.INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will play at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday and then host Miami Ohio on Wednesday before traveling to St. John's this weekend for more BIG EAST action. The Eagles and Redhawks are side-by-side in the MAC standings with eight conference wins each. EMU has an identical overall as BU at 13-21. Miami has one more win to come in at 14-19.
 
Scouting Eastern Michigan
The Eagles hosted Ohio over the weekend and went 1-2 against the Bobcats. EMU won the series opener 15-6, but lost 7-4 and 9-4 to lose the series. Head Coach Robbie Britt is in his first season at Eastern Michigan. The 2024 team leads the MAC in doubles (65) and ranks second in stolen bases (55). Logan Hugo leads the team in stolen bases with 16. Hugo is an everyday starter that has four doubles, one triple and five home runs this year. EMU has four players batting over .300 this season. Giano Zuccaro leads the way at .360 and his teammate Blake McRae is the overall hit leader with 42. Kyle Schroedle is the home run king with eight and Cory Taylor leads the club with 32 RBI.
 
Scouting Miami
Western Michigan swept Miami over the weekend in Kalamazoo. The first two games went down as three-run losses and the two clubs went wild in the finale posting a score of 17-11. Head Coach Brian Smiley is in his first season at the helm of the program after spending the previous 14 seasons at Indiana State. The Redhawks lead the MAC and rank third in the NCAA in sacrifice flies (26). They are a dangerous team that averages 7.4 runs per contest. Miami has 13 triples this season to lead the MAC and they are second in sacrifice bunts. Tyler Gordon ranks third in the nation in sac bunts with 10. Miami also has league leaders in runs (Zach MacDonald – 42) and base on balls (Ryan Novak – 30). MacDonald and Zaborowski share the team lead in average at .344. MacDonald and Ty Batusich each have 44 hits on the year. MacDonald separates himself from the rest of the group with his team-high 11 home runs.
 
Previous Meeting at Miami
Butler came up with a 13-10 win in Oxford back on March 19. Brett Sherrard was credited with the win while Cole Graverson picked up the save. The Bulldogs scored seven runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the action. Ian Choi sparked the offense with a grand slam to make the game 7-0. Xavier Carter had a two RBI single through the right side moments before Choi's homer. Carter ended the game with three RBIs and Billy Wurch added a pair. Carter and Carter Dorighi each tallied three hits for BU. Miami was led by MacDonald. He had a double and a home run to lead the Redhawks with three RBI. Demonica got the start for Miami, but only lasted one inning. Butler started Gage Vota.
 
RPI Roundup
Butler moved back to 148 in the RPI rankings. Eastern Michigan comes in at 232 and Miami Ohio is slightly above them at 220.
 
Last Week
The Bulldogs were busy last week playing four of their five games at Bulldog Park. Joey Urban led the 'Dawgs at the plate, batting .500 with nine hits in 18 at-bats. Urban scored four runs, the second-most on the team, trailing only Carter Dorighi (5). Dorighi was one of six players to hit a double last week. Xavier Carter had the team's only triple and Jack Moroknek had the team's only home run.
 
BIG EAST Stats
Joey Urban is batting .478 in BIG EAST action. Zach Munton, Kade Lewis and Xavier Carter are also batting above .300 vs. conference opponents.
 
BIG EAST Standings
Georgetown 8-1, 25-9
St. John's 4-2, 23-7-1
UConn 4-2, 16-17
Creighton 3-3, 26-7
Xavier 3-3, 17-18
Villanova 3-6, 11-21
Seton Hall 1-5, 17-18
Butler 1-5, 13-21
 
Bulldog Bits
- Kade Lewis has the second-highest batting average in the BIG EAST (.392)
- Lewis leads the BIG EAST in slugging percentage (.720) and total bases (90)
- Lewis is on a six-game hitting streak
- Carter Dorighi ranks fourth in the conference with a .383 BA
- Dorighi leads the BIG EAST and ranks 17th in the nation in hits (57)
- Dorighi has 18 multi-hit games this season
- Joey Urban leads BU in sac flies with four
- Urban has four multi-hit games over Butler's last six contests
- Butler leads the BIG EAST in sac flies (18)
- The Bulldogs have delivered a double in nine-straight games
- BU is 8-10 on the road this year; 3-8 at home
- Butler beat Eastern Michigan at Bulldog Park last season 9-7
- Nick Miketinac got the win on the mound and Joey Urban hit a triple
- Xavier Carter went 3-for-3 in game one vs. Georgetown with a triple, a double and a single
- Cooper Robinson set new season-highs vs. Georgetown with three strikeouts in two innings pitched
- Ben Whiteside threw a season-high 5.1 innings vs. Georgetown
- Whiteside threw 83 pitches vs. the Hoyas; nearly 20 more than any other outing this year
- Whiteside struck out a season-high three batters and limited GU to just two runs off five hits
- Billy Wurch hit his seventh double of the season in his last game
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel to Queens to play a three game series at St. John's.