TicketsBearcats Host EKU In Home Finale
UC travels to USF this weekend
Contact: Shawn Sell
5/17/2005
Bryan Wood will make his second career start tonight vs. Eastern Kentucky. |
SETTING THE SCENE: Cincinnati closes the home portion of its 2005 schedule tonight, entertaining Eastern Kentucky in a contest set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. The Bearcats bring a 24-27 record into their last non-conference contest of the year, while Eastern Kentucky is 21-27. Following tonight?s contest, the Bearcats must gear up for a trip to USF for its final Conference USA series. UC, at 10-16 in conference play, must win all three games against the Bulls in order to qualify for next week?s C-USA Tournament presented by POWERade.
NOTES FROM MEMPHIS:
? Josh Kay recorded his eighth save of the year in Friday?s win over Memphis, giving him the third highest single season total in school history. Kay is also tied for fifth on the career list with eight.
? UC?s Friday win over Memphis snapped a six-game losing streak for the Bearcats against the Tigers.
? Kay extended his scoreless innings streak to 20.1, spanning his last 11 appearances. Opponents are hitting just .136 against Kay during the span and he has struck out 32 hitters.
? Logan Parker has at least one RBI in six straight games and 16 total during the run.
? With a win in Friday night?s series opener, Tony Maynard now has 14 wins in his career, tying him for 10th in school history.
? Parker?s five hits on Saturday gave him the first five-hit game by a Bearcat since Jack Nelson pulled the feat on April 16, 2004 vs. East Carolina.
ABOUT EASTERN KENTUCKY: The Colonels come to town having dropped five of their last six contests to fall to 21-27 on the year. Prior to the recent skid, Eastern Kentucky had won 10 straight contests. The EKU offense is paced at the plate by Brett Bolger who is hitting a team-best .412. Bryan Stevenson is next at .370, while leading the team with 47 RBI and sharing team-high honors with six home runs. The Colonel offense leads the Ohio Valley Conference with a .320 batting average and also ranks first with 89 stolen bases. EKU has struggled on the mound, holding a staff ERA of 6.19. The Colonels will send freshman lefty Shane Zegarac to the hill tonight. He holds a 2-5 record and a 6.94 ERA in 12 starts this season.
UC AGAINST THE OVC: Cincinnati has played 106 games against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1958, with Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State being the most frequent opponents. The Bearcats hold a record of 51-55 (.481) against members of the OVC, including a 24-29 mark against Eastern Kentucky. Other OVC teams the Bearcats have played against include Austin Peay (1-4), Morehead State (23-22), Murray State (1-0), and Tennessee Tech (2-0).
PARKER EARNS C-USA NOD: Junior Logan Parker became the second Bearcat this season to earn Conference USA Hitter of the Week accolades when he was honored on Monday for his performance in UC?s five games last week. For the week, Parker hit .619 with five doubles, two home runs and nine RBI. He joins Jon DeLuca, who earned the award on Feb. 21 as Bearcat honorees this season.
SNAPPING A STREAK: Cincinnati has halted a pair of lengthy losing streaks to conference foes with a pair of wins this season. UC?s win in game one of an April 3 doubleheader vs. Houston snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Cougars, the Bearcats? longest losing streak against any Conference USA opponent entering the season. The Bearcats then halted a six-game losing streak to Memphis with a win on May 13.
MUSCENTI EARNS ACADEMIC HONOR: Junior Mark Muscenti has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District second team for his success on and off the field. Muscenti is a chemical engineering major carrying a 3.527 GPA.
POWER OUTAGE: While the Bearcats have enjoyed the many luxuries that the UC Baseball Stadium brings, one thing that hasn?t been so friendly to the squad this year is home run capability. Of UC?s 34 home runs this season, just 11 have been hit at home. In the same 28-game span, Bearcat opponents have belted 17 homers in the stadium.
ON FIRE: Logan Parker has blistered opposing pitching since returning to the clean-up spot in the batting order 13 games ago after a short hiatus. During the span, Parker is hitting at a .471 clip, with 14 runs scored, seven doubles, a triple, five home runs and 23 RBI. Parker has recorded at least one hit in 12 of the 13 contests, including seven straight, to raise his batting average from .271 to .316. In the last six games, Parker has recorded at least one extra-base hit and one RBI in each of the contests.
STRONG AT THE FRONT...: The Bearcats have found the ace to their starting rotation in senior Tony Maynard. The former Freshman All-American has been solid this season, posting a 7-3 record and a 4.07 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 worked eight innings, surrendering just one hit and one walk and striking out a career-high seven. Maynard had another outstanding outing April 15 vs. Charlotte as he crafted a four-hit complete game. The nine-inning outing was the longest of Maynard?s career and represented his second career complete game. In this week?s Conference USA rankings, Maynard finds himself ranked among the league leaders in innings pitched (8th-90.2), opponents batting average (T8th-.239) and wins (T4th).
...AND AT THE BACK: UC has 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 .176 batting average. The senior has appeared in a team-best 27 games, recording a win and eight saves and striking out 58 hitters in just 42 innings. Kay?s 1.29 ERA ranks first on the team. His eight saves this season are the third highest single season total in school history and also tie him for fifth on the UC career lists. Kay has been at his best recently, as he brings a scoreless innings streak of 20.1 into the final week of play. During the span, which covers Kay?s last 11 appearances, opponents are hitting just .136 against him and he has struck out 32 hitters.
WELCOME ADDITIONS: The Bearcats have enjoyed the contributions of newcomers Mark Haske, LaFringe Hayes and Logan Parker as the trio have been mainstays in the line-up. As a group, the threesome is batting .326, with 127 runs, 38 doubles, 11 triples, 14 home runs, 99 RBI and 19 stolen bases. Additionally, the trio ranks 1-2-3 on the squad in hitting with Hayes hitting .339, Haske .324 and Parker .316.
PLAYING ?EM TIGHT: UC has shown improvement in close games this year, as they are 10-10 in games decided by two runs or less. The Bearcats were just 5-10 in those games last year.
FRESH ARMS: A trio of freshmen hurlers have made significant contributions to the Bearcats? pitching staff this season as true freshmen Matt Heber and Sean Munninghoff and redshirt David Theobald have all logged many innings. Heber has developed into one of the Bearcats? most reliable middle relievers, holding opponents without a run in 10 of his 19 appearances. For the year, Heber holds a 1-0 record and a 4.62 ERA. Munninghoff has split time between the rotation and the bullpen, appearing in 18 contests with nine starts, a 4-4 record and a 4.18 ERA. He turned in his best outing of the year on May 14 vs. Memphis, becoming the first Bearcat in nearly three seasons to record 10-plus strikeouts. Against the Tigers, Munninghoff tallied 12 strikeouts in seven innings, while allowing just one run and three hits. Theobald is 3-2 with a 5.44 ERA after tossing five innings with a career-best four strikeouts on April 25 vs. Mount St. Joseph.
GIVING A LIFT: A pair of Bearcat pitchers have given the staff a lift in recent weeks, as senior Mike Foley and sophomore Nick Buscemi have started to shine. Working out of the bullpen, Foley has allowed just three earned runs in his last 12.2 innings, spanning seven appearances. The run has dropped the southpaw?s ERA to 5.14. Buscemi has won two straight midweek contests, allowing just one run in nine innings on the hill. For the year, Buscemi is 3-2 with a 3.24 ERA after missing all of last season while rehabbing an elbow injury.
BIG DAY AT THE DISH: Logan Parker turned in a monster performance in the Bearcats? near upset of No. 28 TCU on May 8. For the day, Parker was 3-for-5 at the plate, scoring twice and driving in a career-best seven runs. Parker started the day with an RBI double in the first, added a three-run homer in the second and tacked on a bases-clearing triple in the third. Needing just a single to become the first Bearcat since 1999 to hit for the cycle, Parker was intentionally walked in his fourth plate appearance, before grounding out in his final two. Parker?s seven RBI was just one off of the school record of eight, which has been achieved four times, most recently by Steve Pickerell in 2003.
MILESTONE WIN: UC head coach Brian Cleary reached a coaching milestone on April 25 as he picked up the 200th win of his coaching career in the Bearcats? victory over Mount St. Joseph. Already the second winningest coach in school history, Cleary holds a career record of 206-297-1 (.410). The legendary Glenn Sample heads the list with 391 career victories. Cleary reached a second banner achievement on May 10 vs. Miami as he coached in his 500th game at Cincinnati.
CONTINUING TO HIT: While junior 2B Mark Muscenti is enjoying a season that has seen him hit a career-best .296, he is also doing what he has gotten a reputation for, getting hit by pitches. For the third consecutive year, Muscenti is near the top of the Conference USA leaders, ranking first this week with 20 hit by pitch. For his career, Muscenti has been hit a school record 57 times. On the strength of the hit by pitches, Muscenti ranks first on the team with a .425 on-base percentage.
BUCKEYE STRENGTH: The Bearcats wrapped up another successful campaign against Ohio school?s this year, finishing with an 8-4 mark against in-state foes. For the year, the Bearcats picked up three game sweeps of Cleveland State and Xavier, while also toppling Ohio and Mount St. Joseph. Over the past two seasons, UC has won 12 of its last 17 games against Ohio adversaries, including four straight against Xavier.
HANDLING THE HOT CORNER: Junior Jon DeLuca has been rock solid at third base for the Bearcats this season, both at the plate and in the field. At the dish, DeLuca is hitting a career-high .278 and is second the team with 36 RBI, which is also a career-best. DeLuca has made the most of his opportunities, hitting .324 with runners in scoring position. He has also ably manned the hot corner, committing just six errors in 51 games, while making numerous spectacular plays.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: After struggling through a tough 2004 season that saw UC post a record of just 13-38 in the first 51 games of the year, the Bearcats have posted a huge turnaround through 51 games this season. In addition to winning 11 more games, the Bearcats have shown great improvement on the mound. With a win in game one of an April 3 doubleheader vs. Houston, UC reached 10 wins in their 23rd contest of the year, a feat that didn?t come until game number 44 last season. The Bearcats? April 16 win over Charlotte was the team?s 15th of the year, matching the win total of each of the past two seasons. If the season were to end now, the Bearcats? staff ERA of 5.14 would be the lowest by a UC team since the 1995 squad that turned in a 4.82 mark.
FIRST WINS: A total of five 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 then beat Cleveland State on March 5, prior to Matt Heber getting a relief triumph April 10 at Saint Louis. David Theobald was the latest first-time winner, beating Xavier on April 14.
IRON MEN: The Bearcats? infield has shown their durability during the 2005 season as the foursome of 1B Logan Parker, 2B Mark Muscenti, 3B Jon DeLuca and SS Mark Haske have combined to play all but six innings at their respective positions. DeLuca and Parker have both been given breathers, while Haske and Muscenti are the only UC players to play every inning this season. The continuity has proved valuable as the infield holds a combined .977 fielding percentage and is first in Conference USA with 64 double plays. In the NCAA rankings, the Bearcats are second nationally in double plays per game with 1.26 and 17th with a .972 team fielding percentage. Twice this season Muscenti has tallied the second most assists in a game by a C-USA player with 10. UC had one of its best defensive days of the season on May 1 at East Carolina, turning a season-high four double plays.
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 bettered the total with 17 three-baggers are second in the conference in the category. UC made the jump back up to second with four April 15-17 vs. Charlotte, including the first of Jim Olds, Logan Parker and Brian Szarmach?s respective careers. Hayes has a shot at the school record for triples in a season as his seven tie him for second in school annals. Billy Wolff set the record with nine in 1965.
CONFERENCE KILLERS: In spite of a 10-16 Conference USA record, several Bearcats find themselves ranked high in the conference-only stats. A summary of those players? performances follows:
? Brian Szarmach is tied for fifth with six home runs during league play.
? Logan Parker is listed in a total of seven categories, including doubles (4th-11), total bases (4th-70), triples (T5th-2), slugging percentage (7th-.660), RBI (T8th-26) and hits (T11th-40).
? Mark Muscenti ranks eighth in on-base percentage at .477, due in part to a league-leading 10 hit by pitch.
? Josh Kay is tied for second with five saves and is tied for seventh with 13 appearances.
? Kyle Markle is listed in the appearance category tied for ninth with 12.
? Tony Maynard is tied for 10th with 55.0 innings pitched in C-USA play and is also listed in opponents batting average (10th-.255) and wins (T6th-4).
BROTHERS OF BASH: While junior Logan Parker and sophomore Brian Szarmach do have a slight physical resemblance, that?s not the only trait that the two heavy hitters share. This season the duo has provided over half of the Bearcats? home runs. Szarmach has come out of nowhere to bash 10, while Parker has hit two in the last week to tie him with Szarmach. Combined, Parker and Szarmach have hit 59percent of the Bearcats? home runs and driven in 32percent of the runs.