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INDIANAPOLIS – The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time this season and travel down to Evansville for a three-game series against the Purple Aces. Dave Schrage and Ben Norton each have ties to an Evansville program that already has two wins over ranked opponents in 2021.
 
Weekend Schedule
3/19 – 6 PM
3/20 – 1 PM
3/21 – 1 PM
 
Probable Starters
RHP Connor Schultz vs. RHP Shane Gray
RHP Jack Myers vs. RHP Jake McMahill
RHP John MacCauley vs. TBD
 
Scouting the Purple Aces
Evansville is 7-9 this season with a 5-2 mark on their home turf. They shocked college baseball fans all over the country opening day by defeating #12 Georgia 3-2 in Athens. UE is also coming off a 7-3 road win at #25 SIU. Troy Beilsmith has the highest batting average on the team at .350. BU arms will also see Tanner Craig and Simon Scherry in the lineup. Craig is the home run and RBI leader with three long balls helping him reach 16 RBI. Scherry has five doubles on the year helping him post 15 RBI.
 
On the mound, Shane Gray will get the start on Friday and Jake McMahill will throw Saturday. Gray is 2-0 over his first four starts. The right-hander holds a 3.80 ERA and has 15 strikeouts over 21.1 innings. McMahill is 0-1 on the mound with a 6.39 ERA. He has 12 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. Contributors out of the bullpen include Jakob Meyer and Michael Parks. Meyer is 2-0 over six appearances with a team-best two saves. Parks leads the team with eight total appearances and has one of the best ERA's on the team at 2.63.
 
German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium
German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium held its first official game on March 10, 2020.  The game was the debut of a transformational project that saw a full makeover of the facility, making it one of the most attractive baseball parks in the Midwest.  Included in the renovations were a full Astroturf field, padded walls through- out the entire stadium with new fence lines down the first and third base lines, dugout and bullpen renovations as well as a new LED scoreboard. The facility is located on the north-end of the UE campus. Home to over 1,200 seats, including several-hundred chair-backed seats.
 
Heading Back to Evansville
Butler will play a three-game series at Evansville again this year. In 2020, the 'Dawgs lost three games vs. the Purple Aces at the tail end of February. The final game landed on the first day of March. Evansville held off Butler 4-3.
 
Evansville Ties
Butler pitching coach Ben Norton began his coaching career at the University of Evansville as an assistant coach during the fall of 2008. He pitched at Evansville while playing for Dave Schrage. In 2006, Norton went 9-3 on the mound with a 3.23 ERA. As head coach, Schrage went 130-108 during his time at Evansville (2003-06). He accepted the head coaching gig at Notre Dame the following season in 2007.
 
BIG EAST Standings
St. John's 7-3
Villanova 4-2
Creighton 4-3
Butler 2-2
Xavier 3-7
Seton Hall 3-7
UConn 4-10
 
BIG EAST Rankings
Butler has the lowest team ERA in the conference (3.71) and the third-highest batting average (.271).
 
Matos Makes a Splash
Freddie Matos hit .462 over the first four games of the season for Butler, posting the second-best batting average in the BIG EAST. Teammate James Gargano is right behind him in third with his .429 BA. Matos is also the league leader in slugging percentage (.923) and on-base percentage (.611).
 
Myers Goes 7 in Debut
Jack Myers helped Butler shut out Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, leading to the Bulldog 2-0 victory. He struck out seven batters over seven full innings and only walked two. He limited the Mastodons to just four hits in his first win of 2021.
 
Fourth Inning Fireworks
Butler has scored 15 of their 27 runs this year in the fourth inning. They have also allowed seven runs, the highest total of any frame.
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Kentucky on Tuesday, March 23. First pitch in Lexington is set for 6:30 PM.