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INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will end the 2023 baseball season with three home games against St. John's this week. Games will be played Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the final week of the regular season with the Bulldogs hosting Senior Day in the finale. All three games will stream on FloSports.com.
 
Probable Pitchers
RHP Dawson Taylor vs. LHP Joe Mascio
LHP Cory Bosecker vs. RHP Sonny Fauci
RHP Lukas Galdoni vs. RHP Tyler Roche
 
Weekend Schedule
Thursday, May 18 – 3 PM
Friday, May 19 – 3 PM
Saturday, May 20 – 12 PM
 
Scouting St. John's
The Red Storm are 25-25 overall after taking game one against Xavier in Queens over the weekend. They head to Indianapolis with a 5-12 record against BIG EAST opponents. Graduate transfer Aaron Mann (Drury) leads the team with a .372 batting average. The right-hander has 68 hits, including a team-best 15 doubles and five home runs. Preseason All-BIG EAST selection David Glancy is the Red Storm home run leader with 10 and Tate Ballestero is tied with Mann for the team lead in RBIs with 40. On the mound, St. John's is expected to start Joe Mascio, Sonny Fauci, and Tyler Roche. Mascio is 3-3 on the year, but 0-0 in conference games. He will make this 13th start of the year this week and leads the team in both innings pitched (61.2) and strikeouts (60).
 
Recent History vs. the Red Storm
St. John's is 21-4-1 against Butler since 2014. BU wins in this matchup came in 2021, 2019, 2018 and 2016. The Bulldogs have never won more than one game in a weekend series against the Red Storm. Butler tied St. John's in the 2022 finale 12-12. These two teams have played in four games that went into extra innings. St. John's is 4-0 when the contest goes past the scheduled nine innings. These two teams also met in the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament with the Johnnies winning 12-8.
 
Senior Day
15 Butler student-athletes and a team manager will be recognized 30 minutes prior to first pitch on Saturday for Senior Day. Those involved include Kollyn All, Aaron Barokas, Cory Bosecker, Jake DeFries, Lukas Galdoni, Garret Gray, Clay Holzworth, Scott Jones, Dominic Milano, Ryan O'Halloran, Kyle Pepiot, Parker Shaw, Dawson Taylor, Kyle Van Liere, Jon Vore, Alex Voss.
 
Signature Win
Butler recorded their second win over a ranked opponent in program history on May 14. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat #9 UConn 11-8. Butler's only other victory against a ranked team came in 2018 against the Red Storm. In that meeting, Butler defeated No. 12 St. John's 3-0 to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament.
 
Bulldogs vs. the Best
In the history of the program, Butler has played 31 regular season games against ranked opponents. 25 of the 31 have been played on the road. The Bulldogs hosted No. 22 St. John's in 2017 and most recently hosted No. 15 UConn in 2022. Butler's first game against a ranked team came in 2003 at No. 23 Notre Dame. BU also faced No. 19 Florida State (2004) and No. 25 Alabama (2005) before joining the BIG EAST in 2014. Butler faced the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in 2022 with a contest at Tennessee. They also played LSU this season when the Tigers were ranked No. 1.
 
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Scott Jones and Cole Graverson each made the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday afternoon. Garnering 11 hits on 25 at-bats, Jones collected 11 RBI in a quartet of games, and scored four runs. The junior registered multiple RBI in each of the four games. In 7.0 innings of work, Graverson allowed just two hits and one earned run, while striking out eight batters.
 
BIG EAST Honors
Jones and Graverson have landed on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll two times this season along with teammate Cory Bosecker. Jon Vore was recognized once (3/27) and Joey Urban was tabbed BIG EAST Player of the Week at the start of the season (2/20).
 
BIG EAST Standings
UConn 13-4, 38-12
Xavier 13-5, 32-20
Seton Hall 10-8, 28-22
Creighton 9-9 23-22
Georgetown 8-9, 27-23
Villanova 7-10, 13-34
St. John's 5-12, 25-25
Butler 5-13, 12-40
 
Upcoming BIG EAST Schedule
St. John's at Butler
Georgetown at Xavier
Seton Hall at Villanova
UConn at Creighton
 
Tournament Talk
The 2023 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Tournament will begin on Wednesday, May 24. The No. 1 seed will face the No. 4 seed at 2:30 PM and the No. 2 seed will play the No. 3 seed after at 6:30. The double elimination tournament will be held at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio and be hosted by Xavier.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Kollyn All has appeared in 148 games at Butler, starting in 123 contests
- Aaron Barokas went 4-6 on the hill for the Bulldogs over 13 starts
- Cory Bosecker has pitched 156.2 innings for BU over four years
- Bosecker has 134 strikeouts over 27 starts the last two seasons
- Jake DeFries ranks fourth on the team with a .239 BA
- Lukas Galdoni has thrown 75.2 innings for BU over the last two years
- Garret Gray has appeared in 95 games at Butler, making 70 starts
- Clay Holzworth has pitched 26.2 innings this year over 19 appearances
- Scott Jones has 84 hits over his last two years at Butler
- Jones has come up with 18 extra base hits and has scored 46 runs
- Dominic Milano has appeared in 69 games for the Bulldogs over two years
- Ryan O'Halloran has started in 84 of 89 games played at BU
- Kyle Pepiot jumped into the starting lineup five times during his senior season
- Dawson Taylor has 38 strikeouts over 49.1 innings at Butler
- Kyle Van Liere enters the series with 199 at-bats in his BU career
- Jon Vore has thrown 91.1 innings at BU over her four-year career
- Alex Voss recorded four wins and pitched 93.1 innings for the Bulldogs
- Parker Shaw was a team manager for Butler over the last four seasons
- All went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored the last time he faced STJ
- All's first four-hit game this year came at UConn on May 14
- Van Liere and Billy Wurch each had a double vs. the Red Storm in 2022
- The Bulldogs broke up UConn's nine-game winning streak on Sunday
- St. John's also defeated UConn in game three of their series (April 8)
- Joey Urban has 18 multi-hit games for Butler
- Urban and O'Halloran have reached base safely in eight-straight games
- Urban needs three doubles over Butler's final three games to tie the BU single-season record of 20
- Urban ranks fourth in the conference in doubles (96th in NCAA)
- Scott Jones is on a nine-game hitting streak
- Jones has been the best BU batter with two-outs in an inning (.408 BA)
- Jones leads the team with a .318 BA
- Xavier Carter and Carter Dorighi are each batting .298 with at least one Bulldog on base
- Dorighi has hit .438 when leading off an inning this season
- BU leads the conference and ranks 14th in the nation in triples (20)
- The Bulldogs hit 13 more triples this season than last (7)
- Butler ranks second in the BIG EAST and 38th in the NCAA in sacrifice bunts (31)
- Kollyn All ranks second in the conference in sac bunts (8)
- Jake DeFries ranks third in the BIG EAST in sacrifice flies (5)
- Butler is 2-10 this season in 1-run games
- Five different Bulldogs are responsible for the team's six saves
- Jon Vore leads Butler in total mound appearances (20)
- Cole Graverson, Clay Holzworth, and Dawson Taylor are tied for second (19)
- Graverson is the only member of that group with more strikeouts (44) than innings pitched (38)
- Graverson has only allowed five hits over his last nine appearances (14 IP)
- Holzworth has only allowed three runs over his last eight outings (12.2 IP)
- Holzworth hasn't walked two batters in a game since March 19
- Taylor threw 57 pitches at UConn to cover four full innings for Butler