INDIANAPOLIS – The final month of the regular season is upon us and the Butler Bulldogs are prepared to host the Xavier Musketeers this weekend in Indianapolis. Game one of the three-game conference series will take place on Friday, May 3 at 3 PM. That contest will stream on FloSports.com.
 
Weekend Series
Friday, May 3 – 3 PM
Saturday, May 4 – 2 PM
Sunday, May 5 – 1 PM
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1 - RHP Tyler Banks vs. RHP Jonathan Kelly
Game 2 – LHP Ben Whiteside vs. RHP Logan Schmidt
Game 3 – RHP Nate Rosser vs. RHP Luke Hoskins
 
Scouting Xavier
The Musketeers are 22-22 overall and 6-6 in BIG EAST action. They collected quality wins during the non-conference slate by taking down Louisville (9-1), LSU (2-1), and Indiana State (4-2). The battle-tested Musketeers also played Clemson opening weekend and traveled to Knoxville to play Tennessee in mid-March. Xavier went 1-2 at UConn to begin BIG EAST action and won 2-of-3 at home vs. Creighton.
 
Most recently, Xavier won 2-of-3 at Seton Hall, but lost 2-of-3 vs. St. John's to even their conference record. The Musketeers didn't have a midweek matchup after the Red Storm series so they head to Indianapolis having lost their last two games.
 
No other BIG EAST team has hit more home runs than the Musketeers. They head into the weekend with 66, a total that ranks them 49th in the NCAA. Aedan Anderson and Matt McCormick each have a league-high 13 home runs for Xavier. Anderson slugs at a .647 clip which is second to only Butler's Kade Lewis.
 
On the mound, Xavier started Jonathan Kelly, Logan Schmidt and Luke Hoskins last week. Kelly ranks second in the BIG EAST with his 2.74 ERA, and 1.17 WHIP. Schmidt has been a staple to the rotation with nine starts on the hill for Xavier. Hoskins has been a bright spot for the Musketeers this year. He ranks second in the BIG EAST in games started (11), and leads the league in both strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks allowed per nine innings. Other arms to keep an eye on include Nick Boyle and Alex Vera. Boyla has 50 strikeouts this year and Vera leads the BIG EAST in appearances with 26.
 
A Year Ago
Xavier swept Butler a year ago to open up BIG EAST action. The Musketeers collected three victories in Cincinnati winning 8-3, 4-2 and 13-6. Butler's last win over Xavier came on April 17, 2021 (7-3 at Xavier). Their last win in Indianapolis came on May 6, 2018 (6-4). The 2018 team is the last Bulldog group to win a weekend series vs. their conference rival. BU also won the weekend series in 2014 and 2015.
 
BIG EAST Standings
UConn 10-2, 25-18
Georgetown 10-4, 29-15
St. John's 8-4, 28-11-1
Xavier 6-6, 22-22
Creighton 4-7,31-11
Seton Hall 4-8, 21-24
Villanova 5-10, 14-28
Butler 3-9, 17-27
 
Parking at Bulldog Park
Fans may park in the Hinkle Fieldhouse parking lot or along the north side of 52nd Street for the games this weekend.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Butler is 3-9 in BIG EAST action (1-5 at home, 2-4 on the road)
- Joey Urban is batting .400 (18-45) against BIG EAST opponents
- Urban has reached base safely in 18-straight games
- Tyler Banks, Grant Brooks and Cole Graverson all have wins on the mound vs. conference foes
- Banks leads BU in starts (11) and innings pitched (50.0)
- Graverson is the strikeout leader at Butler with 43 in 38.2 innings
- Butler ranks third in the BIG EAST in hits (418) and home runs (53)
- Butler is now four home runs away from breaking the school record (56 in 1998)
- Carter Dorighi was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List last week
- Dorighi ranks 8th in the nation in hits (71)
- Dorighi on is a seven-game hitting streak
- Dorighi has 23 multi-hit games this season
- Dorighi leads the team with 41 runs scored and is tied with Lewis for the team lead in RBI's with 41
- Kade Lewis leads the BIG EAST in slugging percentage (.656)
- Jack Moroknek leads the conference in total bases (105)
- Moroknek has hit a double in three-straight games
- BU has hit a double in 19-straight games
- Butler is 4-2 this year in 1-run games
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Ball State on Tuesday, May 7. The 3 PM start will stream on ESPN+.