INDIANAPOLIS – After a series win versus Valparaiso last weekend, the Butler baseball team will play a pair of weekday games. First, the Bulldogs travel to Northern Kentucky on Tuesday to take on the Norse at 3 PM. On Wednesday, Butler will host Anderson at Bulldog Park at 4 PM.
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 11-5
Butler 13-9
St. John's 10-9
Xavier 8-14
Seton Hall 6-12
Georgetown 6-16
Villanova 5-18
 
Scouting Northern Kentucky (4-12)
NKU is coming off a 0-3 sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Panthers last weekend to bring their record to 4-12. Head Coach Todd Asalon is in year 19 at the helm of the program and leads a talented group who are currently 3-3 in Horizon League play.
 
At the plate, sophomore Andrew Bacon is leading the Norse with a .324 batting average. Bacon has recorded a hit in nine of the past 10 games. Bacon was named Horizon League Batter of the Week for his 6-for-11 weekend versus Youngstown State from March 15-17. Redshirt-Senior Will Haueter, a Senior CLASS Award candidate, enters Tuesday's game riding an eight-game hit streak.
 
Butler is likely to see NKU's midweek starter Proctor Mercer on the mound. The right-handed freshman holds an ERA of 6.59 in 13.2 innings while holding opponents to a .333 average. Noah Richardson has also made a number of mid-week appearances this season. Richardson has a power-arm that has helped him strikeout 17 batters in only 12.2 innings pitched. The Bulldogs could also see Junior Jake Dennis, the Norse team-leader in ERA (3.12). The 6-2 lefty has made seven appearances in which he has struck out six batters and held opponents to a .324 average against.  
 
Northern Kentucky is 5-5 all-time in games against Butler dating back to 1978. The Bulldogs got the win in their last meeting in 2016. Butler will host the Norse later this season on April 23 at Bulldog Park.
 
Scouting Anderson (8-5)
The Anderson Ravens will make the short commute to Indianapolis on Wednesday to take on the Bulldogs. Anderson, a Division III member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, sits at 8-5 on the young season. The Ravens have had to postpone 5 games so far due to weather.
The Ravens offense is led by M.J. Furnish, a sophomore catcher who is batting .375 on the year with four RBI. Corner infielder Chuck Kidd is also having a great start to the season, posting a .310 average with 10 RBI.
 
On the mound, junior Joe Moran has posted a stellar 1.59 ERA in three starts. His 24 strikeouts and .145 opponent average lead the team this season.
 
Anderson will play Butler and Purdue Fort-Wayne before beginning Heartland conference play this weekend.
 
About Butler
The Bulldogs are 13-9 overall after taking two games at Valparaiso over the weekend. Harrison Freed his batting .440 on the year with 40 hits, 28 RBI and 23 runs scored. Freed has seven home runs, three triples and three doubles on the year to post a .769 slugging percentage. Teammate Kyle Smith is batting .347 in 2019. The speedy centerfielder is the team leader with eight home runs. He also has three doubles and two triples to post a .778 slugging percentage.
 
The Bulldogs will throw Joe Graziano on Tuesday at Northern Kentucky. The sophomore lefty is 0-2 on the year with a 2.87 ERA. Graziano will make his fourth start of the year on Tuesday and his sixth total appearance. He has 10 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work.
 
The Bulldogs are still undecided on Wednesday's starter. Candidates include Alex Voss and Kevin Napoleon among others. Voss is 1-0 this year with a 6.23 ERA. Napoleon is a regular out of the bullpen with just one other start under his belt. The lefty has 13 strikeouts in 15.2 innings. He holds a 0.57 ERA.
 
Last Week
Butler went 2-2 last week with a 2-1 weekend record at Valparaiso paired with a mid-week setback to Eastern Illinois. Harrison Freed was on fire last week, posting a .579 batting average. He collected 11 hits in 19 at-bats. The junior supplied Butler with one home run, four RBI and three runs scored.
 
Head Coach Dave Schrage welcomed Kyle Smith back to the lineup for the weekend series vs. the Crusaders. Smith hit .300 over three starts. He went back to centerfield after missing the previous two games with a day-to-day injury.
 
Butler got some great starts out of Ryan Pepiot and Connor Schultz. Pepiot got the win in game one against Valpo by throwing seven full innings, and striking out 11 batters. Schultz would take the mound on Sunday and lead BU to victory with eight innings of shutout baseball. Shultz struck out seven and only walked one batter.
 
Streaks
Brody McGrath has reached base for Butler in all 22 games this season. Harrison Freed is currently on a seven-game hit streak. His longest of the season is eight.