GAME NOTES
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball team will host a pivotal three-game series against conference foe Xavier this weekend. Each team heads into the matchup with four conference wins. The first two games will stream on Facebook Live. All three contests will feature free live stats.
 
Pitching Matchups
(Subject to Change)
Friday – 4 PM
LHP Connor Mitchell vs. RHP Damien Richard
Saturday – 2 PM
RHP Ryan Pepiot vs. RHP Conor Grammes
Sunday – 1 PM
RHP Garrett Christman vs. TBA
 
Bulldog Bits                                                                                                                       
- Butler is ranked 135 in the most recent NCAA RPI Poll (5/1)... Xavier is 123
- Harrison Freed hit a home run at Victory Field to straight-away centerfield (410)
- BU hit six home runs vs. Xavier last year; Tyler Houston led the way with two
- Xavier swept Butler last year (13-4, 17-12, 3-2)
- Butler's last win over Xavier came on May 15, 2015 (5-3, 13 innings)
- Head Coach Billy O'Connor is a Xavier grad that was promoted in June of 2017
- Xavier senior Damien Richard took a medical red-shirt last season
- Ryan Pepiot took the Saturday start last year while Connor Mitchell started Sunday
- Pepiot struck out a season-high 10 batters in his last start (6.1 IP at Illinois State)
- Brock Balderson has only allowed one hit over his last three outings (5.0 IP, 6 K's)
- Connor Dall has scored six runs for Butler over the team's last five games
- Zach Jarosz has an RBI in three of Butler's last four games
 
BIG EAST Standings
St. John's 11-1, 28-11
Seton Hall 8-1, 21-15-1
Butler 4-4, 27-13
Georgetown 4-5, 17-24
Creighton 4-7, 25-13
Xavier 4-8, 15-29
Villanova 0-9, 6-29
 
Scouting Xavier                                                                                               
The Musketeers are 15-29 overall after playing a challenging non-conference schedule. They opened the year playing then-ranked No. 5 Florida State in Tallahassee. Other Top-25 opponents to appear on the schedule include Kentucky and Louisville. A closer look at the conference schedule shows Xavier losing two of three at Georgetown, and at Seton Hall. They returned to Hayden Field to drop two of three vs. Creighton and most recently two of three vs. St. John's. The Musketeers knocked off the top team in the BIG EAST standings last Friday, but were rocked the next day by the Red Storm 34-7. Conor Grammes and Chris Givin each have over 50 hits on the year. Grammes has six doubles, one triple and eight homers in his sophomore season. The team leader in home runs is Matt Warkentin with 12. Givin leads the team with 35 RBI and is second on the club with a .323 average. Right fielder Joe Gellenbeck returns for his fifth year at Xavier. He is the only Musketeer to start in all 44 games.
 
Double Duty                                                                                                                      
Garrett Christman and Conor Grammes are two of the most versatile players in the BIG EAST Conference. Each student-athlete is slated to touch the rubber this weekend, but they also swing the bat when they are not on the mound. Christman plays third base for BU when he's not helping the club on the mound and Grammes is a talented second baseman. Christman is batting .328 on the year with a team-high 36 RBI. Grammes leads all Musketeers with a .333 batting average. Yet another wrinkle to this series is freshman Allbry Major. The Indianapolis product typically starts in centerfield, but he saw time on the mound last weekend as a starter vs. St. John's. Major is 2-4 on the year with a 4.66 ERA. He is also third on the team with a .299 batting average. He has nine doubles and two homers to help record 20 RBI.
 
No Freebies                                                                                                                      
Over the last two seasons, Xavier has recorded six wins over Butler despite only recording one more hit (56-55). Butler walked 11 Xavier batters in 2016 and 14 more just one year ago. Musketeers also reached base three times in 2016 after being hit by a pitch and five times in 2017. Compare that to Butler, who only had one runner reach base on a hit by pitch over the last two years. Xavier has also limited BU base runners by only walking nine Bulldogs over the last six games.
 
Parker Placed on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll                                  
Gehrig Parker paced the Butler offense by hitting .471 from the plate last week. Half of his hits went for extra bases with the senior right fielder collecting four doubles. He got a hit in every game and also added two runs, two RBI, four walks and two stolen bases.
 
Up Next                                                                                                                              
BU will host Toledo on Wednesday, May 9. First pitch is set for 4 PM. The last home BIG EAST weekend series will follow with Butler hosting Georgetown May 11-13.