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INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will face Xavier this weekend in Cincinnati to signal the start of BIG EAST action. The three-game series will stream on FloSports beginning on Thursday afternoon at 3 PM. Single games on Friday and Saturday are slated to start at 1 PM.
 
Weekend Schedule
Thursday, April 6 – 3 PM
Friday, April 7 – 1 PM
Saturday, April 8 – 1 PM
All Games Played at Hayden Field
 
Projected Starters
TBD vs. RHP Ethan Bosacker
LHP Cory Bosecker vs. LHP Brant Alazaus
RHP Lukas Galdoni vs. TBD
 
Scouting Xavier
The Musketeers went 5-0 last week and are currently on a seven-game win streak. Justin Loer earned BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week accolades on Monday and catcher Matthew DePrey was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Xavier most recently defeated Miami Ohio in the Joe Nuxhall Classic to improve to 17-12 on the season. Head Coach Billy O'Conner has a talented group in 2023 that leads the conference in hits, home runs, ERA, WHIP, and strikeout-to-walk ratio. DePrey and Andrew Walker are the top hitters in the Xavier lineup. Walker leads the club with 40 hits and 28 RBI. He is trouble once on base as well with a team-high 14 stolen bases. DePrey is tied with Walker for the team lead in doubles with seven. He has eight home runs on the year in 29 starts. On the bump, look for Ethan Bosacker and Brant Alazaus to get starts. Bosacker is 3-1 on the year with a 2.70 ERA. He has 48 strikeouts in 40 innings of action and has only gave up 12 earned runs. Alazaus has 43 K's in 40.1 innings of action. He is 3-3 on the hill with a 5.13 ERA.
 
Recent History vs. the Musketeers
Since joining the BIG EAST in 2014, Butler is 7-17 against Xavier. The Musketeers swept Butler one year ago at Bulldog Park. They also swept the series in 2019 (two games), 2017 and in 2016. Butler has weekend wins over Xavier in 2018, 2015, and 2014 winning two of three each year.
 
BIG EAST Standings
Georgetown 2-1, 16-12
Villanova 1-2, 5-21
#19 UConn 0-0, 20-6
St. John's 0-0, 16-10
Creighton 0-0, 12-9
Xavier 0-0, 17-12
Seton Hall 0-0, 12-13
Butler 0-0, 7-20
 
BIG EAST Openers
The Bulldogs will be on the road to start the BIG EAST slate for the fifth time in 10 years. Butler opened the 2022 conference schedule at Villanova and were sent to Seton Hall in 2021. Covid-19 wiped out the 2020 campaign and the 'Dawgs hosted St. John's in 2019. Butler and Creighton played a two-game series at a neutral site in 2018 (inclement weather), splitting the games.
 
2017 was the last time BU won a weekend series to start conference action. They took two of three from Seton Hall that year. Butler and Xavier have never met in the opening weekend of conference competition until this year. Finally, the Bulldogs have never won all three games to start conference play, but they have been swept once (2015 vs. St. John's).
 
#BIGEASTbase Weekly Honors
Cole Graverson led Butler to a 2-0 shutout victory over Eastern Illinois on Sunday at Coaches Stadium. He came in to throw five scoreless innings, which led to his first win on the mound. Overall, he struck out five batters, didn't issue a walk, and allowed just one hit in the win. Graverson is the third Bulldog this year to land on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll joining Jon Vore (3/27) and Cory Bosecker (2/27). Joey Urban was tabbed BIG EAST Player of the Week after opening weekend (2/20).
 
Bulldog Bits
- Aaron Barokas hasn't allowed a run over his last four outings (7.2 IP)
- Xavier Carter's first home run as a Bulldog lifted BU to a 2-0 win over EIU
- Lukas Galdoni has struck out six batters in each of his last two starts
- Cole Graverson threw six innings last week, struck out seven batters, and didn't allow a run
- Dawson Taylor came up with his first save of the season at Eastern Illinois
- Joey Urban has a hit in 20 of Butler's 27 games
- Urban has a double in back-to-back games moving his season total to seven
- No Bulldog pitcher has gone longer than 5.1 innings on the mound this season
- Cory Bosecker struck out a season-high 10 batters at Campbell (2/24)
- Butler played 14 innings at EIU on April 2, just one inning shy of tying the longest game team record
- The Bulldogs have won back-to-back games three times this season, but have not won three-straight
- BU is 1-1 in extra inning games this season… They are 2-5 in one-run games
- Butler has scored 20 runs in the second inning, their most of any frame, and have limited the opponent to just 18, the fewest of any inning.
 
27-27
Joey Urban and Carter Dorighi are the only players on the roster to appear in all 27 games this season. Each newcomer has started in each contest and the duo ranks 1-2 on the team in batting average. Dorighi has played shortstop in 25 of his 27 starts and Urban has split time between left and centerfield.
 
Streaks
Carter Dorighi has a three-game hitting streak heading into Cincinnati and Joey Urban has reached base safely in seven-straight games.
 
Four-Hit Games
Xavier Carter and Ryan O'Halloran each had four hits in game one of Sunday's doubleheader at Eastern Illinois. Carter went into April 2 with just two multi-hit games all year and then delivered four hits in game one followed by two hits in game two. He scored a run in each game while adding a double and a homer. O'Halloran jumped into the starting lineup for the first time since March 4 on Sunday and went 4-for-6 from the plate with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Up Next
Butler will head to Ann Arbor on Tuesday, April 11 to play Michigan on B1G+. First pitch at Ray Fisher Stadium is set for 4 PM. The 'Dawgs then return to BIG EAST action with a three-game home series vs. Villanova.