INDIANAPOLIS – In-state rivals will clash this week and Butler sets their sights on single games against Evansville and Notre Dame before hosting Georgetown in their BIG EAST home opener. The Bulldogs will host the Purple Aces Tuesday at 4 PM and then travel to South Bend for a 6:30 night game at Notre Dame on Wednesday.
 
Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces are 14-17 overall with a 4-5 record in the MVC. They recently went to Belmont and won a series in Nashville two games to one. Outfielder Mark Shallenberger was selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after hitting .357 with three home runs. He had eight RBI, slugged 1.071 and was key in winning the road series. Overall this season, Shallenberger has a .377 average to go with seven homers and 31 RBI. On the mound, Evansville is slated to start right-handed pitcher Elias Hachem. Tuesday will go down as his second start of the season. Hachem has struck out three and walked two over 3.2 innings this year.
 
Scouting Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish are 14-15 this year with a 2-13 record against ACC opponents. They were recently swept at home by Clemson and have not found the win column since March 23. TJ Williams leads the Irish with his .388 batting average. The senior outfielder has 38 total hits including four doubles and five home runs. BU will also keep a close eye on Estevan Moreno and his team-high 12 doubles. The home run king on the roster is David Glancy with 10. The only two players to start in every game for ND are Simon Baumgardt and Jack Penney. The Irish ace is Matt Bedford and the strikeout leader is Bennett Flynn.
 
BIG EAST Standings
St. John's 3-0, 22-5-1
Georgetown 5-1, 21-9
Creighton 2-1, 24-5
UConn 2-1, 12-16
Seton Hall 1-2, 17-14
Xavier 1-2, 15-16
Butler 1-2, 13-16
Villanova 0-6, 7-21
 
A Look at Last Week
Butler went to Omaha and recorded a 5-1 victory over Creighton on Friday, but the Bluejays would come back to win the series 2-1. Zach Munton was great at the plate for the Bulldogs, batting .500 over three starts. He came up with five hits in his 10 at-bats to record three RBI and scored three runs. Jack Moroknek was also impressive with his .385 batting average. Moroknek matched Munton with five hits. He led the team with two doubles. On the mound, Tyler Banks found the win column and Cole Graverson led the way with five strikeouts. Andrew Crumbley and Gage Vota impacted the weekend with four strikeouts each.
 
Banks Lands on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Right-handed pitcher Tyler Banks tossed 5.0 innings and limited the Bluejays to just three hits and zero runs in Friday's series opening win.
 
Projected Starters
Butler will go with Cooper Robinson on the mound vs. Evansville and Ben Whiteside will touch the rubber at Notre Dame on Wednesday. Robinson is set to make his first start of the season against the Aces while Whiteside will start for the third time. Whiteside has been solid this year with a 6.37 ERA. He holds a 1-1 record on the mound and has only walked eight batters over 29.2 innings.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Butler ranks second in the BIG EAST in home runs with 41
- BU is also second in the conference in sac flies (16)
- Carter Dorighi ranks 12th in the NCAA in hits per game (1.72)
- Dorighi comes in at 22nd in the nation in total hits (50)
- Dorighi holds the third-highest batting average in the BIG EAST at .391
- Kade Lewis ranks fifth in the conference with a .387 average
- Lewis has a team-high nine home runs to rank second in the BIG EAST
- Lewis has 34 RBI, the third-highest total among all BIG EAST players
- Lewis has the highest slugging percentage in the conference (.774)
- Lewis leads the BIG EAST in total bases (82)
- Joey Urban leads the league in sac flies with four
- Cole Graverson leads the team and ranks second in the conference in saves (4)
 
Up Next
Butler will host a three-game series against Georgetown this weekend. Game one will stream on FloSports.com at 3 PM on Friday. Saturday's first pitch is set for 2 PM and Sunday's getaway game will get underway at 1 PM.