INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball program added a game to the schedule last week to put the team back into action on Tuesday, May 16. Butler will host the Eastern Illinois Panthers for the second time this year. BU lost the first meeting 10-6 at Bulldog Park on April 18.
 
Probable Starters
RHP Josh Walker vs. RHP Alex Cain
 
BIG EAST Standings
1) Creighton 10-3, 22-22
2) St. John's 11-4, 37-8
3) Seton Hall 10-8, 28-20
4) Xavier 7-6, 25-25
5) Butler 6-9, 30-18
6) Georgetown 4-11, 27-24
7) Villanova 4-11, 13-30
 
About Butler (30-18)
The Bulldogs took two of three at Georgetown over the weekend to claim their 30th win of the 2017 season. Butler will now battle Xavier for the fourth and final spot in the upcoming BIG EAST Championship Tournament.
 
In order to stay sharp for their final BIG EAST test of the season, Butler will invite Eastern Illinois to Bulldog Park for one final non-conference game. The Bulldogs will throw Josh Walker, a right-handed junior who will be making his first start of the season. A full staff day is expected allowing the BU bullpen to be very active.
 
Walker is 2-0 on the year with a 4.57 ERA. He has made 15 appearances this season allowing him to throw 21.2 innings. The righty is credited with 25 strikeouts while on the mound for BU. The opposition is only batting .256 with Walker touching the rubber.
 
Offensively, Butler is led by Michael Hartnagel, Jordan Lucio, Gehrig Parker and Tyler Houston. Hartnagel heads into the final week of the regular season with 61 hits, pushing his average up to .339. He leads the BIG EAST with 16 doubles and his two home runs last week helped boost his RBI total to 27.
 
The team's home run king is Tyler Houston, a speedy centerfielder that also posts a .277 BA. Houston now has 11 round-trippers on the year and is also the team leader with 35 RBI. Joining Houston as a player with 30 RBI is rightfielder Gehrig Parker. He holds a .302 average with 13 doubles, three triples and four home runs.
 
Scouting Eastern Illinois (19-33)
The Panthers are a dangerous team with explosive bats, but a high earned run average has their overall record resting at 19-33. EIU hits the long ball as well as anyone in the country. They currently rank fourth in the NCAA in total home runs with 77. The national leader is Wake Forest with 82. Offensive numbers across the board are impressive for the Panthers. The team ranks 27th in the country in slugging percentage (.469), 37th in triples (16) and 45th in runs scored (342).
 
Joseph Duncan will be a tough out on Tuesday when he brings his .311 batting average to Bulldog Park. Duncan has a team-high 73 hits which includes 10 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. He has 43 RBI on the year and is a threat on the base paths with 16 stolen bags.
 
Dougie Parks and Matt Albert are two other big bats in the lineup. Parks has a team-high 16 homers on the year and Albert is close behind with 14. Those two combine for 102 RBI on the season.
 
Tuesday's start will go to Alex Cain, a right-hander with a 6.34 ERA. Cain is 1-0 on the year and has made five starts over his 18 appearances. He has 26 strikeouts in 38.1 innings of action.
 
First Meeting vs. Eastern Illinois
Butler jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of the first meeting, but that lead would disappear with Eastern Illinois scoring 10 runs off eight hits. EIU scored at least one run from the fifth inning on to record the comeback win (10-6). Dougie Parks hit two home runs against Butler and Andrew Curran helped the cause with a double and a triple. Gehrig Parker and Chris Maranto homered for the home team, but the late surge from EIU was too much to slow down.
 
Butler will get a second chance at Cain who started in the first meeting between these teams. Cain was touched up with five earned runs off six hits in just four innings of action. Dustin Wilson came in for three very impressive innings to pick up the win and the final arm to throw for EIU was Michael Starcevich. Butler used five arms in the first meeting and will probably be on a similar path come Tuesday.

Tournament Talk
With one weekend series left in league action, three of the four tournament tickets to Omaha have been punched as Creighton, St. John's and Seton Hall return to the BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by Jeep for the fourth-straight year.  Current standings have Creighton in first place currently with a 10-3 record and a 0.769 winning percentage. St. John's is in second at 11-4 (.733) and Seton Hall in third at 10-8 (.556). Seton Hall is finished with their conference play. The tournament field is decided by league winning percentage.
 
Vying for the final spot in the tournament field are Xavier, who will go into the final weekend of play with a 7-6 record (.538) and Butler at 6-9 (.400). The 2017 BIG EAST baseball tournament returns to TD Ameritrade Park Omaha this year and will take place May 25-28. Tickets are available for purchase now online. The final weekend of league action starts on Thursday. St. John's hosts Villanova; Xavier hosts Georgetown and Butler hosts Creighton.
 
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Sam Hubbe, Butler, So., RHP/Starter (St. Charles, Ill.)
Went 2-0 last week in two starts at Purdue and Georgetown. He was the starter in Butler's no-hit victory over Purdue on Wednesday (4-2). He threw game three of the weekend series at Georgetown, the series' clincher. He tossed eight innings, limited the Hoyas to just one earned run off five hits. For the week, he posted a 1.64 ERA over 11 innings.

Tyler Houston, Butler, Jr., OF (Brownsburg, Ind.)
Batted .455 in a big BIG EAST series at Georgetown this weekend with five hits, 4 RBI and five runs. In the series clincher on Sunday, Houston went 1-for-4 with two runs and a homer in a 7-1 win.
 
Big Wins in the BIG EAST
Butler is 6-9 this year vs. conference opponents with wins over Seton Hall (2x), Villanova (2x) and Georgetown (2x). Two wins against Creighton would tie Butler's best win total against conference foes since joining the BIG EAST. The 2015 team went 8-10 against conference peers and the 2014 team was one game away at 7-11.
 
Oh, What a Night
Butler won in style at Purdue on May 10 by recording the seventh no-hitter in program history. Sam Hubbe (3.0), Quentin Miller (2.0), Luke Johnson (1.2), Jack Pilcher (0.1), and Ottavio Dattolo (2.0) were each part of the no-hitter. Butler's last no-hitter came on April 10, 2004 with Craig Costello on the mound against Milwaukee.
 
He Gone
Butler set a new school record for most strikeouts recorded in a single-season. The 2017 team broke the record at Purdue on May 10 and added to their overall total last weekend at Georgetown. Butler pitchers have combined for 389 strikeouts over the course of the year. That is 12 more strikeouts than the old record set by the 2001 team. The 2001 Bulldogs were led by current Philadelphia Phillies reliever Pat Neshek who had 118 strikeouts that season, a BU school record.
 
Perfect Against In-State Rivals
Butler went undefeated (7-0) against in-state rivals this year by posting wins over Fort Wayne (3x), DePauw, Ball State, Indiana and most recently Purdue. The 'Dawgs haven't defeated both Indiana and Purdue in the same season since 1995.
 
Race to 30
Butler's doubleheader sweep over Georgetown on May 14 pushed their overall win total to 30 games. This group will go down as the fifth team in program history to reach 30 wins. The first was the 1998 team that went 33-21 on their way to winning both the MCC regular season and the conference tournament. The 2000 Bulldogs went 31-28 and were tournament champs. Other teams to hit 30 wins include the 2002 and 2003 squads. Each club posted 34 wins tying the school record for most wins reached in a single-season.
 
Fundamentals in the Field
Butler currently holds a .974 fielding percentage, the second-best mark in the conference behind Xavier's .978. If the team can stay mistake free over the final four games of the season they can break the old BU school record of .970 set by the 2015 team.
 
Indianapolis Forecast
Tuesday's forecast calls for a high of 85 degrees and sunshine. Winds are predicted to blow Southwest at 15 MPH and there is just a 10 percent chance of precipitation.
 
Hitting Streaks
Michael Hartnagel is at it again. The BU shortstop has a hit in six-straight games and has moved his reached base streak to nine. Hartnagel went on a 19-game hitting streak from March 19 to April 19, the longest of any Butler player this season.
 
Team National Rankings
Stat, Ranking (Value)
Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 12th (7.52)
Shutouts, 27th (5)
Earned Run Average, 30th (3.56)
WHIP, 33rd (1.29)
Fielding Percentage, 73rd (.974)
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 77th (8.2)
 
Individual National Rankings
Player; Stat, Ranking (Value)
Ryan Pepiot; Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 36th (11.01)
Jeff Schank; Earned Run Average, 32nd (2.01)
Connor Mitchell; Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 45th (6.41)
Chris Myjak; Saves, 56th (8)**
Tyler Houston; Stolen Bases, 70th (17)
Tyler Houston; Home Runs, 105th (11)
Michael Hartnagel; Doubles, 96th (16)**
** - Leads BIG EAST Conference
 
Up Next
Butler will host Creighton to wrap up the 2017 regular season. Game one will be pushed up to Thursday, May 18 with the finale set for Saturday, May 20. The Bulldogs will try to climb into the top four of the BIG EAST standings to earn a trip to the upcoming conference tournament. The 2017 BIG EAST Championship will take place May 25-28 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.