Watch
INDIANAPOLIS – The Bulldogs will play a three-game series at #14 UCF this weekend at John Euliano Park. The Knights are 12-2 at the start of the 2020 season with an 8-2 record at home. The Bulldogs head into the series with a 7-3 overall record.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, March 6 – 6 PM
Saturday, March 7 – 6 PM
Sunday, March 8 – 1 PM
Projected Starters
Friday – RHP
Connor Schultz vs. LHP Colton Gordon
Saturday – RHP
Jack Myers vs. RHP Trevor Holloway
Sunday – LHP
Joe Graziano vs. LHP Joe Sheridan
Scouting #14 UCF
D1Baseball.com has UCF ranked #14 in their Top 25 Poll. The Knights are 12-2 in 2020 after shutting out Jacksonville on Tuesday. Three home runs in the top of the sixth inning would lead UCF to victory. Tom Josten, Dalton Wingo, and Pablo Ruiz sparked the scoring spree. Josten is tied with Jordan Rathbone for the team lead in homers with three. Rathbone holds a .340 average and a team-best 16 RBI. BU will also keep an eye on Gephry Pena. The speedster is 9-for-9 on the base paths and leads the club with 14 runs.
Weekend arms for UCF include Colton Gordon, Trevor Holloway and Joe Sheridan. Gordon is 2-0 on the season with a 2.76 ERA. The lefty has 18 strikeouts over 16.1 innings of work. The team strikeout leader is right-hander Holloway with 27. Out of the pen, UCF will try to get the ball to Jeffrey Hakanson so he can improve on his team-best four saves.
UCF leads the AAC in stolen bases, shutouts, runs, home runs, hits, and doubles.
BIG EAST Standings
Butler 7-3
Villanova 5-5
Creighton 4-5
Seton Hall 4-6
Xavier 4-7
St. John's 3-6
Georgetown 3-9
Best in the BIG EAST
Butler leads the BIG EAST Conference in base on balls (61), hit by pitch (15), on-base percentage (.377), runs (68), sacrifice flies (4), scoring (6.8), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.14), and strikeouts per nine innings (11.3).
Hitting Streak
Brody McGrath has the longest active hitting streak on the team. He has a base knock in seven-straight games to boost his average to .371. The senior leads the BIG EAST in batting average and is coming off a midweek game that included one hit, two runs and two RBI.
On the Mound
Jack Myers and
Connor Schultz rank first and second in the BIG EAST in total strikeouts. Myers struck out 14 batters vs. North Carolina A&T and heads into the weekend with 25. Schultz is close behind with 21 K's in 17.2 innings of action. Neither Bulldog gives up freebies. Myers has only walked two batters this season. Schultz has issued five walks.
Strong Start for Stites
The first hit of the 2020 season for
Maison Stites sailed over the right field wall at Grand Park for a home run. He was the third Bulldog to hit a homer in the mid-week game vs. Saint Francis.
Duncan Hewitt hit a two-run shot in the first and
Jonah Wichman did the same for BU in the second.
Up Next
Butler will remain in the sunshine state to play games in Port Charlotte vs. Baldwin Wallace and Saint Joeseph's over Spring Break. Games are slated for Tuesday and Wednesday.
