By all admissions, it was a rough year a season ago in Indianapolis for the Butler Bulldogs, who were locked to the bottom of the BIG EAST standings for much of the conference slate and finished there. 

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If the program needed to get through a few bumps to find some success, the 2023 season was awfully bumpy, all right.

Now, with a year under new head coach, the Bulldogs will be trying to establish some positivity and build toward being a winning program.

The rest of the BIG EAST, however, won’t make Butler’s journey an easy one.

Here’s all you need to know about Butler baseball for the 2024 season.

How Did Butler Baseball Do In 2023?

With a new coach in the program, there were bound to be some growing pains at Butler last season.

The Bulldogs’ 2023 campaign began promisingly enough, as the team started the year 2-1, but a brutal 14-game losing streak lasting more than a month sent Butler on a downward spiral. Butler finished the year 12-43 overall and last in the BIG EAST with a 5-16 record. 

There were some strong series wins over Seton Hall and Georgetown—two BIG EAST championship teams—and a late-season victory over No. 9 UConn for Butler’s highest-ranked win in program history..

Who Coaches Butler Baseball?

Currently in the first head coaching job of his career, Blake Beemer is just 32 years old, but he already has been a college coach in some capacity for a decade. 

A former player at Ball State, Beemer was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater from 2019-2022, before being hired by Butler as head coach ahead of the 2023 season. 

Beemer never won less than 38 games in a full season while on staff with the Cardinals, and he is trying to parlay that into success in Indianapolis, where the Bulldogs haven’t had a (completed) season over .500 since 2018. 

Has Butler Baseball Ever Won The College World Series?

No, Butler baseball has never won the Men’s College World Series. 

The Bulldogs have just one NCAA Tournament appearance in program history (2000), where they were quickly eliminated with two losses in the regional round.

Notable Returning Players

Joey Urban, OF

There wasn’t much about 2023 for Butler baseball to look fondly back on, but Joey Urban’s surge in his rookie season was a big deal, as the Florida native was one of the Bulldogs’ few bright spots throughout the year. 

He was Butler’s leader in batting average (.296), RBIs (35), runs (37), slugging percentage (.480) and plenty of other offensive statistical categories. Urban’s production got him a deserved BIG EAST Freshman of the Year nod. 

He became the Bulldogs’ best hitter from his first at-bat and one of the team’s most consistent sources of offense in a year where it often didn’t have very much of it (272 runs, second-least in the BIG EAST in 2023). 

Carter Dorighi, SS

Urban along with Carter Dorighi always found a way into the lineup, and they were the only Bulldogs to start all 55 games a year ago. 

Playing his first season in Indianapolis in 2023 after transferring in from Lafayette, Dorighi was right behind Urban for the team lead in many offensive stats but had solid numbers in his own right, including average (.293), RBIs (29), runs (36) and total bases (85), though Dorighi had the edge on the roster in stolen bases with a team-high 12.

It’s still very early in his junior season, but there also may be some untapped power in his arsenal—Dorighi, after just one homer and a .383 slugging percentage in 2023, already has gone yard in 2024 and bumped his slugging percentage to .476 as of this writing. 

Notable Newcomers

Nate Rosser, RHP

The 6-foot-4 Canadian comes to Indy by way of Ohlone College in California, where he was a strong arm on the mound for the Renegades last season. 

Nate Rosser started 13 games and finished with an overall record of 5-1, tossing a 3.83 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings along with it. 

Rosser helped his team win a pair of conference championships in the junior college ranks, too. 

So far, through two appearances in a Butler uniform, things have been good for Rosser. 

He struck out two (and didn’t give up a run) in 1 1/3 innings of work in the latter stages of the Bulldogs’ 15-5 loss to Florida State on Feb. 18, then picked up his first Division I win this past Sunday against Alabama A&M. Rosser pitched three innings in relief, while allowing just two hits and striking out three. 

Kade Lewis, INF

Is Kade Lewis the next promising Butler freshman to turn into one of the BIG EAST’s top rookies? 

His fast start to the 2024 season—in which he’s gone on a five-game hitting streak to begin his college career—could be a sign of things to come. 

The Minnesota native was a two-time all-stater and a Minnesota Mr. Baseball finalist his senior year. Lewis already has started games at Butler during his freshman year at designated hitter, first base and third base, and he’s proving early on to be a versatile piece of the Bulldogs’ lineup. 

Butler Baseball Schedule 2024

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2024 Butler Baseball Roster

How To Watch BIG EAST Baseball in 2024

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