Game 40
Xavier Musketeers (16-23) at Miami RedHawks (30-9)
Tuesday, April 23 – 5 p.m.
McKie Field at Hayden Park – Oxford, Ohio

ON TAP
For the first time this season, the Miami University baseball team takes on local rival Xavier Tuesday. First pitch is at 5 p.m. and it can be seen on RedHawks All-Access for those who have a subscription.

ABOUT XAVIER
The Musketeers are 16-23 overall and 7-1 in the Big East. They swept two games from Butler in conference play last week (final game of series was rained out). Xavier has some players who can hit, led by junior infielder Conor Grammes. He is hitting .314 with six home runs and 20 RBIs. As a team, the Musketeers have 36 home runs in 2019. They will have sophomore left hander Nick Zwack on the mound on Tuesday. He is 2-2 with a 6-81 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched this season.

SERIES WITH XAVIER
Miami holds a 90-54-2 lead in the all-time series with Xavier. The Musketeers won three out of four against the RedHawks last season, however. That included a three-game series sweep March 16-18, 2018. Xavier took a 2-1 victory on Friday and a 5-2 win on Saturday in games in Oxford. It then followed with a 13-3 win on Sunday down in Cincinnati. The teams met again in the semifinals of the Joe Nuxhall Classic on April 10, 2018 in Oxford. This time Miami overcame a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5 with a walk-off single by Hayden Senger.

NOTABLE
There are next to no weaknesses in the Miami batting lineup. The RedHawks rank 10th in the nation with a .309 batting average. They are fourth in the country with a .418 slugging percentage. Junior second baseman Landon Stephens leads Miami with 29 runs batted in on the season. While that is not among the national leaders, it does not have to be due to the Red and White's offensive balance. Stephens is one of an impressive nine on the team to have 20 or more RBIs on the season.

UP AHEAD
Miami welcomes Northern Illinois to McKie Field at Hayden Park for Alumni Weekend this weekend. The game on Friday begins at 5 p.m. On Saturday the game will start at 4 p.m., while on Sunday first pitch is at 1 p.m. All three games will air live on RedHawks All-Access for those who have a subscription.