Weekend Matchups (EST)
4/13: St. John's at Butler – 4 PM
4/14: St. John's at Butler – 4 PM
4/15: St. John's at Butler – 1 PM
 
Projected Starters
Game One: TBD vs. RHP Sean Mooney
Game Two: RHP Ryan Pepiot vs. LHP Jeff Belge
Game Three: LHP Connor Mitchell vs. RHP Michael LoPresti
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will return to conference action by hosting a three-game series against #22 St. John's. With Easter coming up on Sunday, this series has been moved up a day to Thursday, Friday, Saturday. The Bulldogs are 22-9 overall with a 2-1 mark vs. conference foes. St. John's is 23-5, but dropped two of three at Creighton last weekend.
 
About Butler
The Bulldogs picked up another win yesterday by defeating Fort Wayne 10-3. Michael Hartnagel went 3-for-4 from the plate with an RBI and two runs scored. The bottom half of the lineup was awesome at Fort Wayne with Jordan Lucio, Harrison Freed and Sam Russo combining for seven RBI. Russo added his first home run of the season to his stat line that included three RBI.
 
With three hits on Tuesday, Hartnagel improved his team-best batting average to .421. Gehrig Parker took over the team lead in doubles with his 11th of the year vs. Fort Wayne. Parker is hitting .323 on the year and also has three triples. The team RBI leader is centerfielder Tyler Houston (24). The junior serves as the home run king for BU with seven.
 
On the mound, only two of the three starts have been confirmed. Thursday afternoon's game which features a 4 PM start is still up the in air for BU. That spot typically belongs to LHP Jeff Schank. The senior ace is 4-1 on the year with a 1.12 ERA. He leads the team in both innings pitched (56.0) and strikeouts (66).
 
Friday's start will go to freshman Ryan Pepiot. The right-hander is 3-1 on the year with a 3.12 ERA. Pepiot has 52 strikeouts in just 40.1 innings pitched. The getaway game will feature Connor Mitchell on the hill. The lefty is 3-2 on the season with a 3.15 ERA. The opposition is batting .184 against Mitchell.
 
Scouting #22 St. John's
The Red Storm started the 2017 season by winning their first nine games of the regular season. Their first setback was a 7-4 loss to #9 East Carolina on March 4. Their only other losses outside of conference play came at Liberty and then at home against Columbia.
 
The start of BIG EAST play didn't go as planned for the Red Storm as Creighton claimed two wins on their home diamond. St. John's won the first game 3-2 in 14 innings, but the Bluejays bounced back for a 7-4 win Saturday followed by a 5-1 victory on Sunday.
 
The weekend rotation for St. John's includes Sean Mooney, Jeff Belge and Michael LoPresti. Mooney is undefeated with a 3-0 record that includes a 1.21 ERA. Opponents are only batting .162 against the right-hander with two extra base hits. He also serves as the team's strikeout leader with 44.
 
Belge is 3-1 over four starts with a 3.86 ERA. He has 30 K's in 30 innings of action and is the lone lefty in the weekend rotation. Saturday's start is projected to go to LoPresti who heads into the weekend with a 5-1 record on the mound. LoPresti has 33 strikeouts in just 32 innings of work and holds a 4.18 ERA.
 
The STJ bullpen is strong with five different players combining for seven saves. Joe Kelly is tied with Gain Hollowell for the team lead with two each. Kelly is a right-hander with a 0.44 ERA. He has made 11 appearances, just one more than Hollowell who comes into the series with a 1.56 ERA.
 
Offensively, St. John's is led by shortstop Jesse Berardi and his .422 batting average. He leads the team in multiple categories including home runs (3) and RBI (31). St. John's has six players in the lineup with a batting average over .300. Berardi, Michael Donadio and Josh Shaw are the only three players to start in all 28 games.
 
Last Year vs. St. John's
Butler and St. John's were forced to play a Saturday doubleheader last year in Queens. The Red Storm grabbed a pair of wins taking the opener 2-0 and the nightcap 4-3. Butler exploded for 13 runs during the single game on Sunday. They won easily 13-5.
 
St. John's scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning in the first matchup thanks to a two-RBI single from Josh Shaw. Kevin Torres took the win while Thomas Hackimer was credited with the save. Game two was also decided in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Red Storm broke a 3-3 tie with a single run from John Valente. Gehrig Parker hit a two-run homer in the setback and Garrett Christman scored the game-tying run in the fifth.
 
The final game featured Butler scoring 13 runs off 18 hits. They scored at least one run in all but three innings. Danny Pobereyko took the win on the mound while Michael Hartnagel led the offensive charge. Hartnagel went 5-for-6 from the lead-off spot with two RBI and two runs scored. Jordan Lucio and Chris Maranto were also big time players in the lineup that day combining for six hits, five RBI and four runs scored.
 
Indianapolis Forecast
Thursday's forecast calls for a high of 73 degrees with just a 10 percent chance of rain. PM thunderstorms will roll in Friday with a 60 percent chance of rain. Temps will stay in the mid-70's that day but will then rise to nearly 80 degrees for Saturday. It will be cloudy on Saturday, but the threat of rain drops to just 20 percent.
 
Hitting Streaks
Michael Hartnagel extended his hitting streak to 14-straight games by picking up a single to right field during his first at-bat in Fort Wayne. His current hitting streak began on March 19 at home against Saint Louis.
 
Reached Base Steak
Michael Hartnagel has reached base in 19-straight contests. He recorded at least one hit in 18 of those 19 games and was able to keep the streak alive by drawing a walk on March 18 vs. Saint Louis. This streak started on March 8 when he went 5-for-5 at Furman.
 
Houston Makes History
Tyler Houston placed his name in the Butler record book after an outstanding performance at Ohio on Saturday, March 25. Houston went 5-for-5 from the plate with three home runs, six RBI and three runs scored.
 
Three home runs in a single-game ties the school record as Houston will now place his name alongside Gordon Hansen and Joe Pauley. Hansen hit three home runs vs. Southeast Missouri State during the 1983 season and Pauley posted three home runs in a single contest at Valparaiso during the 2008 campaign.
 
Houston will stand alone in the BU Record Book for most total bases recorded in a single game. His three home run game that included two other hits gave him 14 total bases, a number that broke the old record of 13 set by Hansen and Pauley in the games mentioned above.
 
Team National Rankings
Stat, Ranking (Value)
Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 12th (7.24)
Earned Run Average, 13th (2.96)
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 62nd (8.6)**
WHIP, 48th (1.28)
 
Individual National Rankings
Player; Stat, Ranking (Value)
Chris Myjak; Saves, 23rd (7)**
Ryan Pepiot; Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 37th (11.60)
Jeff Schank; Earned Run Average, 12th (1.13)**
Jeff Schank; Strikeouts, 18th (66)**
Tyler Houston; Stolen Bases, 35th (14)
Tyler Houston: Home Runs, 85th (7)
Michael Hartnagel; Batting Average, 8th (.421)
Michael Hartnagel: Hits, 48th (48)
Michael Hartnagel: On-Base Percentage, 30th (.489)
Connor Mitchell: Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 35th (5.72)
Gehrig Parker: Triples, 50th (3)
** - Leads BIG EAST Conference
 
Up Next
Butler will host Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, April 18 and then travel to Bloomington, Ind. to face the Indiana Hoosiers on Wednesday. The home game will get underway at 4 PM while the away game will feature a 6 PM start.