INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball team will still play three games this weekend, but all three contests will take place at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill. Heavy rain in the Indianapolis area this week caused poor field conditions at Bulldog Park. Therefore, the series that features Butler, Southern Illinois and Northwestern will now be played on an Astroturf field.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, March 25
Northwestern vs. SIU – 7 PM
Saturday, March 26
Northwestern vs. Butler – 1 PM
Butler vs. SIU – 5 PM
Sunday, March 27
SIU vs. Northwestern – 12 PM
Butler vs. Northwestern – 4 PM
All games to be played at Itchy Jones Stadium
 

Projected Starters
LHP Cory Bosecker vs. RHP Michael Farinelli
LHP Nick Eaton vs. RHP Noah Farmer
RHP Aaron Barokas vs. RHP Mike Doherty

 
Scouting Northwestern
The Wildcats were scheduled to play Notre Dame on Wednesday, but the midweek contest was postponed due to bus driver availability with Northwestern. The 'Cats have won four-straight and are now 6-10 heading into the weekend. The top two hitters in the Northwestern lineup are Anthony Calarco and Ethan O'Donnell. Calarco has a team-best 16 hits and is tied for the team lead with three home runs. O'Donnell is a sophomore outfielder with a team-leading nine doubles this season. He added a home run to his stat line vs. Cincinnati giving him 10 extra base hits on the year (15 total).
 
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis are off to a 16-5 record to start the 2022 campaign. They lost their season opener 1-0, but responded by winning their next seven contests. Recent wins for SIU have come against Arkansas State (6-5) and Illinois (11-4, 7-5). JT Weber and Kaeber Rog are two players to keep an eye on in the batting order. Each student-athlete has 38 hits this season. Weber has seven doubles and a team-best eight home runs. Rog has a team-high 11 doubles and five homers. The two combine for 43 RBI and 49 runs scored.

Pick a Side
Butler's best hitter vs. left-handed pitching is Scott Jones (.389). The best bat vs. right-handers belongs to Aaron Steinhart (.333).
 
Drive Him In
Billy Wurch is batting .350 with runners in scoring position. Teammate Travis Holt is at .300, collecting six hits in 20 at-bats with Bulldogs ready to run home.
 
Power at the Plate
Butler has recorded at least one double in a game 16 times this year. They came up with a season-high four vs. Prairie View A&M on Feb. 26 and have a double in five of their last six games.
 
Solo Shots
Butler hit three solo home runs at #5 Tennessee on Tuesday night. Scott Jones, Aaron Steinhart and Ryan O'Halloran all hit homers over the wall in leftfield in Knoxville. Three home runs in a single-game ties the season-high total that was originally set at Illinois on March 15. Travis Holt, Lukas Galdoni and Jonathan Shoop hit home runs against the Fighting Illini.
 
Hitting Streak
Ryan O'Halloran went 2-for-4 at Tennessee to extend his hitting streak to four games. O'Halloran has reached base safely in six-straight games. The longest streak there belongs to Billy Wurch (11 games).
 
Holt Hits First
Travis Holt had led-off for Butler in every game this season. He has 10 multi-hit games, and heads into the weekend with the best batting average on the team (.337).
 
.300 Club
Travis Holt, Aaron Steinhart, Kollyn All and Ryan O'Halloran are all batting over .300 this season. Holt and O'Halloran have started on the left side of the infield in all 20 games this season. Steinhart has played primarily as the team's designated hitter and All has caught 14 games.
 
Big Stage
Butler played at #5 Tennessee Tuesday night in front of 4,494 fans, the largest crowd the Bulldogs have seen this season.
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Bellarmine on Tuesday, March 29. First pitch in Louisville is set for 2 PM.