GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS VS NKU | LIVE STATS AT NKU | LIVE STATS AT CU | BEDN
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will play two games against Northern Kentucky to prepare for a three-game weekend series in Omaha, Neb. against the Creighton Bluejays. Tuesday game between Butler and Northern Kentucky has been moved to Grand Park due to poor field conditions at Bulldog Park. The 'Dawgs will host the Norse Tuesday, but play at NKU on Wednesday. The weekend will come to a close on Sunday BU and Creighton coming together at TD Ameritrade Park. Action will steam live on BEDN.
 
Bulldog Bits                                                                                                                       
- Butler and Northern Kentucky will play at Grand Park on Tuesday (Field D5)
- Tuesday's game will not stream on Facebook Live due to the game being moved off campus
- NKU defeated BU 8-3 in 2016... Butler's last win vs. NKU came in 2013 (3-2)
- Sam Russo and Will Haueter went to the same high school (Hoover - Canton, Ohio)
- Butler is 2-2 all-time in BIG EAST openers... Full series records move to 5-7
- Michael Hartnagel has reached base safely in 23-straight games
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 16-6
Butler 17-7
St. John's 13-8
Seton Hall 9-11-1
Xavier 9-17
Georgetown 7-18
Villanova 5-14
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Tuesday
LHP Joe Graziano  vs. RHP Jordan Menfee
Wednesday
RHP Sam Hubbe (Staff Day) vs. RHP Pat Kelley
Friday
LHP Connor Mitchell vs. RHP Ryan Tapani
Saturday
RHP Garrett Christman vs. RHP Mitch Ragan
Sunday
RHP Ryan Pepiot vs. LHP Preston Church
 
Scouting Northern Kentucky
The Norse are 6-18 overall with a 3-6 mark against Horizon League opponents. Northern Kentucky most recently went 1-2 at home against Wright State. They posted a 12-11 win in the first game of a doubleheader, but would lose 12-5 and 14-2 to lose the series. The top player in the NKU lineup is catcher Will Haueter. The red-shirt junior has 31 hits on the season to lead the club with a .360 batting average. He leads NKU with seven doubles and 18 RBI. He ranks second on the team in home runs with six. The clubhouse leader is Jake Richmond with seven.
 
Back-to-Back
Butler and Northern Kentucky will play back-to-back days due to a schedule change. Butler was supposed to play Northern Kentucky on March 13, but winter weather conditions in Highland Heights moved the game to Wednesday, April 4.
 
Scouting Creighton
Creighton has the best win-loss percentage in the BIG EAST Conference with a 16-6 overall record. The Bluejays have won six in-a-row, but will play two midweek games before hosting Butler. CU will play Kansas in Lawrence on Tuesday and host Kansas State Wednesday at TD Ameritrade Park. The weekend series marks the start of BIG EAST Conference play. Butler is just 2-9 against Creighton since joining the BIG EAST in 2014. They did however beat Creighton in the last meeting 7-1. If Butler wants to continue to post wins over Creighton they will need to avoid Clark Brinkman Michael Emodi and Will Robertson. Brinkman leads the team with 34 total hits and a .370 average. Emodi is second on the team with 30 hits, but he gives the Bluejays power with seven home runs and a team-high 34 RBI. Robertson gives the club three players with an average above .300. He has five homers on the year to go along with nine doubles and 23 RBI.
 
TD Ameritrade Park
TD Ameritrade Park is the home of the College World Series. The state-of-the-art facility has seating for 24,000 fans, including three decks of general grandstands, bleacher seating lining the outfield and club seating for 2,500 members.
 
Schrage Returns to Creighton
As a collegiate player, Schrage was an all-conference outfielder at Creighton, batting .400 as a junior and .433 his senior season. He also was an Academic All-America honoree during his senior campaign in 1983. Schrage was honored on the MVC's Centennial Celebration baseball team and is the only person in league history to earn all-conference honors and be named MVC Coach of the Year in baseball.

Hartnagel Lands on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Michael Hartnagel hit .400 (6-for-15) from the plate in a 1-3 week for Butler. Hartnagel scored four runs with one RBI. Three of his six hits were doubles and he finished the week with two walks for a .471 on-base percentage. Hartnagel had a hit in every game at then-No. 11 Indiana. He scored three times against the Hoosiers.
 
A Look at Last Week
BU went 1-3 last week with a win over Anderson and three losses at #11 Indiana. Connor Dall hit .429 with six hits in 14 at-bats. Michael Hartnagel tied Dall for the team lead in hits. Three of his six last week were doubles. BU added four triples to their season total last week to give them 14 on the year. They are now in a three-way tie for the NCAA lead in triples joining South Florida (AAC) and VMI (SoCon). The school record for triples in a single-season is 28, a total set by the 1995 team.
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Fort Wayne on Tuesday, April 10. The next day, BU will play host to Morehead State for a 4 PM contest. The weekend series will feature Butler playing at Villanova.