TicketsBearcats Open C-USA Play With UofL
Cards' visit begins Friday
Contact: Shawn Sell
3/15/2005
Jon DeLuca carries an 11-game hit streak into this weekend's series vs. Louisville. |
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati opens its 10th and final season of Conference USA play this weekend, welcoming rival Louisville to the UC Baseball Stadium. Action gets underway on Friday (March 18) at 4 p.m., with a 4 p.m. first pitch scheduled for Saturday and a 1 p.m. start for Sunday. The Bearcats are one of the hottest teams in C-USA right now, having won five in a row, including a 6-0 win over Xavier last Sunday. The win streak has improved UC?s mark to 8-5 on the year. Louisville is 9-6 after splitting midweek contests vs. Northern Illinois (win) and Evansville (loss).
NOTES FROM XAVIER:
? Jon DeLuca stretched his career-best hitting streak to 11 games, while LaFringe Hayes? has now reached in nine in a row.
? With eight shutout innings, Tony Maynard has not allowed a run in his last 16.2 innings of work.
? Neall French picked up the first three-hit game of his career.
? After recording five triples in the first 12 games of the year, Hayes tallied his first double of the season. He is now the only Bearcat with at least one double, one triple and one home run.
? The Bearcats? win over Xavier extended UC?s winning streak to five straight, something the team hasn?t done since the 2001 season.
? UC has won five straight home games dating back to last season and is 5-2 all-time in the UC Baseball Stadium.
ABOUT LOUISVILLE: The Cards are 9-6 after splitting midweek contests at home vs. Northern Illinois (win) and at Evansville (loss). Junior OF Boomer Whiting is the Cardinals top offensive threat, as he ranks ninth in Conference USA with a .382 batting average and is first with 10 stolen bases. Newcomer Jorge Castillo paces the club with 11 RBI and is hitting .283. Louisville has been short on power this season, tied for 10th in the conference with six home runs. The U of L pitching staff is led by B.J. Rosenberg who is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA in four starts. Louisville?s bullpen has been outstanding thus far, which includes preseason all-conference selection Brian Halford. Halford holds a 2.08 ERA in six appearances with two saves for the Cards. U of L won all four of the meetings between the schools in 2004 and was picked to finish seventh in the preseason C-USA coaches poll.
ON CONFERENCE OPENERS: The Bearcats will hope to reverse a trend that has seen the team struggle during the opening weekend of Conference USA play. In the previous nine seasons of C-USA baseball, the Bearcats are just 3-6 in their first conference game of the season and have dropped two straight. During the first weekend of C-USA play, the Bearcats are just 8-18-1 (.315). This year marks the third time Cincinnati will open league play vs. Louisville.
UC AGAINST CONFERENCE USA: As the Bearcats enter their 10th and final season of Conference USA play, they do so with a conference record of 69-171-1 (.288). UC has played a total of 549 games against current C-USA members since 1958, holding a record of 217-331-1 (.396), including a 63-60 mark against Louisville. UC?s record against other C-USA opponents includes Charlotte (13-13), East Carolina (2-6-1), Houston (6-23), Memphis (26-54), Saint Louis (45-42), Southern Miss (9-34), TCU (1-8), Tulane (7-35), UAB (19-36) and USF (6-20). Per conference rules, UC will not face one member of the league this year and this season, will skip Tulane.
UC ADDS TO SCHEDULE: Because of two weather-related cancellations last weekend, the UC has added a single contest against Xavier to its upcoming schedule. The game will be played on Monday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the UC Baseball Stadium.
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 all 13 games this season, the duo has combined to nab 10 of UC?s 16 stolen bases. The additional speed has helped the Bearcats to a tie for ninth in C-USA this year.
APPROACHING 200: UC head coach Brian Cleary is closing in on a coaching milestone, as he is just 10 wins shy of the 200-victory plateau for his career. Already the second winningest coach in school history, Cleary holds a career record of 190-275-1 (.409). The legendary Glenn Sample is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 391 career victories.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: After struggling through a tough 2004 season that saw UC post a record of just 2-11 in the first 13 games of the year, the Bearcats have shown a huge turnaround through 13 games this season. In addition to winning six more games, the Bearcats have also bettered their numbers in nearly every hitting and pitching total. UC will hope to avoid the losing skid that followed the slow 2004 start, as the team won just one of its next 12 games.
COMING ON STRONG: After going just 1-for-15 in the opening weekend at Florida Atlantic, junior 3B Jon DeLuca has gone 17-for-43 (.395) over his last 10 games to raise his batting average to .310. Slow starts are nothing new to DeLuca, who has experienced one each of his last two years before breaking out and going on for big years. 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.
FAST START, SLOW END: The Bearcats have gotten many games off to a good start this season, as they are outscoring their opponents 40-15 in the first three innings of games and batting a combined .343 in those frames. Conversely, UC has struggled in the late innings, being outscored 20-6 in innings eight and nine, while batting a paltry .173.
TRIPLE THE FUN: Three-base hits came in bunches for the Bearcats March 4-6 vs. Cleveland State as they accounted for seven in the three-game series. LaFringe Hayes was at the center of the output, recording four. In the March 4 win, Hayes tied a school and Conference USA record with a pair of triples, while helping the Bearcats match a conference mark with four in the game. Hayes? first triple also went down as the first in UC Baseball Stadium history. After ranking last in C-USA in 2004 with just five triples, the Bearcats have already bettered the total with eight three-baggers in only 13 games this year and are third in the conference in the category.
STRONG AT THE FRONT...: The Bearcats seem to have found the ace to their starting rotation in senior Tony Maynard. The former Freshman All-American has been solid in all five of his starts this season, posting a 3-0 record and a 1.77 ERA. Against Xavier on March 13, Maynard turned in the best outing of his collegiate career, holding the Musketeers hitless into the eighth inning. For the day, Maynard matched his career-best with eight innings of work, surrendering just one hit and one walk and striking out a career-high seven. In this week?s Conference USA rankings, Maynard finds himself ranked among the league leaders in ERA (third), innings pitched (third-35.2), wins (T-fifth) and opponents batting average (ninth-.215). Over his last two starts, Maynard has allowed no runs and seven hits and struck out 13 in 16 innings of work.
...AND AT THE BACK: UC may have also solved the issue of who will serve as the closer based on senior Josh Kay?s performance this year. Kay has proven to be nearly unhittable as he is holding opponents to a .171 batting average. The senior has appeared in a team-best eight games , recording two saves and striking out 17 hitters. Kay?s 3.00 ERA ranks third on the team.
SERIES DROUGHT ENDS: The Bearcats put an end to a pair of dry spells with a sweep of Duke on Feb. 18-20. Prior to the weekend, UC had 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 sweep by the Bearcats was also the first by the team since the 2002 Cleveland State series.
STREAKING CATS: A pair of Bearcats enter the Louisville series on a tear, as Jon DeLuca has hit safely in a career-best 11 straight games and LaFringe Hayes has hit in nine consecutive games. DeLuca has batted .375 with five doubles and 13 RBI during the streak, while Hayes is hitting at a .439 clip, with 16 runs scored, one double, four triples and five RBI.
ANOTHER SWEEP: After winning just one series last season, the Bearcats have already won two in four chances this year, with both going down as sweeps. UC?s sweep of Duke Feb. 18-20 was the first by the Bearcats since taking three from Cleveland State March 8-10, 2002. Before last weekend, UC hadn?t swept more than one opponent since the 2001 season, when they took all three from four teams (Wofford, Cleveland State, UAB and Charlotte).
CLOSE GAME BLUES: The Bearcats may have started to turn around their disappointment in close games from the last two seasons as they are 2-3 early this year in games decided by two runs or less. UC was just 5-10 in those games in 2004.
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 has been forced to find new members for its rotation. Senior Tony Maynard has stepped up to anchor the staff and has 22 starts in career. But a youth movement has filled the balance of the rotation as UC has turned to freshmen Kevin Schrader and Sean Munninghoff. The latter has proved to be one of the bigger surprises for the Bearcats this season, as he ranks among the Conference USA leaders in opponents batting average (third-.180) and ERA (eighth-2.40). Should any of the threesome falter, the Bearcats have seniors Justin Minges and Jim Olds, sophomore Nick Buscemi and redshirt freshman David Theobald all waiting for shots at starting.
FRENCH NAMED TO BENCH WATCH LIST: Junior catcher Neall French has been named to the 37-member initial watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, honoring the nation's best collegiate catcher. The award is sponsored each year by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission and is named after the former Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame backstop. The watch list will be narrowed down to 10 semifinalists, who will be announced on May 17. The three finalists will be revealed on June 1, with the sixth annual award winner being announced at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29.
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.
BRIAN?S SONG: It?s been good to be a Bearcat named Brian this season, as all three of UC?s players with that first name have become steady contributors. Junior Bryan Wood has become a regular out of the bullpen, appearing in six games, with two wins and a 5.40 ERA. Sophomore Brian Szarmach has taken over the starting left field job and ranks fourth on the team with a .286 average and has career-highs of two homers and six RBI. Brian Beltz has been part of a right field platoon and is hitting .308.
WELCOME ADDITIONS: The Bearcat line-up has enjoyed the contributions of newcomers Mark Haske, LaFringe Hayes and Logan Parker as the trio has combined to start every game this year. As a group, the threesome is batting .331 (56-for-169), with seven doubles, seven triples, four home runs, 27 RBI and 12 stolen bases. Haske leads the team in hitting at .404 and is second in runs (18), triples (2) and stolen bases (4). Hayes is second in hitting at .356 and leads the club in runs (19), triples (5) and stolen bases (6). Parker leads the team with three homers and is second with 12 RBI.
HARD TO HIT: While the Bearcats are tied for ninth in Conference USA in ERA this week, it?s not because opponents are racking up the hits. UC?s pitching staff leads the league in opponent?s batting average at a .249 clip. Three of Cincinnati?s hurlers rank in the top 10 in the league in opponents? batting average, led by Sean Munninghoff in third with a scant .180 opponents? batting average. Bryan Wood is right behind in fourth at .196, while Tony Maynard is ninthth at .215. Closer Josh Kay is holding opponents to a .171 batting average, but hasn?t thrown enough innings this season to qualify.
WALK THIS WAY: As tough as hits have come for opposing hitters, the same can?t be said for the walks and hit by pitch the Bearcat hurlers have issued this season. UC has walked the third most hitters in Conference USA (73) and have hit 14 more. The inconsistency has come in spurts however, as UC walked only 15 at Duke Feb. 18-20 and five last weekend vs. Cleveland State, but saw 27 batters draw bases on balls and 10 more be hit by pitches Feb. 25-27 at Wake Forest. In the last four games, Bearcat hurlers have issued only six walks in 36 innings.
UNLIKELY POWER: Entering this season, the Bearcats expected power from players like Jon DeLuca, Neall French, Jack Nelson and Logan Parker. But in the early stages of 2005, an unlikely group has provided most of the Bearcats? power output. 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. Another unlikely candidate went deep on Feb. 20 at Duke as sophomore Brian Beltz picked up the first long ball of his career. The trend continued at Wake Forest as Beltz tallied his second career blast and Brian Szarmach hit the first two of his collegiate career. While the quintet has combined for seven of UC?s 10 homers, Parker has made an immediate impact in the Bearcat line-up with the other three longballs.
MORE BONUS BASEBALL: For the third straight Opening Day, the Bearcats went extra innings, as they dropped a 7-6, 13-inning contest 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 win over the Blue Devils. The 13 innings played at Florida Atlantic were the most for the Bearcats since a 15-inning marathon (5-4 win) on May 9, 2003 at Saint Louis. Extra innings have been a norm for UC this year, as they have already played two extended contests, matching the total of all of last season.
DELUCA EARNS C-USA HONOR: Jon DeLuca, who helped the Bearcats to a sweep of Duke, was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week on Feb. 21. DeLuca had multiple hits in all three games of the weekend and finished the set hitting .500 (7-for-14). He drove in a total of four runs, while scoring three more and doubling twice. The award is the first ever C-USA accolade for DeLuca.
FIRST WINS: A trio of Bearcat hurlers have broken into the win column for the first time in their careers in 2005. Bryan Wood was the first to earn his initial triumph, getting a relief win on Feb. 19 at Duke. One day later, it was Sean Munninghoff picking up a W against the Blue Devils. Kevin Schrader was the most recent first time winner, as he beat Cleveland State on March 5.