Probable Starters
Wednesday at Miami Ohio: RHP Sam Hubbe vs. TBA
Friday vs. Villanova: LHP Connor Mitchell vs. RHP Jonathan Rosero
Saturday vs. Villanova: RHP Ryan Pepiot vs. LHP Hunter Schrvyer
Sunday vs. Villanova: RHP Garrett Christman vs. RHP Ryan Doty
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball team will return to action this week with a Wednesday showdown at Miami Ohio. Conference play will also resume this weekend at Bulldog Park with Butler hosting a three-game homestand against Villanova.
 
About Butler (24-16, 2-7 BIG EAST)
The Bulldogs are batting .260 as a team heading into the final month of the regular season. Michael Hartnagel is the top 'Dawg in the batting order with a .362 average. Hartnagel has a team-high 54 hits to go along with 34 runs scored and 21 RBI. Jordan Lucio joins him as the only other Bulldog to post an average over .300. Lucio has 41 hits in 129 at-bats (.318).
 
Power at the plate is provided by Gehrig Parker and Tyler Houston. Parker is batting .288 with 12 doubles, three triples and three home runs. The team home run leader is centerfielder Tyler Houston who has nine round-trippers to go along with his 11 doubles and .276 batting average.
 
Sam Hubbe will touch the rubber on Wednesday at Miami Ohio. The 6-2 sophomore will make his third start of the season for BU. Hubbe holds a 4.22 ERA and most recently helped Butler defeat Indiana on the road by tossing 4.2 innings against the Hoosiers.
 
The weekend rotation will feature Connor Mitchell, Ryan Pepiot and Garrett Christman. Mitchell will get the start on Friday afternoon. He is 3-3 this season with a 3.36 ERA. The 6-4 lefty has tossed 6.2 innings of action in each of his last two starts against conference foes. He has 46 strikeouts over 59 innings of work.
 
Pepiot will remain the Saturday starter with his 3-2 record that includes a 4.07 ERA. The right-hander is second on the team with 58 strikeouts in just 48.2 innings. Rounding out the probable pitching rotation will be Christman. A right-hander from nearby Noblesville, Christman shined in his last outing to help Butler shutout Dayton 4-0. He threw 7.1 innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters.
 
Scouting Miami Ohio (19-26)
The Redhawks are only seven games behind .500 after losing their first seven games of the regular season. Miami Ohio took three losses at Arkansas and were hit with four more at USF. They were able to find the win column in a three-game weekend sweep at home against Illinois State, but followed that effort with four more losses to the likes of Kentucky and Cincinnati.
 
Common opponents include Xavier, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Dayton, and LaSalle. Miami Ohio went 9-5 against those teams going 2-1 vs the Musketeers, 1-2 vs. EMU, 2-0 vs. the Flyers, 3-0 at home vs. LaSalle and 1-2 at Ohio. The Redhawks have played better on their home diamond in general this season. They are 12-8 at home and just 5-18 on the road. The team is also 2-0 at a neutral facility including 1-0 at Marge Schott Stadium.
 
Miami Ohio will not name a probable starter until Wednesday morning because they are spending Tuesday in Louisville taking on the No. 2 ranked Cardinals. That game will feature a 6 PM first pitch on ESPN 3.

In order to upset the nationally-ranked Cardinals, Miami Ohio will need great games out of Adam Yacek and Ross Haffey. Yacek is a .333 hitter with 18 doubles and 20 RBI. Haffey is an everyday starter that leads the team with nine home runs.
 
Last Year vs. Miami Ohio
The Redhawks posted a 10-3 victory at Bulldog Park one year ago. A pair of home runs early in the contest helped Miami Ohio open up a 4-0 lead and that advantage would grow to 10-0 after the top of the eighth. Butler would get RBI singles from Dan Busch and Michael Hartnagel to avoid the shutout. Hartnagel was the only multi-hit player in the BU batting order.
 
Scouting Villanova (10-25, 3-6 BIG EAST)
The Wildcats are busy this week with two midweek games on the docket before traveling to Indianapolis. The Wildcats will travel to Army West Point on Tuesday and then will host La Salle on Wednesday for a 3 PM start.
 
Senior Todd Czinege leads the offensive charge for Villanova. The Wildcat second baseman is hitting .302 on the year with six doubles, a triple and two home runs for 20 RBI. Donovan May is another every day starter that should impact the series. May is batting .272 on the year and leads the club with 19 runs scored.
 
Weekend arms for the 'Cats include Jonathan Rosero, Hunter Schrvyer and Ryan Doty. Rosero is 1-3 on the season as the Friday starter. He has a 4.36 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 53.2 innings. The best numbers in the weekend rotation belong to left-hander Hunter Schrvyer. The reigning Philadelphia Big 5 Pitcher of the Week is coming off an eight-inning shutout vs. Georgetown. He only gave up four hits vs. the Hoyas while striking out ten. The victory moved Schrvyer to 4-5 on the year. His ERA is the lowest on the team at 2.17 and he also leads the team in strikeouts with 74.
 
Sunday's start will feature Doty throwing against Christman. Doty is 1-5 this year with a 4.32 ERA. He has 14 appearances this year, but Sunday will go down as his eighth start. The junior has 31 strikeouts in just under 42 innings. The opposition is batting .316 against him.
 
Last Year vs. Villanova
The Wildcats won two-of-three on their home diamond a year ago. Game one was a 9-1 decision for the home team, but the Bulldogs would even the series in game two of a doubleheader with an 11-6 win. After a full day of rain, the two teams would collide again on Sunday with Nova taking the getaway game 3-2.
 
Race to 30
The Bulldogs have 24 victories entering the month of May. With 11 games left in the regular season, BU will need to secure six wins to reach the 30-win plateau. Only four teams in Butler baseball history have reached 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.
 
Myjak Making it Close
Senior closer Chris Myjak has a team-high eight saves this season, just two shy of tying the all-time school record. Chase Byerly came up with 10 saves during the 2012 season. He ended his career (2010-13) with a BU-best 22 saves.
 
He Gone
Butler pitchers have struck out 328 batters this season, putting them in range of breaking the all-time school record for most strikeouts recorded in a single-season. The 2001 team, led by current Philadelphia Phillies reliever Pat Neshek, posted 377 strikeouts. Neshek himself was responsible for 118 K's, a single-season record that still stands at BU.
 
Fundamentals in the Field
Butler currently holds a .972 fielding percentage, the second-best mark in the conference behind Xavier's .980. If the team can stay mistake free over the final 11 games of the season they can break the old BU school record of .970 set by the 2015 team.
 
Indianapolis Forecast
The weekend weather forecast in Indianapolis is a mixed bag with sun and rain expected. Showers will arrive on Friday, May 5. A 40 percent chance of rain will come along with 20 mph winds. Afternoon showers are also expected on Saturday (60% chance). Skies will clear up on Sunday with the sun popping out and highs expected to reach the low 60's.
 
Hitting Streaks
Jordan Lucio will travel to Oxford, Ohio with a five-game hitting streak intact. The BU first baseman holds the longest current streak on the team, however the longest of the season goes to shortstop Michael Hartnagel. Hartnagel went on a 19-game hitting streak from March 19 to April 19.
 
Team National Rankings
Stat, Ranking (Value)
Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 18th (7.71)
Earned Run Average, 37th (3.63)
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 74th (8.3)
WHIP, 53rd (1.33)
 
Individual National Rankings
Player; Stat, Ranking (Value)
Chris Myjak; Saves, 38th (8)**
Ryan Pepiot; Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, 56th (10.73)
Jeff Schank; Earned Run Average, 34th (2.01)
Jeff Schank; Strikeouts, 56th (74)
Tyler Houston; Stolen Bases, 65th (15)
Michael Hartnagel; Batting Average, 100th (.362)
Connor Mitchell; Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, 51st (6.41)
** - Leads BIG EAST Conference
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Purdue on Wednesday, May 10. Their next BIG EAST game will come at Georgetown on Friday, May 12.