INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball team will travel to Osceola, Fla. this weekend to participate in the 2019 RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Butler will play four games in just three days against Saint Peter's, Central Michigan, Pittsburgh and Hofstra.
 
RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Weekend Schedule
March 1 vs. Saint Peter's – 1 PM (OHP Stadium)
March 2 vs. Central Michigan – 3:30 PM (OHP Stadium)
March 2 vs. Pittsburgh – 7:00 PM (OHP Stadium)
March 3 vs. Hofstra – 1 PM (Sanford Stadium)
 
Probable Starters
LHP Joe Graziano Friday vs. RHP Dawy Lebron
RHP Ryan Pepiot on Saturday vs. RHP Zach Kohn
RHP Sam Hubbe on Saturday vs. RHP Dan Hammer
RHP Connor Schultz on Sunday vs. RHP Mark Faello
 
BIG EAST STANDINGS
Creighton 5-1
Butler 2-4
Xavier 2-5
St. John's 1-4
Georgetown 1-6
Seton Hall 0-5
Villanova 0-6
 
Schrage Goes for 800
Dave Schrage has 799 wins as a head coach during his 30-year coaching career. He got his start at Waldorf (Iowa) in 1988 and made stops at Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois before landing at Evansville in 2003. Schrage was named head coach at Notre Dame in 2007 and would spend five years at South Dakota State before taking over at Butler in 2017.
 
Scouting Saint Peters Peacocks (0-3)
The New Jersey based Saint Peters Peacocks lost their first three games of the season to the George Washington Colonials. GW outscored them 36-5 in the series. At the plate, the Peacocks are led by right fielder Jared Quintero and first basemen Jesse Matos who are both batting .333 early in the season. The Bulldogs could be facing off against junior transfer, Dawy LeBron. The right-hander took the loss in his first outing, letting up 10 earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
 
Saint Peters is led by third-year head coach Danny Ramirez who is looking to build off of his two conference wins last season. The Peacocks were picked to finish 11th in the MAAC. The Peacocks are 0-2 against Butler with both losses coming last season.
 
Central Michigan Baseball (6-2)
The Central Michigan Chippewas are riding a six-game winning streak into this invitational. CMU was 2-2 versus Troy on opening weekend, and 4-0 versus Lamar University and Prairie View A&M last weekend, outscoring the two teams 41-13. At the plate, junior Zach Giles is leading the team with a .393 average, while senior Jacob Crum leads the team in OPS (1.142), doubles (3), triples (2), home runs (2), and RBI (10). His performances last weekend earned him the Mid-American Conference baseball player of the week.
 
The Chippewas will be sending junior Zach Kohn to the mound to try and stop the Bulldogs. The 6-4 right-hander holds a 3.27 ERA through 11 innings so far in 2019. Kohn is already 2-0 on the year with six total strikeouts.
 
Jordan Bischel's club is currently leading the MAC thanks to their six-game win streak. The Chippewas and their first year head coach were picked to finish fourth in the MAC this season. Butler is 2-2 versus Central Michigan in recent matchups.
 
Pittsburgh Panthers (3-3)  
The Pittsburgh Panthers travel down to Florida as a .500 ball club, with wins over Villanova, USC Upstate and Bucknell. The Panthers were 1-3 at the Diamond 9 Sunshine State Classic Series on opening weekend. Through six games, Connor Perry leads the Panthers offense with a .438 average including one home-run and seven hits. Senior Cole MacLaren has also provided support with a .300 average including two doubles and four RBI.
 
The Panthers are expected to put Dan Hammer on the mound. The junior right-hander is 2-0 at the start of the 2019 season with a 2.89 ERA. Hammer has tossed 9.1 innings and has a team-high 18 strikeouts to go along with just one walk.
 
The Panthers are led by rookie head coach Mike Bell, who spent the previous seven years at Florida State as an assistant. The Panthers were picked to finish sixth in the coastal division of the ACC conference in the preseason. Pitt holds a 2-0 record over the Bulldogs in recent action.  
 
Hofstra University Pride (1-3)
Hofstra opened up the 2019 season by going 1-3 in a series with the University of the Incarnate Word where they were outscored 34-6. The Pride are led by senior catcher Vito Friscia, an All-Colonial Athletic Association team pick in the preseason. Friscia batted .353 with seven home runs and 31 RBI in 2018.
 
After one series, freshman Sean Flaherty and junior Myles Mensah lead the offensive charge for the Pride. Flaherty is batting .500 and Mensah has posted a .250 average through four games. Leftfielder Robb Weissheier is the power bat in the middle of the order for the Pride, as he leads the team with one home run and four RBI.
 
The Bulldogs will most likely see freshman Mark Faello on the hill this Sunday. The right-hander is a utility player that will make his first career start vs. BU. In his Hofstra debut, Faello came out of the bullpen to throw two innings. He allowed one run off two hits. Faello walked four batters and did not come up with a single strikeout.
 
This will be the first time that the Bulldogs and the Pride face-off on the diamond. Seventh-year head coach John Russo's club was picked to finished eighth in the CAA in the 2019 preseason poll.
 
Butler in Florida
The RussMatt Central Florida Invitational hosts over 250 colleges annually in all divisions (NCAA D I, II, III, NAIA and JUCO), that's more college teams than all other Florida spring break tournaments combined! Butler went 2-1 last year in Osceola. They won 5-1 and 19-1 over Saint Peter's. Their loss came on Saturday to Pittsburgh (3-0).