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INDIANAPOLIS – The first midweek matchup of the 2024 season will send the Bulldogs to Carbondale, Ill. to play Southern Illinois. Butler most recently swept a three-game series at Alabama A&M while the Salukis lost all three at Central Arkansas. Live stats and an audio stream will be available for the contest that starts at 4 PM Eastern / 3 PM Central.
 
GameDay
Time: 4 PM ET / 3 PM CT
Ball Park: Itchy Jones Stadium
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
 
Pitching Matchup
RHP Tate Foxson vs. Alec Nigut
 
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis swept Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. opening weekend and added a midweek victory to their resume at UT Martin allowing them to begin their season 4-0. The winning streak was snapped last weekend however with Southern Illinois taking three, one-run losses at Central Arkansas.
 
We are just two weeks into the season, but Southern Illinois heads into this matchup ranked ninth in the nation in scoring (12.1 runs per game). They have reached base on balls 68 times (second in NCAA) and have 91 hits over seven games (11th in NCAA).
 
Each program is expected to use the bullpen on Tuesday, but head coach Lance Rhodes will likely start with Alec Nigut on the mound. A left-handed junior, Nigut threw two innings at UT Martin last Tuesday. The Skyhawks scored six runs off seven hits that day against Nigut, yet the Saluki bats were able to lead the team to a 14-11 victory.
 
Jordan Bach leads the team with a .500 batting average and Steven Loden is off to a hot start with a team-best five home runs. Southern Illinois has six everyday starters with an average above .300. Joining Loden with double digits in the RBI column is senior Bennett Eltoft (10).
 
Last Meeting
Butler played at Southern Illinois in 2022 and were defeated 16-4 in Carbondale. The Salukis scored five runs in the second inning and blew the game open with six more in the fifth. The only Bulldogs to appear in that game that are still on today's roster are Cade Vota and Cole Graverson.
 
A Look Back at Last Week
Nick Miketinac, Tyler Banks, and Nate Rosser all picked up wins on the mound last week for the Bulldogs. The offense got a lift from Kade Lewis and Joey Urban. That duo combined for 10 hits and 12 RBI. Seven different players accounted for the team's eight home runs last week. Lewis led the way with two and also came up with a triple. BU hit .306 as a team vs. AAMU.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Kade Lewis hit .500 at AAMU to raise his season batting average to .389
- Lewis hit a home run in game one and two at AAMU
- He had at least one run, one hit and one RBI in each game
- Billy Wurch went 3-for-4 at AAMU and is now batting .400 this year
- Evan Parks was out of the lineup on Sunday, but is batting .375 over four starts this season
- Parks, Urban and Moroknek are the only three Bulldogs to have three hits in a single-game this year
- Urban leads BU with three multi-RBI games this season
- Urban and Lewis have each reached base safely in five-straight games for BU
- Lewis enters Tuesday with a five-game hitting streak intact
- AJ Solomon was the BU lead-off hitter at AAMU
- Butler has scored 11 runs this season in the third inning
- The first BU save of the season went to Cole Graverson
- Nick Miketinac leads the club in innings pitched (7.1)
- Tyler Banks and Nate Rosser share the team lead in strikeouts (5)

BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 5-0
Seton Hall 4-2
Butler 3-2
St. John's 2-2
Georgetown 3-4
Xavier 3-4
UConn 2-4
Villanova 1-5
 
Up Next
Butler will play a three-game series at Morehead State this weekend. The first game falls on Friday afternoon at 3 PM.