 10-8, and falling 4-0 at Wright State.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Clay Burdette was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after leading Xavier's everyday starters with a .381 average at the plate through a 3-1 week for the Musketeers.
Burdette had four home runs and two doubles among his team-high eight hits for a 1.048 slugging percentage. He drove in a team-high nine RBIs and matched for team-high with five runs scored.
In Xavier's midweek 13-12 win at Ball State, Burdette went 3-5 with a walk, driving in three RBIs and scoring three runs after hitting a pair of home runs, giving him six for the season. He finished with an RBI in the 5-1 12-inning win at Georgetown.
In Xavier's 11-6 win in game to at Georgetown, he went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, one run, one double and one homer. In the finale at Georgetown, he finished 2-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Burdette hit his eighth home run of the season, and second of the series, a solo shot in the sixth.
Burdette now has a team-leading 12 multi-hit games on the year. The outfielder also has a team-high eight multi-RBI games.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier returns home to host BIG EAST foe Villanova for a three-game series, set to run from Friday, April 10 through Sunday, April 12 at Hayden Field.
The Musketeers travel across town to face Cincinnati on Tuesday, April 14, set for a 6:00 p.m. start.

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 played 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