INDIANAPOLIS – The final three games at Bulldog Park will be played this weekend against Villanova. Rain on Saturday flexed the schedule into a Sunday doubleheader. Action will begin at 11 AM.
Weekend Schedule Change
Friday, May 3 – Bulldog Park 4 PM
Sunday, May 5 – Bulldog Park 11 AM
Sunday, May 5 - Bulldog Park 3 PM
Probable Starters
RHP
Ryan Pepiot vs. RHP Jonathan Rosero
RHP
Connor Schultz vs. RHP Gordon Graceffo
LHP
Kevin Napoleon vs. RHP Jimmy Kingsbury
BIG EAST Standings
Xavier 9-2, 20-25
Creighton 6-3, 26-10
Georgetown 5-4, 17-27
Seton Hall 4-5, 20-22
St. John's 5-7, 24-18
Villanova 3-6, 11-30
Butler 3-8, 21-20
Scouting Villanova (11-30)
Villanova heads into the weekend at 11-30 overall including a 3-6 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats have gone 1-2 in every BIG EAST series this season. Third-year head coach Kevin Mulvey has done a great job of mixing in young and experienced players into the Wildcat lineup.
Senior first basemen JP Radvany ranks fifth in the BIG EAST with 30 RBI to go along with his .252 average and three home runs. Junior middle infielder Timothy Lilly leads the team with five home runs and has chipped in with 23 RBI.
Freshman Nick Lorusso has been the ultimate utility player for the Wildcats this season. Lorusso leads the team with a .310 average, which is also good for sixth in the BIG EAST. He spends a majority of his time in the infield at either first or third base.
Lorusso has also made an impact on the mound, appearing in 12 games while making four starts. He earned his first collegiate victory over St. Johns last weekend, throwing six innings of five-hit baseball, striking out three Johnnies. His performance earned him a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the second time he's earned the honor this season. Through 12 appearances, Lorusso has posted a 4.86 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 33.1 innings pitched.
Villanova has a cluster of arms that could be sent to the mound against the Bulldogs. Jimmy Kingsbury usually gets the Sunday start for the Wildcats. The right-hander leads his club in ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched. Kingsbury has been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times in 2019.
Jonathan Rosero is another righty who the Wildcats could throw at Butler. Rosero has posted a 7.06 ERA in 51.0 innings pitched while striking out 39 strikeouts. Gordon Graceffo is the other typical starter for Villanova. The freshman righty has posted a 5.67 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 54 innings.
Last Year vs. Villanova
Butler swept Villanova last year in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. Game one was a lopsided result at 13-5, but games two and three went down to the wire at 4-3 and 5-4. Butler is 10-5 all-time against the Wildcats and has won four of the five series since 2014.
Freed Named to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Freed batted .375 (9-for-24) in a 3-2 week for Butler. Freed knocked in seven runs, five in a league series against Seton Hall, and crossed the plate three times. He hit a double and a home run, both in the series opener against the Pirates. The Bulldogs lost the series 1-2, two of the games went to extra innings.
Senior Day
Senior Day will land on Saturday, May 4 this year when Butler hosts Villanova.
Connor Dall,
Quentin Miller,
Sam Russo,
Zach Parker,
Sam Hubbe and
Kyle Smith will all be recognized prior to first pitch.
Pepiot Sets Strikeout Record
Ryan Pepiot is now the all-time strikeout leader at Butler with 283 strikeouts over his three-year career. He is now 15 strikeouts away from tying Pat Neshek's single-season strikeout record of 118 set during the 2001 season. Neshek also holds the record for most strikeouts recorded in a single-game with 18. Pepiot's career-high strikeout total of 13 came earlier this season at Xavier. He has struck out 10 or more batters in 11 games at Butler. Six of those have come during the 2019 campaign.
Smith Sets School Record
Kyle Smith was hit by a pitch four times last week to move his season total to 19. Smith now leads the BIG EAST and ranks sixth in the NCAA in that category. Smith now owns the Butler baseball single-season record for most times being hit by a pitch. The old record was held by Austin Miller who was struck by a pitch 17 times in 2015.
Freed vs. BIG EAST
Harrison Freed is batting .354 vs. BIG EAST opponents with 17 hits and 17 RBI. Eight of his 17 hits have gone for extra bases as the junior slugger posts five homers and three doubles vs. conference foes. He holds a .729 slugging and .426 on-base percentage over these 11 games.
Freed is Focused
Harrison Freed has recorded 26 hits with two outs. He is batting .413 on the season when digging into the batter's box with two gone. The three-hole hitter also has recorded 26 RBI with two outs.
Streaking
Harrison Freed is on a seven-game hitting streak, just one shy of tying his season-best streak. The longest streak of the season belongs to
James Gargano (14). Freed has also reached base safely in 15-straight contests.
Schultz Moves to Saturday
Connor Schultz will get the start on the mound for Butler on Saturday again this weekend. He moved to that spot in the Seton Hall series and responded with seven strikeouts over eight innings. Schultz struck out a season-high 10 batters vs. Hofstra on March 3. He has thrown eight full innings three times this season (at Seton Hall, vs. Creighton, at Valparaiso).
Extra Innings
Butler is 2-4 this season when playing more than nine innings. The 'Dawgs played three-straight 10-inning games last week, going 2-1 in those contests.
About Butler
The Bulldogs are now 21-20 overall with a 3-8 record against conference opponents. BU leads the BIG EAST in base on balls (227), hit by pitch (60), runs (262), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.28). Individual efforts from
Harrison Freed and
Ryan Pepiot have impact at the national level. Freed ranks fifth in the NCAA in RBI (57) and 21st in home runs with 14. Pepiot ranks sixth in the NCAA in strikeouts (103) and third in strikeouts per nine innings (14.79). The junior right-hander is now the all-time leader at Butler with 283 career strikeouts. He broke the record this past weekend at Seton Hall.
Last Week
Butler went 3-2 last week with wins over Northern Kentucky, IU Kokomo and Seton Hall. Each mid-week home game went down as a victory with
Joe Graziano and
Jack Pilcher picking up wins on the mound. BU dropped two of three at Seton Hall over the weekend. The lone win went to
Jack Myers in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.
Connor Christman was impressive at the plate with his .600 BA. Christman made four starts, recorded nine hits in just 15 at-bats and produced four RBI.
Harrison Freed hit .375 with a double and a home run for a team-high seven RBI.
Robbie McCargar was also a top performer for BU with a .300 BA and four RBI.
Up Next
Butler will play at Toledo next Wednesday, May 8. The game can viewed on ESPN+ at 3 PM.
