By Spencer Tracy, Staff Writer

Xavier baseball is flying under the radar with the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament ahead, but Xavier has been making some of their own noise from Hayden Field and as far away as Baton Rouge, La.

Opening the season on the road against No. 9 ranked Clemson was a rough task.  Leaving Clemson and starting the season 0-3 was a gut punch to Billy O’Connors squad. However, the tides turned after the Musketeers left the University of Louisville with a  9-1 victory. They grew their momentum after taking two out of three against Lipscomb University on the road. A 11-9 win in their home opener against crosstown rival University of Cincinnati, was thanks to an eight-run sixth inning which erased an 8-2 deficit. 

For seven straight games, the Musketeers offense had put up eight or more runs following their two wins at Florida Gulf Coast University, continuing their hot streak. Failing to complete the sweep, dropping game three, Xavier headed to Louisiana Tech to split a two game weekday series. ​

Then came the toughest matchup on the Musketeers schedule, a three-game series on the road against reigning NCAA Division 1 Baseball champions, the Louisiana State University  Tigers.

Despite losing the best pitcher in college baseball to the number one overall pick in last summer’s MLB draft, Paul Skenes, the 13-1 Tigers still had the advantage on paper over the Musketeers. Familiar to the underdog role, O’Connor and his Musketeer army had their eyes on a sweep.

Game one was a rubber match, an unfamiliar style for Xavier with nine of their thirteen games to this point having 11 or more total runs scored. Junior pitcher Luke Hoskins took the mound coming off a career high in innings pitched (seven) and hits allowed (four) against Florida Gulf Coast a week prior. A choppy first two innings in which the Musketeers allowed four runs was enough for LSU to win game one 4-0, but Hoskins’ performance should not go unnoticed. After the second inning, Hoskins silenced the Tiger bats going five innings with no runs, two hits, no walks and three strikeouts.

Despite a promising game one performance, game two went downhill quickly. LSU pounced early going ahead 8-0 before Xavier put up two runs in the top of the sixth. Xavier lost 8-2, and  found themselves in a nearly identical spot as when they played Clemson, with a couple of  losses, but a chance to steal one game. 

Looking for redemption after a frustrating outing in his last start against Clemson, Christmas came early for senior pitcher Nick Boyle. Boyle went toe-to-toe with junior Thatcher Hurd, who threw the winning pitches  in last year’s national title victory for LSU. 

Hurd and Boyle seemed to have hit cruise control until an unearned LSU run crossed the plate giving the Tigers the lead in the fourth. Boyle finished his afternoon with an impressive five innings pitched allowing four hits and zero runs while punching out seven. After tying the game on an LSU error in the fifth, graduate infielder Jared Cushing shot a single into center field, helping  junior outfielder Aedan Anderson to score and putting Xavier in front 2-1. Three relievers out of the bullpen carried the momentum, all combining for five strikeouts and just one hit to give Boyle his second win on the year and lead Xavier to a 2-1 victory.

This past weekend, Indiana State University Sycamores were in town which would be no picnic for the Musketeers despite their upset victory over LSU. The Sycamores came into Cincinnati with a respectable 12-3 record, and despite keeping the Sycamores within reach down 4-3 entering the seventh inning, the wheels came off allowing seven runs and then another five in the eighth. Xavier dropped Game One 16-5 despite a promising start. 

In game two, a two run first inning was a statement by the Muskies, but the Sycamores answered with two of their own the following half inning. What felt like a game ending eight run fifth inning was quickly answered with four runs by the Musketeers after a two-run blast by senior Matt McCormick, his sixth of the year. Unfortunately, the massive momentum switch wasn’t enough as Xavier couldn’t complete the comeback, losing 10-7.

Despite the loss, a three-hit afternoon by sophomore outfielder Isaac Wachsman who has been making a name for himself lately after sitting out last season with an injury. Recording a hit in eight of his last 17 at-bats including a home run, he found himself in the cleanup spot for Game Two. 

Come Game Three, Xavier found themselves again trying to avoid a sweep, however they were competitive in each of the following games of the series. Nick Boyle took the ball and coming off a solid outing against LSU, Boyle didn’t disappoint. Facing an offense that has done nothing but generate runs scoring 10 plus in each game in the series, Boyle silenced every bat in the lineup. He finished with seven innings allowing just one run and a career-high 11 strikeouts. Xavier closed out in the ninth with a 4-2 victory, giving them their ninth win of the season.

Next up for the Musketeers is a trip to Rocky Top in Knoxville, Tenn., where they will face the University of Tennessee Volunteers tonight at 6 p.m. Tennessee sits at 18-3 on the season and holds the number five slot in D1 Baseball.com’s Top 25.