The Bulldogs return to action with a weekend home series against BIG EAST rival St. John's. The teams are scheduled for a single game Friday and a doubleheader Saturday.
 
Live stats will be available for all three contests, while Friday's game will also include a video stream through the Butler Athletics YouTube page in a collaboration with the university's College of Communication.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a midweek shutout of Indiana State as four Butler pitchers combined on a 3-0 decision. It was Butler's fifth shutout of the season.
 
Butler enters the weekend series with a record of 10-14 overall and 2-7 in BIG EAST play. St. John's heads into the weekend with a record of 7-8 overall and 4-4 in conference. The two teams will meet for the 20^th time Friday with St. John's holding a 14-5 advantage in the all-time series.
 
The Bulldogs feature one of the deepest and most talented pitching staffs in the BIG EAST. The team's 2.91 GPA is second in the BIG EAST. Butler has a conference-leading 167 strikeouts in 158.2 innings pitched, the only team in the conference to average more than a strikeout per inning. Opposing batters are hitting only .247 against the Butler staff, second best in the BIG EAST.
 
Mackenzie Griman leads the Bulldogs with a 2.42 ERA. Her ERA is second in the BIG EAST. She has made 10 appearances and her 26 innings of work are third on the team. Griman is one of three Butler pitchers with an ERA south of 3.00.
 
Alyssa Graves (2.68 ERA) and Karli Ricketts (2.76 ERA) are also among the conference leaders at sixth and seventh, respectively. Ricketts has 86 strikeouts, which is second in the league. Those 86 strikeouts have come in 71 innings of work. Ricketts is 7-5 on the season and those seven wins are tied for second in the conference.
 
Lauren Fey is batting .449, which is third in the BIG EAST entering weekend play. Her 31 hits also pace the conference, while her three triples are tied for the conference lead. Behind a conference-best 17 walks, Fey is getting on base at a .558 clip, which is second in the conference.
 
With 23 RBI, Ricketts leads the BIG EAST in that category. She is tied for second in the conference in both home runs (six) and doubles (six). Ricketts is seventh in slugging percentage (.652).
 
Following the weekend series, Butler will return to action Tuesday, as they travel to Miami (Ohio) for a non-conference match-up.