Weekend Schedule (EST)
3/18: Butler at Saint Louis – 4:00 PM
3/19: Butler at Saint Louis – 2:00 PM
3/20: Butler at Saint Louis – 12:00 PM

Projected Starters
Friday: LHP Jeff Schank vs. RHP Matt Eckelman
Saturday: LHP Nick Morton vs. LHP Josh Moore
Sunday: RHP Danny Pobereyko vs. RHP Miller Hogan

INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will play a three-game series at Saint Louis this weekend against the Billikens. The former conference rivals will get started on Friday evening with a 4 PM first pitch.

About Butler (5-10)
The Bulldogs picked up another home win this week with a 4-1 victory over IPFW on Wednesday. Gehrig Parker jumped into the starting lineup at right field and also led off the batting order. He ended the game 2-for-3 from the plate with a run scored. Tyler Houston and Connor Dall also recorded two hits in the win. Houston extended his hit streak to nine games and his reached base streak to 15 games. He now holds a .356 batting average which includes five doubles and a triple for a team-high 11 RBIs.

Houston highlighted the offense while Quentin Miller kept the Mastodons off the scoreboard. Miller earned his first win of the year and lowered his season ERA to 4.58. The 4-1 result also allowed Zach Bares to pick up his second save of the season. If Barnes wants to add to that save total, Butler will need quality starts out of their weekend rotation.

Jeff Schank, Nick Morton and Danny Pobereyko will each get a start this weekend against the Billikens. Schank is 0-3 over his first four starts of the year with a 4.12 ERA. He has tossed a team-high 24 innings and has only issued two walks. Morton has the lowest ERA of any weekend arm at 2.74. He is 0-1 in four starts. Morton moved to Saturday's start which moves Pobereyko to Sunday. The 6-5 right-hander is 1-2 on the year with a 9.37 ERA. He is tied with Miller for the team lead in strikeouts with 14.

Scouting Saint Louis (7-10)
The Billiken's have had an up and down start to the 2016 season. The year opened up with eight-straight losses, followed by six-straight wins. Setbacks came vs. BYU, Omaha, Arkansas State and Morehead State. Victories during the winning streak came against Rockhurst, Chicago State, Eastern Illinois and Purdue. Most recently, Saint Louis took a pair of losses to Kansas and North Dakota, but they were able to snap that streak with a 5-4 win over Illinois State on Wednesday. The win was finalized after 14 innings of action.

Matt Eckelman and Josh Moore are slated to start this weekend along with right-hander Miller Hogan. Eckelman is slated to throw on Friday. The 6-4 right-hander is 2-2 in his first four starts with a 7.11 ERA. He leads the team with 24 strikeouts and has kept the opposition off base with only four walks.

Josh Moore, a 6-2 senior lefty, will be on the hill against Butler on Saturday. Moore holds the best ERA of any weekend starter at 3.13. Like Eckelman, Moore also has four starts to his credit, posting one win and two losses. He leads the club with 23 innings pitched and is second on the team with 19 strikeouts. Hogan is 1-3 on the year with a 5.31 ERA.

Offensively, Saint Louis hits .246 as a team compared to their opponents .300 average. Parker Sniatynski and Alex King hold the top batting averages on the team while Trent Leimkuehler and Josh Bunslmeyer provide power from the plate. Leimkuehler has a team-high seven doubles, while Bunslmeyer holds the team lead in RBIs with 13.

Recent Matchups
Butler and Saint Louis were each members of the A-10 Conference during the 2013 season. The Billikens swept Butler that year in a three-game series in early April.

Extra Innings
Butler is 2-0 this year in games that reach extra innings. Their first win of the season was a 4-3 victory at Charleston Southern that ended in the 11th inning. The second victory came against BIG TEN foe Northwestern as the Bulldogs knocked off the Wildcats in 10 innings.

Grand Slam 2x
The Bulldogs won in style this year in the 2016 home opener vs. Marian. Playing at nearby Grand Park due to field and weather conditions at Bulldog Park, Butler posted 15 runs off 13 hits to earn the lopsided victory. The first grand slam of the game came in the third inning when Chris Maranto sent a ball over the fence in leftfield. The 'Dawgs didn't stop there as Michael DiViesti came to the plate in the fifth to deliver the second grand slam of the game. The hit was the first of the year for DiViesti, who got the start at catcher while Chris Marras played as the DH. 

Not So Fast
The Bulldogs lead the BIG EAST Conference in runners picked off. Through the first 15 games of the season, Butler has picked off seven baserunners while the next highest total of four is shared by Georgetown and Xavier. Danny Pobereyko and Zach Barnes lead the way with two pickoffs each.

Spring Break
Butler played six games in Port Charlotte Florida over spring break (March 5 – 12) against tough competition. The 'Dawgs won two of their first three games on the trip, but ended by falling in each of their last three contests. The field included Northwestern, Indiana, Boston College, Central Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois State.

Signature Win
Butler defeated an ACC team for the first time in 20 years with a 12-10 win over Boston College on March 7. The last time BU came out on top vs. an ACC team was in 1996 when the 'Dawgs won 3-1 at North Carolina.

Strong Up the Middle
Butler has only had three players start in all 15 games this season. Middle infielders Garrett Christman (SS) and Michael Hartnagel (2B) are staples of the BU starting lineup along with centerfielder Tyler Houston.

BIG EAST Standings
1) Creighton, 9-4 Overall
2) Seton Hall, 10-6 Overall
3) Georgetown, 9-7 Overall
4) St. John's, 7-7-1 Overall
5) Villanova, 6-12 Overall
6) Butler, 5-10 Overall
7) Xavier, 4-12 Overall

Preseason All-BIG EAST
Tyler Houston, Butler, So., OF
Jeff Schank, Butler, Jr., SP

Team Leaders
BA: Tyler Houston (.356), Hits: Tyler Houston (21), RBI: Tyler Houston (11)
ERA: Nick Morton (2.74), Wins: 5 Players Tied (1), Strikeouts: Danny Pobereyko, Quentin Miller (14)

Up Next
Butler will travel to Bloomington on Wednesday, March 23 to face the Indiana Hoosiers. The rematch will be played at Bart Kaufman Field at 6 PM.