The Butler baseball team will travel to Athens this weekend to play the Ohio Bobcats at Bob Wren Stadium. Bulldog fans will be able to watch all three games with the first tilt and the finale streaming on ESPN+. Saturday's 2 p.m. start will be on Ohio's YouTube channel.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Feb. 28 – 3 PM
Saturday, March 1 – 2 PM
Sunday, March 2 – 1 PM
 
Scouting Ohio
The Bobcats are 1-6 at the start of the season with all seven contests coming on the road. Their home opener will bring in the 3-4 Bulldogs.
 
Opening weekend featured a three-game series at Wofford with the Terriers winning all three. The season opener was lopsided with Ohio taking an 11-1 setback, but the final two games were just one-run wins for the home team. The next weekend, Ohio went 1-2 at West Georgia, winning the Saturday showdown 4-2. The Bobcats most recently lost 8-4 at West Virginia in their first midweek game.
 
Matt Ineich, Trenton Neuer, Trae Cassidy, and Ben Slanker are the top hitters in the lineup. Ineich has a team-best 10 hits, Neuer and Cassidy combine for 10 RBI's and Slanker is the home run leader with two.
 
Projected starters on the mound include LHP Dillon Masters, RHP Blake Gaskey and LHP Jacob Tate. Masters is the ace on the staff with a 1.00 ERA and a team-high 11 strikeouts. Gaskey is 0-1 on the year with a 6.75 ERA. He has tossed a team-high 9.1 innings over his two starts. Tate has struggled in each start, throwing just 2.1 innings, and walking five.
 
BIG EAST Standings
Xavier 5-3
Villanova 4-3
Creighton 3-3
Butler 3-4
Seton Hall 3-4
Georgetown 3-5
UConn 1-5
St. John's 0-6
 
Bulldog Bits
- Butler leads the BIG EAST in batting average (.326), hits (84), doubles (21), and home runs (15)
- BU leads the league in on-base percentage (.423), slugging percentage (.605) and runs scored (64)
- Jack Moroknek leads the BIG EAST in hits (14) home runs (6), runs scored (11), total bases (36), and slugging percentage (1.125)
- Jack Moroknek is one of just five players to have six home runs this early in the season
- Moroknek ranks third among BIG EAST players in RBIs (10)
- Moroknek has five multi-hit games this year
- Moroknek, Jack Bello and David Ayers all rank top ten in the league in batting average
- All three of the players mentioned above have four doubles this year
- Tommy Townsend ranks third in the conference in base on balls (9)
- Townsend and Moroknek each have three multi-RBI games already in 2025
- Townsend and Moroknek have each reached base safely in all seven games
- David Ayers is on a six-game hitting streak
- Harry Carr had four hits in his last game at Louisville
- Ian Choi hit two doubles at Louisville on Wednesday
- Butler has hit at least one home run in every game this year and have two or more in six of seven
- Butler has scored 10+ runs in three-straight games
- The Bulldogs have had at least eight hits in every game this year
- Butler has scored 12 runs in the fourth inning this year
- The team has yet to allow a run in the eighth inning
 
About Butler
The Bulldogs are 3-4 at the start of the season with a solo win over Tarleton State and a doubleheader sweep against Norfolk State. Their three-game win streak was snapped on Wednesday in a high-scoring affair at Louisville that saw the Cardinals come out on top 15-11.
 
Ben Whiteside and Marcus Goodpaster are likely to see starts this weekend while the third pitcher is still up in the air. Whiteside is a left-hander with a 7.00 ERA. He has a team-high 10 strikeouts over his first nine innings of 2025. Goodpaster has also tossed nine full innings for BU. He holds and ERA at 3.00 and has seven strikeouts.
 
Moroknek Named to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Jack Moroknek hit .636 over the weekend helping Butler win a pair of games at Norfolk State. He recorded seven hits in 11 at-bats with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. In game one of the doubleheader, Moroknek went 4-for-6 with a double, a home run, three RBI and three runs scored while adding a stolen base. In the nightcap, Moroknek went 3-for-5 in a seven inning game, giving the Bulldogs a double, a home run and two more RBI's.
 
D1Baseball Top Hitting Performance
D1Baseball.com included Jack Moroknek on their top performers list for Saturday, Feb. 22. To be recognized as a top hitter in the nation, Moroknek recorded his seven hits in 11 at-bats while adding two doubles and two home runs. His seven hits were matched by only Mason Lytle of UTSA. Moroknek was also just one of two BIG EAST players to earn the nod, joining Jason Neff of Villanova.
 
Last Meeting vs. Ohio
Butler and Ohio have not played each other since 2017. That year opened with Butler, LaSalle, and Ohio all meeting in Lexington S.C. to play each other two times each. BU beat Ohio in the first matchup 15-4, but lost the next day 4-0.
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Miami Ohio on Wednesday before heading to St. Charles, Mo. to face Lindenwood in a four-game series.