INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball midweek matchup will be played at Toledo on Wednesday, May 8. The 3 PM game will be the first of four non-conference games on the schedule this week. BU will step away from BIG EAST action over the weekend to play at Air Force.
 
Weekend Schedule Change
Saturday, May 11 - Doubleheader at Air Force - 1 PM
Sunday, May 12 - Single game at Air Force - 2 PM 

Wednesday Probable Starters
RHP Austin Waeghe vs. RHP Nate Haugh
 
Weekend Starters
RHP Ryan Pepiot vs. RHP Jake Gilbert
RHP Connor Schultz vs. RHP Zach Argo
LHP Kevin Napoleon vs. LHP Ethan Nichols
 
Scouting Toledo
The Rockets are 15-30 this year with a 3-16 mark against MAC opponents. RHP Nate Haugh will take the mound for Toledo against Butler. The 6-3 senior is 2-3 this year with a 5.91 ERA. He has made 16 total appearances, but will start for the first time on Wednesday. Haugh is the team leader in saves with five. He has struck out 20 batters over 21.1 innings of action.
 
Cory Mee is in his 16th season at Toledo as the program's head coach. The Rockets have three players batting over .300 this season. One player to keep an eye on is senior Brad Boss. The senior outfielder is batting .344 this season with 63 total hits. He leads the club with 17 doubles, six homers and 40 RBI.
 
Last Year vs. Toledo
The Rockets came to Bulldog Park last year and walked away with a 9-8 victory. BU jumped out in front 4-0 after the first inning, but Toledo would score three runs in the second and four in the seventh to come back and pull out the win. Harrison Freed went 2-for-4 in the game with a home run and three runs scored. Connor Dall and James Gargano were also impact players for BU. Dall went 1-for-3 with a team-high three RBI while Gargano went 2-for-3 with a double.
 
Scouting Air Force
The Falcons are 21-24 this year with a 9-8 mark on their home field. Head Coach Mike Kazlausky has a club that can hit for power. Air Force has 43 home runs and 91 doubles this season. Nic Ready is the home run leader with 10. He is one of nine players with two or more this season. Ready is one of just two players to start in all 45 games this season. He is a .305 hitter with 111 total bases. Ashton Easley leads Air Force with a .325 batting average. He also leads the team with 36 runs scored and ranks second on the club with seven homers.
 
Top arms on the roster include Matt Hargreaves and Jake Gilbert. Hargreaves has made 10 starts this year to post a 2-3 overall record. He has a 5.18 ERA to go along with 33 strikeouts. The best ERA on the team belongs to Gilbert at 1.93. The right-handed senior is 6-2 this season with a team-high 45 strikeouts. Save situations typically fall to Nathan Price. The true freshman leads the team with 19 appearances and four saves. He is 5-3 this season with a 2.01 ERA.
 
Last Week
BU went 2-1 last week vs. Villanova. Their midweek tilt at Purdue Fort Wayne was canceled due to rain. Weather once again would impact the weekend series between the Wildcats and Bulldogs. Nova claimed an 8-6 win on Friday afternoon, but the Bulldogs would take two on Sunday winning 1-0 in seven innings and 17-0 in a full nine.
 
Butler Puts Two on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Harrison Freed, Butler, Jr., OF
Freed batted .600 (6-for-10) in a 2-1 series victory for Butler over Villanova. Freed had two hits in each game, ending the weekend with five RBI and three runs scored. Half of his hits went for extra bases with two doubles and one homer. He also walked three times to boost his on-base percentage to .692.
 
Kevin Napoleon, Butler, Jr., LHP
Napoleon tossed 6.1 shutout innings in a 17-0 victory over Villanova, clinching the series win for Butler. Napoleon struck out a season-high nine batters and limited the Wildcats to just one hit.
 
Schultz Moves to 6-0
Connor Schultz moved into elite company on Sunday, May 5. His complete-game shutout win over Villanova moved his season record to 6-0. No pitcher in BU history has finished a season 7-0. The best two marks at Butler are held by Tom Ehrsam and teammate Ryan Pepiot. Ehrsam went 6-0 on the mound during the 1958 season and Pepiot matched that effort a year ago as a sophomore. Schultz is slated to make two more starts in 2019. He will go up against Air Force and Georgetown.
 
Seven Strikeouts Shy
Ryan Pepiot is now just seven strikeouts away from typing Pat Neshek's single-season record set back during the 2001 season. Neshek struck out 118 batters, helping BU reach 25 total wins. Pepiot struck out eight batters in his last start vs. Villanova.
 
Smith Sets School Record
Graduate transfer Kyle Smith ranks sixth in the NCAA in hit by pitch. The speedy centerfielder has been hit 20 times this season to set a Butler single-season record. Ripken Reyes from San Diego has been hit 25 times for the national lead.
 
Freed Factor
Rightfielder Harrison Freed leads the BIG EAST in hits (69), RBI (62), home runs (15) and total bases (129). He currently ranks second in the league in average (.379). The conference leader in that category is Jake Holton from Creighton (.403).
 
Bulldog Bits
- This will be the first meeting between Butler and Air Force
- Ryan Pepiot ranks seventh in the NCAA in strikeouts (111)
- Harrison Freed ranks sixth in the NCAA in RBI (62)
- Freed is on a 10-game hitting streak
- Freed has reached base safely in 18-straight games; Smith has reached in 17-straight
- Connor Schutlz has the best ERA in the BIG EAST (1.49)
- Zach Jarosz has taken 500 at-bats in his BU career
- Connor Christman six RBI over his last six games
- Brody McGrath recorded a season-high five RBI vs. Villanova on May 5
- Austin Waeghe will make his first start of the season at Toledo
- Butler leads the BIG EAST in runs (286) and base on balls (245)
- BU recorded a season-high 18 hits on May 5 vs. Villanova
- Butler is 18-12 vs. non-conference opponents this season
- BU is 3-2 vs. MAC opponents this year
- Butler is 16-11 this season when they score first
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 9-3
Xavier 10-4
Seton Hall 6-6
St. John's 5-7
Georgetown 5-7
Butler 5-9
Villanova 4-8
 
What's Left
Creighton will host both St. John's and Villanova
Xavier will play at Villanova and end the year with their BIG EAST bye
Seton Hall will host Georgetown then play at St. John's
St. John's will play at Creighton then host Seton Hall
Georgetown will play at Seton Hall then host Butler
BU will play at Air Force and end the year at Georgetown
Villanova will host Xavier then play at Creighton
 
Up Next
Butler's final non-conference matchup will send the team to Eastern Illinois next Tuesday, May 14. The game starts at 4 PM.