GAME NOTES
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will take their five-game winning streak to Charleston, Ill. on Tuesday afternoon to face the Eastern Illinois Panthers. First pitch is set for 3 PM.
 
Gameday Information                                                                                  
Date: April 17
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Charleston, Ill. -  Coaches Stadium
Live Stats: EIUPanthers.com
 
Bulldog Bits
- Michael Hartnagel has reached base safely in 30-straight games
- Hartnagel has only gone hit-less in six games this season
- Jack Pilcher picked up his team-best fourth save of the season at Villanova (4/15)
- Josh Walker lowered his ERA to 1.88 in his most recent outing at Nova (4/14)
- Garrett Christman is batting .470 with runners on base
- Tyler Houston leads the BIG EAST with 72 total bases
- Christman and Houston rank 2-3 among BIG EAST hitters in batting average
- Sam Hubbe is 1-0 on the year with a 1.64 ERA
- Butler is 17-0 when leading after six innings
- Butler has outscored their opponents 32-6 in the second inning
- Butler is the only BIG EAST team to score over 200 runs this season (205)
- Butler has the best winning percentage of any team in the BIG EAST (.742)
- Frankie Perrone, Gehrig Parker and Zach Parker all attended the same high school
- James Gargano and Tyler Tesmond each attended Neuqua Valley H.S.
 
BIG EAST Standings
St. John's 6-0, 22-10
Butler 4-1, 23-8
Georgetown 2-1, 13-20
Seton Hall 1-1, 13-13-1
Xavier 2-3, 12-22
Creighton 1-4, 20-10
Villanova 0-6, 6-22
 
Scouting Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois is 12-21 overall, but they are coming off a 2-1 weekend series against OVC foe Belmont. The Panthers hit .258 as a team with 26 home runs. The home run king in the lineup is Dougie Parks with eight. Parks was an impact player for EIU last year, helping the Panthers defeat Butler twice during the 2017 season. The senior infielder is batting .300 this season and also has a team-high 13 doubles to his credit. He has started in all 33 games and leads the team with a .608 slugging percentage as well as a .419 on-base percentage. Joseph Duncan is the only other player to start in all 33 games this season. Duncan is batting .293 with five doubles, two triples and one homer. Another player to keep an eye on is Hunter Morris with his team-high 29 RBI. Head Coach Jason Anderson will start RHP Blake Malatestinic on the mound Tuesday. Malatestinic is 0-3 on the year with a 9.12 ERA. Tuesday will be his third start of the season and his 11th overall appearance. The right-hander has 13 strikeouts in 24.2 innings of action.
 
A Year Ago
Eastern Illinois posted two wins against Butler a year ago. The Panthers won 10-6 in the first meeting and 15-5 a month later. Each game was played at Bulldog Park.
 
Break Out The Brooms
Butler swept Villanova last weekend to improve to 4-1 in the BIG EAST Conference. The weekend results were significant as Butler swept a BIG EAST opponent in a three-game series for the first time since joining the conference back in 2014.
 
Houston Holds Career Runs Record at BU
Tyler Houston has scored more runs over his four-year career at BU than any other Bulldog in school history. Houston scored four runs last week to move his career total to 152. The old school record belonged to Dale Mueller who attended Butler from 2002-05. Mueller scored 150 runs during his standout career. A complete breakdown for Houston includes 52 runs scored as a freshman, 28 as a sophomore, 42 as a junior and 30 so far this year during his senior campaign.
 
Perfect Week
Butler went 5-0 last week with wins over Fort Wayne, Morehead State and Villanova.
 
Christman Continues To Collect RBI's
Senior Garrett Christman hit .500 last week (8-16) with four RBI and four runs scored. He now leads the team with a .360 batting average and 31 RBI.
 
Up Next
This weekend's three-game series will go down as the conference home opener as BU hosts Seton Hall. Game one will be on Friday afternoon with a 4 PM start.