CINCINNATI – The Musketeers exploded for 16 runs against Butler in the season finale, handing the Bulldogs a 16-2 setback. With the loss, Butler ends the regular season with a 23-30 overall record that includes an 8-10 record against BIG EAST competition.

The Bulldogs are outside looking in at a trip to Omaha for the 2015 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Tournament. They entered today in a three-way tie for fourth place, but this loss combined with a Georgetown win might be the last straw for BU.

The second game of the Friday doubleheader got off to a rough start with the Musketeers dropping six runs over the first three innings. Butler broke their scoreless streak with a single run in the sixth off a sac fly from Tyler Houston. Xavier responded with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth and the game would get out of hand just moments later with the Musketeers dropping eight runs in the seventh.

Butler tacked one more run on in the eighth with a sac fly from Ryan Wojciechowski, but the damage had already been done with Xavier scoring half of their runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Trent Astle earned the win while Nick Morton was tagged with the loss. Butler tried six different arms on the bump, but no one was able to off-set the Musketeers who ended the game with 18 hits.

Morton was roughed up with five earned runs through the first two innings of the game. Bobby Napoleon came in for the next 3.1 innings of work and limited the Musketeers to just two runs, but the lead would steadily increase over time giving XU the win.

Michael Fries ended his awesome career with a 3-for-3 day from the plate for BU. Chris Marras was the only other Bulldog to reach a double figure hit total. The top bat in the Xavier lineup belonged to Patrick Jones who went 4-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored. Nate Soria also tagged BU with three RBIs in the nightcap.