INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler Baseball team will host two games at Bulldog Park this week before traveling to Ohio to face the Bobcats this weekend. The Bulldogs recently took two of three games against Saint Louis to improve their overall record to 11-7.
Midweek Matchups (EST)
3/21: DePauw at Butler – 4 PM
3/22: Lewis at Butler – 4 PM
Weekend Schedule (EST)
3/24: Butler at Ohio – 6:00 PM
3/25: Butler at Ohio – 3:00 PM
3/26: Butler at Ohio – 1:00 PM
Projected Starters
Tuesday: RHP
Garrett Christman vs. LHP Danny Farrar
Wednesday: TBD vs. TBD
Friday: LHP
Jeff Schank vs. LHP Gerry Salisbury
Saturday: RHP
Ryan Pepiot vs. LHP Butch Baird
Sunday: LHP
Connor Mitchell vs. RHP Michael Klein
BIG EAST Standings
1) St. John's 14-2
2) Butler 11-7
3) Georgetown 11-8
4) Seton Hall 10-8
5) Xavier 9-10
6) Creighton 3-11
7) Villanova 2-11
Scouting DePauw
The Tigers are 10-2 overall after sweeping a three-game weekend series at home against Rockford. Jack Thompson has started in all 12 games for DePauw and is currently leading the team with a .418 batting average. He has 23 hits over 55 at-bats, including five doubles, a triple and a team-high four home runs to post 14 RBI. The senior outfielder also leads the team with 15 runs scored and six stolen bases.
Tuesday's start is projected to go to junior left-hander Danny Farrar. Farrar appeared in eight games a year ago with one start, but has yet to see the mound this season. He posted a 2-0 record during his sophomore campaign striking out nine batters in just 10 innings pitched.
Scouting Lewis
The Flyers are playing a doubleheader against Truman State on Monday afternoon, a team that they swept on March 19 to improve their overall record to 3-11. Kenny King leads the club with a .354 batting average that includes three doubles and three home runs. He has scored nine runs and is also responsible for 10 RBI on the year.
Lewis has not named a starter for Wednesday's tilt. The team ERA for Lewis rests at 6.45. The lone save on the season belongs to Nick Davito. He has made five appearances and holds onto a 5.40 ERA.
Scouting Ohio
The Bobcats are 11-7 overall with an upcoming game on the schedule against Morehead State. Ohio will host Morehead State on Tuesday afternoon before hosting the Bulldogs for a three-game series. Butler and Ohio squared off opening weekend with each team picking up a win. BU won the first meeting 15-4, but the Bobcats would get revenge with a 4-0 win the following day. Pepiot claimed his first win of his collegiate career in Butler's victory while Colletti evened the score for Ohio the next day.
Michael Klein and Spencer Ibarra are the top two hitters in the Bobcat lineup. Klein has one more hit on the year to post a .333 average. He has five doubles on the year and is tied with Ibarra for the team lead in home runs with four. Ibarra is batting .319 this season. The only other Bobcat over .300 is Connor Callery.
No starters have been named for the weekend series however Michael Klein, Butch Baird and Gerry Salisbury are likely candidates. Klein has the best numbers of anyone on the staff with a 2-0 record that goes along with a 1.37 ERA. Baird is also perfect on the year with a 3-0 record that pairs with a 2.48 ERA. The strikeout king of the group is Salisbury, a five-game starter that has 28 K's in 27 innings of work.
Indianapolis Forecast
Tuesday's forecast calls for a high of 58 and a 20 percent chance of rain. Temps dip to the low 40's on Wednesday, but there is no chance of rain.
On the Mound
The Bulldogs will throw
Garrett Christman on Tuesday against DePauw. Christman is 0-1 on the year with a 6.17 ERA. He has tossed 11.2 innings of action over three appearances which includes two starts. Wednesday's starter is still TBD, but BU fans can expect the usual suspects in the weekend rotation.
Jeff Schank is 2-1 on the year with a 0.82 ERA. The Friday ace has 44 strikeouts over 33 innings pitched and has only allowed three earned runs. The Saturday role has belonged to freshman
Ryan Pepiot. The lone right-hander in the weekend rotation is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. He is second on the team with 36 strikeouts and is limiting the opposition to a .242 BA. Sunday's start will most likely belong to
Connor Mitchell. Mitchell is 2-1 on the year with a 2.86 ERA. He has 28 strikeouts in 28 innings of action.
Hitting Streaks
Garrett Christman is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, the longest of the season for any Bulldog. Christman passed
Jordan Lucio who posted a six-game hitting streak early in the season.
Reached Base Steak
Gehrig Parker reached base safely in 11-straight games at the start of the season, but saw his streak snapped at Presbyterian on March 7. The longest current streak belongs to
Garrett Christman who has reached base safely in eight-straight games.
5-for-5
Michael Hartnagel went 5-for-5 at Furman with three RBI and a run scored. It marked the second time in Hartnagel's career where he recorded five hits in a single game. Last year he recorded five hits at St. John's on May 8. The school record for most hits in a single game is six, held by Kyle Waggoner who played for BU during the 2010 season.
Team National Rankings
Stat, Ranking (Value)
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 26th (9.7)
Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 32nd (7.69)
Earned Run Average, 52nd (3.47)
Fielding Percentage, 63rd (0.975)
WHIP, 76th (1.34)
Individual National Rankings
Player; Stat, Ranking (Value)
Chris Myjak; Saves, 7th (6)
Ryan Pepiot; Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 11th (13.89)
Jeff Schank; Earned Run Average, 14th (0.82)
Jeff Schank; Strikeouts, 16th (44)
Tyler Houston; Stolen Bases, 34th (9)
Jeff Schank; Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 46th (5.18)
Michael Hartnagel; Batting Average, 58th (.406)
Up Next
Butler will play at Ball State next week on Tuesday, March 28. Their weekend series will feature three games against two opponents in Chicago State and Eastern Illinois. Chicago State will host both Butler and Eastern Michigan with BU playing a doubleheader against each team on Saturday, April 1. Sunday will feature Butler and Eastern Michigan playing again at 11 AM.
