INDIANAPOLIS – The Bulldogs will play six games this week beginning with a road trip to Oxford, Ohio to face the Miami Redhawks at 4 PM. The following five games will be played at Bulldog Park with Butler hosting Ball State on Wednesday before a busy weekend vs. Dayton.
 
Midweek Schedule
Butler at Miami – 4 PM – McKie Field at Hayden Park
Ball State at Butler – 4 PM – Bulldog Park
 
Scouting Miami
The Redhawks took two of three against Central Michigan over the weekend to improve their overall record to 7-10. Zach MacDonald is the best hitter in the lineup posting a .424 average including a team-high six home runs and 20 RBI. He is one of six Redhawks to start in every game this season. Ryland Zaborowski and Dillon Baker also bat over .300 for Miami. Zaborowski ranks second on the team in home runs (4) Ty Batusich is near the team lead in RBIs with 18.
 
Scouting Ball State
The Cardinals will play at Valparaiso on Tuesday before visiting Bulldog Park on Wednesday. Over the weekend, they were swept in a three-game home series against Bowling Green. The Falcons edged BSU 5-4 in the opener but dominated the action on Saturday to win 34-8. The finale was another high scoring contest with BGSU winning 15-8. Ball State is 11-9 overall with early season wins over Michigan State (4-1) and Illinois (7-1). They played No. 20 Iowa on Feb. 17 and RV Coastal Carolina on Feb. 24 to open up the 2024 campaign.
 
Ball State is a dangerous team that leads the MAC in doubles (40) and home runs (29). Michael Hallquist is the top player in the lineup with a .370 BA, five doubles and eight home runs. He leads the club with 24 RBI and is slugging .753. Hunter Dobbins has seven doubles and four homers this year. Blake Bevis is another player to keep an eye on with his .342 average.
 
Weekend Recap
The Bulldogs were in Florida last weekend playing a three-game series against Bradley at a neutral site. The Braves went 2-1 against Butler with the Bulldogs winning game two of the series 19-13. Kade Lewis posted great numbers over three starts, batting .615 with a double and two triples to notch six RBI. Jack Moroknek hit .545 for BU with a triple and a homer and Dorighi led the team with nine RBI's. Butler batted .347 as a team and came up with 10 extra base hits. On the mound, Andrew Crumbley earned the win on Friday and Grant Brooks would strike out six on Saturday. The longest outing came from Tyler Banks. He tossed 4.1 innings in his start that included five K's and just one walk.
 
Bulldog Bits
- BU leads the BIG EAST in sacrifice flies (11)
- Butler and Creighton are tied for the conference lead in triples with seven each
- The 'Dawgs rank third in scoring (8.9), slugging percentage (.485) and fielding percentage (.972)
- Carter Dorighi leads the BIG EAST and ranks 38th in the nation with his .434 batting average
- Dorighi ranks 20th in the NCAA with 33 hits
- Butler came up with a season-high 18 hits in their game against Bradley on March 15
- Drew Charney scored four runs in that contest and Carter Dorighi had a season-high six RBI
- Kade Lewis has reached base safely in 16-straight games
- Ryan Lezon made his BU debut vs. Bradley; he walked and scored a run on March 14
- Jack Moroknek had two hits and scored two runs in every game against the Braves
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 14-2
St. John's 12-4
Georgetown 13-6
Seton Hall 11-8
Xavier 9-11
Butler 7-9
UConn 7-10
Villanova 6-11
 
Up Next
Butler and Dayton will play four games in just two days this weekend with BU hosting a doubleheader on both Saturday and Sunday. Action each day begins at Noon. All four games will have live stats, but no video stream.