TicketsBearcats Seek First Wins At Duke
UC opens series Friday
Contact: Shawn Sell
2/16/2005
Mark Haske hit .429 in his first weekend as a Bearcat. |
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati baseball team will continue its quest for its first victory of the season when it returns to action for a three-game series at Duke this weekend (Feb. 18-20). All three of the contests from Jack Coombs Field will be day games, with the series opening on Friday at 3 p.m. and 1 p.m. starts on tap for each of the final two games. The Bearcats are 0-3 after being swept at Florida Atlantic in their first weekend of play. Duke is 4-2 and coming off of a sweep of Maryland-Eastern Shore last weekend. The three-game set renews a rivalry between the schools that has been contested each of the past five seasons.
NOTES FROM FLORIDA ATLANTIC:
? A pair of Bearcat newcomers hit the first home runs of their Division I careers as LaFringe Hayes and Logan Parker each went deep during the series. Mark Muscenti added his second career long ball, while Erik Eitel hit his third.
? UC?s back-to-back homers by Muscenti and Hayes in the seventh inning of Saturday?s game marked the first time the Bearcats had accomplished the feat since May 15, 2004 at Memphis. In the ninth inning of that game, Jim Olds and Drew Saylor both went long.
? Despite the Bearcats? struggles over the past few seasons, UC opened the season 0-3 for the first time since 1997.
? For the third straight year, the Bearcats went into extra innings on Opening Day, falling to FAU 7-6 in 13 innings. UC split the previous two opening contests at Duke.
ABOUT DUKE: The Blue Devils are off to a 4-2 start that includes a home sweep of Maryland-Eastern Shore last weekend. Duke is led by senior infielder Adam Murray, who picked up Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week honors after hitting .636 against UMES. For the season, Murray is batting .455 with a team-best seven RBI. Duke also features junior outfielder Javier Socorro, a preseason all-conference selection, who is hitting .273 thus far. The Blue Devils have enjoyed outstanding pitching early in the season, as the squad boasts a 3.40 team ERA. Duke was picked tied for 10th in the ACC in a preseason poll of the league?s coaches. The Blue Devils dropped a 9-7 decision to UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday.
UC AGAINST THE ACC: The Bearcats have struggled against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, posting a record of 27-81 (.250) since 1958, including new members Miami (0-3) and Virginia Tech (14-37). In addition to five straight seasons facing Duke, posting a 7-7 mark, the Bearcats have also faced Clemson (1-1), Florida State (2-21), Georgia Tech (0-3), North Carolina State (3-4), Virginia Tech (14-37) and Wake Forest (0-3). Duke is one of two ACC members the Bearcats will face this year, as UC travels to Wake Forest Feb. 25-27.
LAST TIME AGAINST DUKE: Cincinnati opened the 2004 season at Duke and dropped two of three games after taking the opener in extra innings. In the season-opener, Josh Kay allowed only two hits in four innings of relief and Erik Eitel scored the game-winning run in the 12th inning to lead the Bearcats to a 3-2 win. Game two wasn?t so kind to UC, as Duke scored nine runs in the seventh inning to pull away for a 12-3 win. In the rubber game, the Blue Devils took advantage of two bases loaded walks in the eighth inning to go ahead for a 7-6 win. Jack Nelson led the Bearcats for the weekend, hitting .500 with four RBI.
SERIES DROUGHT: In the next four weekends of the season, the Bearcats will be trying to snap a streak that has haunted them for nearly three years. UC has not won a non-conference series of at least three games since a three-game sweep of Cleveland State, March 8-10, 2002, a span of seven series. The Bearcats last series win of any kind came last May 7-9 when UC won two of three at Charlotte.
THE NEED FOR SPEED: After ranking last in Conference USA in 2004 with a program-low 10 stolen bases, the Bearcats bolstered their team speed with the additions of transfers LaFringe Hayes and Mark Haske. Batting 1-2 in the line-up for all three games at Florida Atlantic, the duo combined to nab three of UC?s five stolen bases in the opening weekend. The Bearcats executed a double steal of second and home that saw an unlikely candidate, Logan Parker, swipe home.
UNLIKELY POWER: Entering this season, the Bearcats expected power from players like Jon DeLuca, Neall French, Jack Nelson and Logan Parker. But in the opening weekend of play, an unlikely trio combined for UC?s first three home runs of the year. In the Feb. 11 opener, senior Erik Eitel hit just the third home run of his career. A day later, juniors Mark Muscenti and LaFringe Hayes went long on consecutive at-bats. The blast for Muscenti was only the second of his career, while Hayes? homer was the first of his collegiate career. The consecutive homers by Muscenti and Hayes were the first back-to-back shots for the Bearcats since Jim Olds and Drew Saylor pulled the feat on May 15, 2004 at Memphis.
BEARCATS PICKED 10TH IN C-USA: In a preseason poll of conference coaches, the Bearcats have been chosen to finish 10th in Conference USA this season. Tulane, ranked No. 1 nationally in the preseason by Baseball America, earned all 12 of the first place votes as the favorite to win the conference. Defending C-USA Tournament Champions TCU were picked second, with last year?s regular season titlists East Carolina rounding out the top three.
CLOSE GAME BLUES: Close games continue to haunt the Bearcats early in the 2005 season, as they lost the opening series by a combined six runs. In the last two plus seasons UC is 8-19 in one-run games.
ANOTHER SLOW START: Junior 3B Jon DeLuca got his 2005 season off to a slow start last weekend at Florida Atlantic (1-for-15) much like he has done in each of his first two seasons of collegiate competition. But if history is any indication, DeLuca should break out and produce a big season. As a freshman, DeLuca started 0-for-12 and 2-for-20 before going on to hit .257 in his final 42 games to end the year at .241. Last year, DeLuca went 0-for-11 and 4-for-24, while missing 10 of the first 20 games of the year. Again he rebounded, by hitting .280 over the last 35 games of the year to finish at .263.
MORE BONUS BASEBALL: For the third straight Opening Day, the Bearcats went extra innings, as they dropped a 7-6, 13-inning decision to Florida Atlantic on Feb. 11. UC played 11 innings at Duke in the 2003 season opener, dropping a 4-3 decision. The Bearcats bounced back last year, taking a 3-2, 12-inning decision from the Blue Devils. The 13 innings played at Florida Atlantic were the longest for the Bearcats since a 15-inning marathon (5-4 win) on May 9, 2003 at Saint Louis. UC can probably expect extra innings again this weekend as at least one game of four of the five series against Duke has featured bonus baseball.
MISSING OFFENSE: With the losses of Aaron Moll, Steve Pickerell and Drew Saylor, the Bearcats will be forced to fill some sizable holes in their offense. Last season, the trio combined for 37 percent of the team?s runs, 36 percent of the hits, 37 percent of the doubles, 45 percent of the RBI and an eye popping 66 percent of the homers. Among the players head coach Brian Cleary will count on are returnees Jon DeLuca and Jack Nelson and newcomers Neall French, Mark Haske and Logan Parker.
FINDING A HOME: Throughout his career, senior Jim Olds has been a valuable player for the Bearcats due to his uncanny ability to play a number of positions, as the 2004 season proved. After drawing his first ever pitching start late in the year, Olds had started at six of the possible 10 positions. Olds also made his first in-game appearance at catcher during the course of the year and has also played first base, DH and outfield throughout his career. This year, Olds is expected to settle into a more steady role as a pitcher, where he made a start on the opening weekend of play.
NEW ROTATION: During the 2004 season, a total of 11 different pitchers started at least one game on the mound for the Bearcats. With six of those players either no longer on the roster or injured, UC will be forced to find new members for its rotation. The team opened the season with the trio of seniors Tony Maynard and Jim Olds and freshman Kevin Schrader at Florida Atlantic, but the Bearcats have another threesome waiting in the wings. Senior Justin Minges, sophomore Nick Buscemi and redshirt freshman David Theobald should all vie for shots at the starting rotation sometime this season. Of the six pitchers, Maynard (17 career starts) and Minges (16) are the most experienced as starters. This weekend at Duke, the Bearcats will send Maynard and Schrader to the mound, with Sunday?s starter yet to be determined.
WHO?S ON FIRST?...: The Bearcats will enjoy the contributions of a talented pair of left-handed hitting first basemen this season. Jack Nelson had a breakout season in 2004 and was joined on the roster this year by junior college transfer Logan Parker. With the addition of Parker, Nelson will see time at first base, and in left field. The duo is also expected to split the designated hitter responsibilities for the Bearcats. Both players struggled at the plate during the first weekend of play, but Parker did hit his first collegiate home run.
...WHAT?S ON SECOND?: Second base is a position that the Bearcats have had solidified for the past two seasons by junior Mark Muscenti. Always a steady defensive player, Muscenti developed into a talented offensive player during the 2004 season as well. For the year, Muscenti hit a career-best .283 while adding 10 doubles and driving in a career-high 24 runs. He also continued to show his uncanny ability to reach base in many different ways. Muscenti finished 2004 with the team?s third-highest on-base percentage (.419), partly due to 22 walks and a team-high 19 hit by pitches. After leading Conference USA in hit by pitch in 2003, Muscenti was second last year, while ranking 10th nationally in the category. During his career, Muscenti has been hit a school record 38 times, after adding another at Florida Atlantic.