LIVE STATS
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Bulldog Park will be the place to be on Tuesday afternoon when Butler hosts Purdue Fort Wayne in the 2024 home opener. Live stats will be available for those fans who cannot attend. First pitch is slated for 3 PM.
 
Pitching Matchup
RHP Simon Linde vs. RHP Sean Kasper
 
Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne
The Mastodons are off to a 3-9 start to the season but posted an impressive road win at #20 Indiana on Feb. 27. PFW knocked off the Hoosiers 9-6 in Bloomington and paired that win with one at Western Kentucky and a recent 11-3 victory at Evansville. Camden Karczewski, Jacob Walker, and Grant Thoroman are the top bats in the lineup. Karczewski leads the club with 10 RBI, Walker is the hit leader with 16 and Thoroman is hitting over .300.
 
Sean Kasper got the start and the win in PFW's only midweek game of the year. He threw 3.2 innings at Indiana and struck out four. The save went to Owen Willard. Kasper has a 2.25 ERA and has eight total strikeouts over eight innings. As a team, PFW has a 10.34 ERA.
 
Last Meeting
The last game between Butler and Purdue Fort Wayne was played on May 17, 2022 in Fort Wayne. The Mastodons won 4-2. Butler's last win over PFW came on March 13, 2021. They won 2-0 at Bulldog Park.
 
A Look Back at Last Week
Butler went 1-3 last week with a midweek game at Southern Illinois followed by a series at Morehead State. Highlighting the weekend was a come from behind victory on Sunday at Allen Field. BU scored three runs in the top of the ninth to win 11-10.
 
Carter Dorighi tied a Butler school record by going 6-for-6 from the plate. He and Kyle Waggoner (2010) are the only players in program history to collect six hits in a single-game. Dorighi hit .650 last week, recording 13 hits in 20 at-bats. He scored a run in every game while adding a double and a homer to his season stats.
 
Jack Moroknek, Zach Munton, Kade Lewis and Billy Wurch all hit multiple homers for the Bulldogs. Moroknek hit .467 over his four starts with a double and three home runs. He led all Bulldogs with 8 RBI and five runs scored. Evan Parks and Ryan Drumm also got in the mix to give BU 13 home runs last week.
 
Home Opener
Butler hosted Northwestern last year in their home opener. The Wildcats won game one 5-1, but the 'Dawgs came out on top the following day 3-2. Last year's opener was played on March 19.
 
The Time is Now
Freshman Simon Linde will make the first start of his collegiate career tomorrow for BU. The right-hander has appeared in three games thus far and has tossed 7.1 innings. He has six strikeouts and has only walked three.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Cole Graverson and Ben Whiteside have each appeared in four games and each have one save
- Graverson is the team leader in strikeouts with 12 and is second on the team in innings pitched
- Nick Miketinac has the most innings under his belt at 9.2
- Miketinac has struck out seven and only walked two this year
- Nate Rosser is 2-0 for BU over his three appearances
- Carter Dorighi raised his batting average to .439
- Dorighi has five multi-hit games this season
- Billy Wurch is also batting above .400 this season
- Wurch has the longest hitting streak on the team at six games
- Kade Lewis, Zach Munton, Jack Moroknek and Evan Parks all hit above .300
- Lewis and Xavier Carter have reached base safely in nine-straight
- Butler has outscored their opponent 14-4 in the third inning this year and 8-1 in the ninth
- The 'Dawgs have hit five home runs in a single-game three times this season
- BU has hit a sac fly in four-straight games
- Butler arms struck out eight Eagles in all three games last weekend
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 7-1
Seton Hall 7-3
Georgetown 6-5
Xavier 6-5
St. John's 4-4
Butler 4-5
UConn 3-6
Villanova 2-7
 
Up Next
Butler will spend the upcoming weekend in Memphis Tenn. They will play the Tigers on Friday at 6 PM, move ahead to face Jackson State on Saturday at 1 PM, and end the weekend with an 11 AM game vs. Presbyterian on Sunday.