Xavier University Athletics

CINCINNATI – Xavier baseball travels to Lynchburg, Va., this weekend to take on the Liberty Flames for a three-game series, getting started on Friday, February 21 at 2:00 p.m., moved up from the original start time of 4:00 p.m. Game two with the Flames is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, and the series is set to wrap up on Sunday, with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch. All three games will have a radio broadcast available through LibertyFlames.com.

The Musketeers are 2-2 on the season after opening the 2025 campaign at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz., last weekend. The Musketeers picked up wins over then-No. 25 Indiana and UNLV, and fell in pair of match-ups against No. 7 Oregon State.

 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

GAME ONE: Friday, February 21 – 2 p.m. – Jake Hooker (XU) vs. Josh Swink (LU)
GAME TWO: Saturday, February 22 – 2 p.m. – Ryan Piech (XU) vs. Ben Blair (LU)
GAME THREE: Sunday, February 23 – 1 p.m. – TBD (XU) vs. Dylan Mathiesen (LU)
 

LIBERTY FLAMES

• The Flames enter the weekend at 4-0, after opening the season with a 3-0 sweep of fellow BIG EAST member St. John’s in Lynchburg, and taking a midweek win at No. 12 NC State.
• LU was picked to finish fifth in the CUSA Preseason Poll, and RHP Ben Blair, set to start Saturday’s game, was selected to the League’s Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Liberty went 24-34 overall last season with an 11-13 record in Conference USA play.  The Flames won a pair of games in the CUSA Tournament but were eliminated by No. 1 seed La Tech a game shy of the Championships series.
• Xavier is 0-1 all-time against the Flames, an 8-4 loss in March 1996.

MUSKETEER PITCHING

• Jake Hooker made the start in the season opener against Oregon State, allowing just one earned run on one hit and four walks for a 2.25 ERA, striking out two in 4.0 innings of work.
• Ryan Piech went 3.0 innings in the start against Indiana, allowing one earned run on one hit, walking six and striking out four.
• Joseph Chavana made the start against UNLV, posting a 3.00 ERA through 3.2 innings of work, allowing one earned run on five hits, striking out three and walking three.
• Ashton Chronister has made a pair of appearances this season, not allowing a hit or a run, for a 0.00 ERA through 2.2 innings pitched. He has one strikeout to one walk on the season.
• Trevor Geddes has a 0.00 ERA through 2.2 innings pitched across a pair of appearances. He’s allowed two hits and a walk, striking out a pair.
• Logan Schmidt has pitched 5.0 innings across two relief appearances, allowing three earned runs on five hits, with four strikeouts to two walks.
• Ben Weber made two appearances over the opening weekend, leading the team with 6.0 innings pitched. He’s allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits and has two strikeouts to four walks.
• Jack Nobe pitched 2.0 innings in a relief appearance, earning a 0.00 ERA after not allowing a run, giving up just one hit and walking one.
• Eli Bridenthal has a 0.00 ERA through 1.0 inning pitched. Luke Hoskins made an appearance out of the bullpen, pitching 2.0 innings. Jack DeTienne has made a pair of appearances, with 1.2 innings of work. Jon Wylie has pitched 1.0 inning across two appearances.

THE LINEUP

• Carter Hendrickson batted leadoff and started in left field in all four games for the opening weekend, collecting five hits, including a double and a home run, for a .313 average at the plate and reached base in all four games. Hendrickson leads the Musketeers with five RBI after posting a career-high four RBI-day in Xavier’s win over UNLV.
• Aedan Anderson started in center field, batting in the No. 2 hole in all four games this season. He has three hits, including a pair of doubles, and four walks on the season, has driven in two RBI, and scored four runs. He’s reached safely in all four games this season and enters the weekend on a three-game hitting streak.
• Isaac Wachsmann has batted third in all four games this season, starting three games in center field and one at DH. He has a hit, a home run, and three walks, driving in one RBI and scoring three runs.
• Connor Misch batted cleanup for the Musketeers in all four games, making the start at DH in two games, and at first base in a pair of games. So far, Misch has a pair of hits and four walks, with one RBI and three runs scored, and has reached base in all four games this season.
• Clay Burdette batted in the No. 5 spot for three games during the opening weekend, starting a pair of games at first base, one at DH and one in right field. He’s recorded a hit in all four games this season, among his five hits was a home run against Oregon State. He collected three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
• Landon Mensik made three starts at second base, batting twice in the No. 6 spot. Among his three hits on the season are a double and a home run, giving him a .636 slugging percentage, best among Xavier’s starters. Mensik has driven in three RBI and scored two runs.
• Eddie Peters started all four games at shortstop for the Musketeers, batting primarily in the No. 7 spot. Peters has three hits and a walk on the season, driving in an RBI and scoring a run.
• Jason Jelic made three starts at catcher, batting in the eighth spot for a pair of games, collecting two hits and three walks so far this season.
• Jake Lambdin started all four games at third, batting in the nine-hole for three games. He’s batting .545, best among Xavier’s starters, with a team-high six hits, recording a hit in each game so far. Lambdin has also taken four walks, leading the Musketeers with a .667 on-base percentage. He’s driven in three RBI and scored a team-leading five runs.
• Hayden Christiansen played in three games this season, collecting three hits in five at bats for a .600 average at the plate. He’s driven in an RBI and scored a run.
• Donavan Canterberry has played in three games this season, and has a hit, a double, in three at bats.  Joe Karpierz has also recorded a hit in one of his two at bats so far this season.
• Tyler Stack has played in three games this season, including making the start at catcher against UNLV. Nolan Tucker made the start at second base in the season opener.

WEEKLY AWARDS

• Carter Hendrickson earned a spot on the first BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll of the season after driving in a team-high five RBI through three games, helping Xavier to a 2-1 record for the first three games of the season.
• Hendrickson, a senior outfielder from Farmington, Minn., posted a .385 average, batting leadoff in all three games. Among his team-high matching five hits were double and a home run for a .692 slugging percentage, the highest mark among Xavier’s starters during that stretch. He also had a pair of walks, getting aboard and scoring a run in each of the first three games. His four runs scored also matched for team high at that point.
• Hendrickson’s first hit of the season came in the 10th inning of Xavier’s win over No. 25 Indiana, an RBI single to score the final run in the Musketeers’ 8-6 victory. He capped the weekend with a 4-of-5 day at the plate against UNLV, driving in a career-high four RBI and coming around to score a pair of runs as Xavier took the 10-1 win.

UPCOMING opponents

• Xavier will travel to Bloomington, Ind. to face Indiana in the second of two games this season on Tuesday, February 25, set for a 4:00 p.m. start.
• The Hoosiers, who entered the season ranked No. 25 in the preseason polls, opened the 2025 campaign competing in the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic, taking on UNLV twice as well as facing No. 7 Oregon State and the Musketeers. The Hoosiers wrapped up the weekend at 0-4. 
• Indiana, which was receiving votes in the most recent NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls, travels to Cary, N.C. this weekend for three games, facing Fordham, Harvard and Northwestern.
• IU went 33-26-1 overall last season with a 15-9 record in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, playing in the Knoxville Regional.
• Xavier is 7-22 all-time against the Hoosiers after taking the 8-6 win in Arizona last weekend. Prior to this season’s game, the programs last played in 2023.
• Following the game at IU, Xavier travels to Palo Alto, Calif., for four games against Stanford, getting underway on Friday, Feb. 28, with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, March 1, and the series finale set for Sunday, March 2.

RETURNING MUSKETEERS

• Xavier returns 10 players who appeared in the lineup last season, including eight who played in at least a third of Xavier’s games. The returnees accounted for 307 of the Musketeers’ 531 total hits last season, including over 67 percent of Xavier’s home runs (62 of 92). The returning Musketeers drove in 195 RBI last season and scored nearly 60 percent of Xavier’s runs (216 of 363).
• Aedan Anderson, a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection in the outfield, played in 55 games last season, starting 42 in the outfield. He batted .271 overall, with 46 hits and a team-high 44 runs scored. Among his hits were 26 for extra bases, including a BIG EAST-leading 18 home runs. He posted a .641 slugging percentage for the season, trailing only teammate Isaac Wachsmann among league players. He also led the Musketeers with 35 walks on the season.
• Connor Misch, the league’s selection to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team at designated hitter, played in 46 games last season, making 40 starts and earning a spot on the All-BIG EAST second team. He batted .268 for the season overall finishing with 41 hits and 27 runs scored. He had 19 hits for extra bases, with 11 doubles and eight home runs.
• Luke Hammond, the Preseason All-BIG EAST selection at third base, started at third in all 56 games he played in last season.  He batted .290 overall for 2024, collecting 64 hits and scoring 43 runs, both marks ranking second on the team. Among his 64 hits were 25 for extra bases, including 14 doubles and 11 home runs, posting a .502 slugging percentage on the season. He also had 26 walks for the season.
• Isaac Wachsmann played in 28 games last season, starting in 27, despite dealing with a mid-season injury. He batted .330, the best average among Xavier’s everyday players, finishing with 31 hits, including 10 home runs, drove in 20 RBI, and scored 21 runs. Wachsmann also led Xavier’s everyday players in slugging percentage (.691) and on-base percentage (.434). He was picked as the 2025 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by D1Baseball.com.
• Carter Hendrickson started in 42 of the 49 games he played in, collecting 50 hits, including 19 for extra bases. He drove in 18 RBI and came around to score 37 runs. His .303 batting average and .407 on-base percentage ranked second among Xavier’s everyday players. Hendrickson led the team in doubles with 15 and was second on the team in stolen bases with 12, the most among the returning Musketeers.
• Hayden Christiansen played in 52 games in 2024, starting in 44. He totaled 53 hits, including 15 for extra bases, drove in 34 RBI, and scored 24 runs. His .288 average at the plate was fourth best among Xavier’s everyday players.
• Jake Lambdin played in 21 games as a position player, collecting 11 hits, including two extra-base hits, nine RBI, and nine runs scored. He finished with nine walks and went 2-2 on stolen base attempts.
• Tyler Stack started at designated hitter in 12 of the 19 games he played in last season. He finished his freshman season with nine hits, including three for extra bases, drove in six RBI and scored six runs.

XAVIER BULLPEN

• The Musketeers’ bullpen returns nine who made an appearance last season, including five who pitched at least 15.0 innings. Xavier also returns a pair who missed all of 2024 due to injury, graduate student Jared Gadd and sophomore Ryan Piech, who will make the start on Saturday against IU.
• Jake Hooker, who is set to make the start in Xavier’s season opener against Oregon State, appeared in 11 games and started in one in 2024 before an injury brought his season to an end in mid-April. He posted a 2.20 ERA through 16.1 innings pitched and tallied 16 strike outs. Hooker finished his shortened freshman season with a pair of saves.
• Nick Boyle, who is set to make Monday’s start against Oregon State, made 19 appearances, including eight starts in 2024. In 46.1 innings of work had a 6.02 ERA and held opposing batters to a .256 batting average, the second best among Xavier’s starters. Boyle finished with 58 strikeouts, the most among returning Musketeers.
• Luke Hoskins made a team-high 15 starts last season, leading the team in innings pitched with 70.1. He posted an ERA of 6.78 and finished the season with 49 strikeouts to just 15 walks, the fewest bases on balls allowed among Xavier’s regular starters.
• Logan Schmidt made 16 appearances for the Musketeers in 2024, starting in 11 games. He had a 7.01 ERA and collected 52 strikeouts in 68.0 innings of work, second most innings pitched on the team. He finished the season with five wins, matching the team high for 2024.
• Jake Lambdin made 17 appearances on the mound in 2024, compiling a 3.43 ERA in 21.0 innings of work. He finished with 26 strikeouts and 15 walks and held opposing batters to a .171 batting average. Lambdin collected three saves and had a W-L record of 2-0.

XAVIER BASEBALL ON FLOCOLLEGE

• Select Xavier Baseball home games and games on the BIG EAST Digital Network will again be available on FloCollege Presented by Invesco QQQ. Sign up today via the Xavier Athletics FloSports Account for special pricing.
• QUESTIONS? HELP SIGNING UP? Click on the FloSports FAQ PDF at the top of the page for help signing up today!

HOW TO WATCH

• TV: Download the FloSports TV app on Roku, Apple TV 4, and Amazon Fire TV
• MOBILE: Download the FloSports iOS and Android apps
• WEB: Bookmark FloSports.TV in your favorite browser

2025 schedule

• The Musketeers face teams from 10 conferences outside of BIG EAST play, as well as Pac-12 member Oregon State, which is competing as an independent in baseball this season.
• Nine of the teams on Xavier’s schedule played in last season’s NCAA Tournament, including four teams that advanced to Super Regionals and two teams that took part in the College World Series, including defending National Champions Tennessee.
• The Musketeers play the first 22 games of the season on the road, traveling to seven different states before hosting Ball State at Hayden Field on March 21 for the first of three games.
• Six of Xavier’s non-conference opponents are ranked in Preseason Polls, including four squads that earned top 15 rankings from NCBWA: No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 LSU, No. 7 Oregon State and No. 14 Vanderbilt.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST SELECTIONS

• Three Musketeers, Luke Hammond, Connor Misch and Aedan Anderson, where selected to the 2025 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team, as voted on by the coaches. 
• Luke Hammond, a senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, was picked to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team at third base. Hammond started at third in all 56 games he played in last season.  He batted .290 overall for 2024, collecting 64 hits and scoring 43 runs, both marks ranking second on the team. Among his 64 hits were 25 for extra bases, including 14 doubles and 11 home runs, posting a .502 slugging percentage on the season. He also had 26 walks for the season.
• In BIG EAST play, Hammond batted .292 through 21 games, finishing with 26 hits and a team-high matching 18 runs scored against league opponents. He drove in 15 of his 36 RBI in conference action. Hammond was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team following the season. 
• Connor Misch, a junior from Dyer, Ind., was the league’s selection to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team at DH. He played in 46 games last season, making 40 starts. He batted .268 for the season overall finishing with 41 hits and 27 runs scored. He had 19 hits for extra bases, with 11 doubles and eight home runs. 
• In 19 games played in BIG EAST play, Misch had a .315 average at the plate with 23 hits and 16 runs scored. Eleven of his extra base hits came against league opponents, including six home runs, third most among league players. Of his 23 RBI on the season, 14 came in BIG EAST action. Misch was named to the 2024 All-BIG EAST Second Team following the regular season.
• Aedan Anderson, a senior from Laguna Niguel, Calif., was named a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection in the outfield. Anderson played in 55 games last season, starting 42 in the outfield. He batted .271 overall, with 46 hits and a team-high 44 runs scored. Among his hits were 26 for extra bases, including a BIG EAST-leading 18 home runs. He posted a .641 slugging percentage for the season, trailing only teammate Isaac Wachsmann among league players. He also led the Musketeers with 35 walks on the season.
• Anderson made 20 starts in BIG EAST play, finishing with a .267 average at the plate. Thirteen of his 20 hits in conference play went for extra bases including a team-high eight home runs against league foes. He led the Musketeers in conference play with 17 walks and matched Hammond for team-high with 18 runs scored. He also led the Musketeers with 22 runs batted in during league play, third most among BIG EAST players. His 17 walks in conference play led the league.

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

• Xavier is coming off a 2024 season where the Musketeers posted 30 wins for a third-straight year, going 30-27 overall with a 12-9 record in BIG EAST play to earn the No. 4 seed the BIG EAST Tournament. Xavier opened the league tournament with a win over No. 1 seed UConn before falling to St. John’s and Georgetown.
• The Musketeers have made the four-team BIG EAST Tournament eight times since joining the conference in 2013, including every season the event has been held since 2019.
• Xavier has advanced to the conference championship series seven times in the Musketeers’ eight trips to the league tournament, claiming the tournament championship four times (2014, 2016, 2017, 2023) and finishing runners up three times (2019, 2021, 2022). Xavier also won the regular season title in 2016.

XU TO HOST THE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

• The 2025 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep will be co-hosted by Xavier baseball at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, during Memorial Day Weekend.
• The four-team tournament opens on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 and is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 24, 2025.
• The BIG EAST announced in 2023 that Prasco Park would extend the partnership, which began in 2018, with Xavier remaining the co-host of the annual postseason tournament through 2028.

BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL

Preseason Player of the Year
Maddix Dalena, 1B, Jr., UConn

Preseason Pitcher of the Year

Ian Cooke, RHP, Sr., UConn ^

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*

C – Owen Carapellotti, Georgetown

1B – Maddix Dalena, UConn

2B – Kyle Hess, Creighton

3B – Tyler Minick, UConn

3B – Luke Hammond, Xavier

SS – Bryan Padilla, UConn

SS – Luke Orbon, St. John’s

DH – Connor Misch, Xavier

OF – Jack Moroknek, Butler

OF – Caleb Shpur, UConn

OF – Nolan Sailors, Creighton ^

OF – Kavi Caster, Georgetown

OF – Jackson Tucker, St. John’s

OF – Aedan Anderson, Xavier

SP – Ian Cooke, UConn ^

SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Creighton

SP – Andrew Williams, Georgetown

SP – Evan Chaffee, St. John’s

SP – Ryan Reich, Seton Hall ^

RP – Brady Afthim, UConn

RP – Louis Marinaro, St. John’s

^ – denotes unanimous selection

* due to a tie in voting, there are extra members on the preseason all-conference team.

BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Poll

First place votes in ( )

1.  UConn (7) – 49

2.  Xavier – 38

3.  St. John’s (1) – 37

4.  Creighton – 30

5.  Georgetown – 25

6.  Seton Hall – 24

7.  Villanova – 12

8.  Butler – 9