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INDIANAPOLIS – The final three games of the regular season are ahead of the Bulldogs with Butler traveling to Washington D.C. to face the Georgetown Hoyas. The final BIG EAST series of the 2019 will be bumped up a day, to Thursday, May 16.
 
Weekend Schedule
Thursday, May 16 – at Georgetown 7 PM
Friday, May 17 – at Georgetown 6 PM
Saturday, May 18 – at Georgetown 1 PM
 
Probable Starters
RHP Ryan Pepiot vs. RHP Jerry Burke
RHP Connor Schultz vs. RHP Jack Cushing
LHP Kevin Napoleon vs. TBD
 
Scouting Georgetown
The Hoyas are 20-33 overall with a 5-10 mark in conference play. They were recently swept 3-0 at Seton Hall last week, allowing the Pirates to clinch a spot in the upcoming BIG EAST Championship Tournament. Georgetown is led at the plate by sophomore Eddie McCabe. The infielder holds a .321 average and has started in all 53 games. McCabe's job is to get on base, Kyle Ruedisili's job however is to get runners around the base paths. Ruedisili has 50 total hits including 15 doubles, two triples and a team-high 12 home runs. He is the team leader in RBI with 31 and in total bases with 105.
 
On the mound, Georgetown will throw Jerry Burke on Thursday, followed by Jack Cushing on Friday. Burke is 2-8 this season with a 5.03 ERA. He has 76 strikeouts spread out over 79 innings. Opponents are hitting .256 against the right-hander. Cushing has the lowest ERA on the team at 3.11. The righty is 4-5 on the bump with 76 strikeouts. Saturday's starter is still to be determined at this time.
 
Last Year vs. Georgetown
Butler won the weekend series vs. Georgetown last year 2-1. BU won the first two games of the series (15-8, 3-0), but lost the getaway game 5-3. The Bulldogs beat Cushing in the series opener in 2018. Connor Schultz would pick up the win. Butler scored their 15 runs off 12 hits. Harrison Freed led the way with a 2-for-4 game that included four RBI and three runs scored. He homered in the contest and also had a double. Game two was the Ryan Pepiot show as the BU ace tossed eight full innings to shutout the Hoyas. Pepiot recorded 12 strikeouts and only walked two batters. He left the game after allowing just three hits. The save was picked up by Jack Pilcher.
 
BIG EAST Series History vs. Georgetown
2018 – BU wins 2-1
2017 – BU wins 2-1
2016 – BU wins 2-1
2015 – GU wins 2-1
2014 – GU wins 2-1
 
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Kyle Smith, Butler, Sr., OF
Smith led a 2-2 Butler with a .500 batting average (7-of-14). Five of his seven hits were doubles. He scored seven runs and didn't strike out with a .636 on-base percentage and a .857 slugging percentage.
 
BIG EAST Standings
Xavier 12-4
Creighton 11-4
Seton Hall 9-6
St. John's 6-9
Butler 5-9
Georgetown 5-10
Villanova 4-10
 
BIG EAST Tournament Talk
Butler will need to win their series against Georgetown to stay alive for the postseason. Xavier, Creighton and Seton Hall have all clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Baseball Championship Tournament. St. John's (6-9), Butler (5-9) and Georgetown (5-10) will all go to battle for that final spot. St. John's will host Seton Hall this weekend.

Butler at Georgetown
Like St. John's, Butler and Georgetown are likely candidates for the final BIG EAST playoff spot. A series sweep by either team coupled with at least one St. John's loss gives the victor the playoff spot. A 2-1 series win by Georgetown and a series win by Seton Hall and at least one loss by Villanova guarantees a Hoya tourney berth. In addition to the sweep scenario above, for Butler to qualify, the Bulldogs need a series win to finish at least 7-10 (.412) and a Seton Hall series sweep and at least one loss by Villanova. Both Georgetown and Butler made the tournament field last season.
 
Can Smith Score Two More Runs?
Graduate transfer Kyle Smith has scored 57 runs for Butler this season and is now just two runs shy of tying the Butler single-season record. Eddie Olszta scored 59 runs for Butler during the 1999 season. Smith has a good chance at breaking that record with three games to play in the 2019 regular season. The speedy centerfielder hit .500 last week over four games. He scored seven runs while providing BU with seven hits.
 
Harrison Has a Chance
Junior Harrison Freed enters the final week of the regular season with a BIG EAST-best 77 total hits. Freed is chasing the single-season hit record at Butler set by Dale Mueller in 2003. Mueller recorded 81 hits and is the all-time leader in the category with 282 in his career.
 
Freed Fuels Batting Order
Harrison Freed recorded nine RBI last week to move his season total to 71. The BU right fielder now needs three RBI to tie the school record and four to break the mark set by Eric Storey in 1999.
 
One More for Freed
Yet another record to keep an eye on this week is the single-season mark for total bases. The BU record is 148, held by Eric Storey. Freed is close behind at 143.
 
Base on Balls
As a team, Butler has recorded 279 walks this season. The school record of 281 still stands from the 1981 season.
 
Norton Helps BU Set School Record
Butler arms have recorded 461 strikeouts this season to set a new school record. They topped the old record of 454 strikeouts set by the 2018 team.
 
BIG EAST Leaders
As a team, Butler leads the conference in base on balls (279), hit by pitch (69), runs (324), shutouts (5), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.24).
 
Bulldog Bits
- Ryan Pepiot ranks fifth in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (14.26) and 10th in total strikeouts (113)
- Pepiot needs five strikeouts to tie and six strikeouts to break the Butler single-season record
- Connor Schultz is 6-0 on the mound with a team-best 2.02 ERA
- Kevin Napoleon has 41 strikeouts this year and only 17 walks
- James Gargano and Kyle Smith are batting .300 vs. BIG EAST opponents
- Harrison Freed ranks fifth nationally in RBI (71), 10th in total bases (143) and 14th in home runs (17)
-  Freed ranks 20th in the NCAA in hits (77), 21st in slugging percentage (.698), and 49th in average (.376)
- Freed is batting .397 vs. BIG EAST foes and .407 this year vs. right-handed pitchers
- Kyle Smith has reached base safely in 22-straight games
- BU has only played two night games this season; they are 0-2 in those contests
- Head Coach Dave Schrage has recorded 90 wins at Butler. He already ranks fourth at BU in wins
- The 2019 BIG EAST Baseball Championship will be played at Prasco Park in 2019