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Bearcats Enter Tough Homestretch With Trip To Rutgers

Bearcats Enter Tough Homestretch With Trip To RutgersBearcats Enter Tough Homestretch With Trip To Rutgers

May 4, 2007

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SETTING THE SCENE: With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, Cincinnati starts its toughest stretch of the year, traveling to Rutgers for a three-game series. The set kicks off with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday and wraps up with a single game at noon on Sunday. UC finds itself tied for sixth in the BIG EAST at 8-9 and holds a 25-20 overall record. Rutgers is tied for second in the league at 13-5 and is 27-16 overall.

NOTING THE BEARCATS:

  • The key to the Bearcats' offensive success this season has been the stolen base as UC leads the BIG EAST with 114 thefts. UC is just six steals away from a new single-season school record.
  • The Bearcats have also shown good power this season, ranking first in the BIG EAST with 46 homers. The count ranks the squad 31st nationally, through games of April 29.
  • On April 1 at Georgetown, junior speedster Tony Campana set a UC single-season record for steals with 36, eclipsing Ken Schneider's previous mark. His current total stands at 54, tying him for first in the BIG EAST.
  • Sophomore lefty Dan Osterbrock has become the staff ace, tying for first in the BIG EAST with eight wins and ranking fifth with a 2.50 ERA.
  • Josh Harrison ranks among the BIG EAST leaders in runs, doubles, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage and stolen bases.
  • Neall French is among the BIG EAST leaders in home runs (T-3rd, 10) and RBI (1st, 59).

NOTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS:

  • Rutgers dropped two of three to Notre Dame last weekend, but remains in a second-place tie in the BIG EAST with Louisville at 13-5. The Scarlet Knights are 27-16 overall after a pair of non-conference victories this week.
  • The Scarlet Knights feature one of the nation's elite players in junior SS Todd Frazier. Frazier ranks among the BIG EAST leaders with a .386 average, 15 home runs, 46 RBI and 21 stolen bases.
  • Sophomore Steve Healing is coming off a complete game shutout of Notre Dame last weekend and is 6-3 overall with a 3.65 ERA.
  • The Scarlet Knights won three of the four meetings between the schools last season, including an elimination game in the BIG EAST Championship. Rutgers outscored the Bearcats 46-22 in the contests.

OUTFIELD IN GOOD HANDS: With LaFringe Hayes gone to graduation and Josh Harrison moved to the infield, UC entered the season needing someone to step up in the outfield. The additions of Tony Campana and Cameron Satterwhite have more than filled the holes.

  • Campana has been a sparkplug at the top of the line-up, swiping a UC single-season record 40 bases and hitting a team-leading .365. Campana had a career-best 18-game hit streak snapped on March 25 but has gathered at least one hit in all but five of UC's 45 games this season. In addition to tying for first in the BIG EAST in steals, Campana also ranks among the league leaders in runs (7th, 46), hits (3rd, 69) and walks (6th, 29). He is in the midst of another hot streak currently, batting .433 (29-for-67) in his last 15 games, with at least one hit in all but one of those contests.
  • Satterwhite has a 10-game hit streak to his credit this year and is batting .274 overall. He has shown a flair for the dramatic this year as he has hit game-winning homers on March 10 vs. Cleveland State and again on March 28 vs. Wright State. The sophomore had one of the biggest performances ever by a Bearcat on April 17 vs. Ohio as he tied school records with three home runs and 14 total bases. He barely missed the mark for RBI, finishing one shy with seven.

OFF AND RUNNING: The Bearcats' running game has been one of the nation's best this year and is on the verge of becoming the best effort in school history. The Bearcats have swiped 114 bases this year, ranking as the third-highest total by a UC team, and just six shy of a new school record. Tony Campana has been the catalyst as he has stolen a UC single-season record 54 bags. In 14 games this year, Campana has swiped multiple bags including a school-record six in the second half of a doubleheader at North Carolina A&T on Feb. 24, topping Ken Schneider's previous high of five set in 1991. Campana is tied for first both nationally and in the BIG EAST in steals and is joined in double figures by Adam Yeager (20) and Josh Harrison (18), who rank fifth and seventh in the BIG EAST, respectively. As a team, UC ranks second in the country with 2.51 stolen bases per game, through April 29. Efficiency has also been key for the Bearcats as they have stolen safely in 114 of 142 attempts for an 80.3 percent success rate.

LONG BALLS STILL COMING: Even with the loss of some its power hitters from a year ago, the Bearcats find themselves first in the BIG EAST with 46 home runs. Neall French has been the biggest power provider, tying for third in the league with 10 homers. Surprisingly, one of UC's biggest power threats has been one of its smaller players as 5'7" Josh Harrison is tied for seventh in the BIG EAST with nine blasts. UC also boats Cameron Satterwhite (T-9th, 8) and Brian Szarmach (T-9th, 8) among the BIG EAST long ball leaders. A look at some other UC home runs notes:

  • The Bearcats' five homers against Ohio on April 17 were the most in a single game by UC since hitting six on May 1, 2004 against Saint Louis.
  • Another of UC's little guys got in the act at Georgetown on March 31 as 5'7" Tony Campana became the first Bearcat since Mark Haske on March 30, 2005 to lead-off a game with a homer. Haske's blast came against Ohio.
  • Adam Yeager, with just two homers all of last season, hit his first on April 29 vs. Villanova.
  • One of UC's usual power suppliers, Szarmach, tallied the first multi-home run game of his career on April 14 at West Virginia.
  • Twice this year, and most recently on April 14 at West Virginia, the Bearcats have hit back-to-back home runs.
  • In the last week, both Dustin Alvey and Kevin Johnson have hit the first home runs of their collegiate careers.
  • Satterwhite had a career game on April 17 vs. Ohio, matching the UC single-game record with three homers.
  • The Bearcats have struggled in turning their long balls into wins as UC is just 14-12 in games it homers this year.

HARRISON BACK AT IT: Josh Harrison has picked up where he left off last year in 2007, hitting .333 and ranking among the BIG EAST leaders in runs (2nd, 55), home runs (T-7th, nine), RBI (2nd, 51), total bases (T-5th, 104), doubles (T-4th, 14), slugging percentage (9th, .588) and stolen bases (7th, 18). At Austin Peay on Feb. 18, Harrison saw his career-best 18-game hit streak come to an end, but he bounced back with his fourth long ball one day later. In the 103 games making up his UC career, Harrison has failed to gather a hit in just 18 contests. Harrison had the biggest game as a Bearcat on March 24 at Pittsburgh, homering twice in a game for the first time and tying a school record with eight RBI.

ROTATION MAINSTAYS: The Bearcats' starting pitching has excelled this season thanks to the play of sophomores Dan Osterbrock and Steve Blevins. The pair ranks among the BIG EAST leaders in wins, strikeouts and innings and have each won a BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week award. Recently, John Baird has joined the fold and delivered a strong start right away. A closer look at each player's contributions this year:

  • Osterbrock, who holds a 8-1 record, has won eight of his last nine starts and his 2.50 ERA ranks fifth among BIG EAST pitchers. His best outing came with a three-hit shutout of Dartmouth on March 3. On April 27 vs. Villanova, Osterbrock struck out a career-high 11, and his season total of 77 leads the BIG EAST, as do his eight wins. The lefty hurled his fifth complete game of the season, keying UC's 13-4 win over Villanova on April 27.
  • After being victimized by a lack of run support early in the season, Blevins has won five of his last nine outings after starting the year 0-3. He had his best outing on March 9 vs. Cleveland State, hurling eight shutout innings with five strikeouts. After yielding 14 home runs last season, Blevins allowed his first of the year on March 24 at Pittsburgh in his 40th inning of the season and has allowed just four so far in 2007.
  • Baird was strong in his BIG EAST debut vs. Connecticut on April 22, twirling his first career complete game and striking out a career-best six. He, along with Osterbrock the day prior, became the first UC pitchers to throw consecutive nine-inning complete games since Nate Bouldin and B.J. Borsa in 2003.

A MUCH NEEDED LIFT: With Logan Parker's big bat lost in the middle of the line up, seniors Neall French and Brian Szarmach have stepped up to fill the hole:

  • French has been the anchor of the Bearcat line-up, leading the BIG EAST with 59 RBI and tying for third with 10 home runs. He has been red hot as of late, hitting safely in 19 of his last 22 games, including a recent career-best 11 straight at a .360 clip (32-for-89) with 35 RBI during the stretch. French had his best day as a Bearcat at Kentucky on March 7, with a career-best six RBI, courtesy of a pair of three-run homers. He came up just short of hitting for the cycle on March 31 at Georgetown, missing only the single and driving in five.
  • Szarmach is hitting a career-high .300 and has 42 RBI, tying him for sixth in the BIG EAST. He also has 12 doubles, a triple and eight home runs, including his first career multi-homer game on April 14 at West Virginia. Szarmach had a monster game in the first game of the Morehead State doubleheader on May 2, finishing with career-highs in runs (three), hits (four) and RBI (six).

STEADY IMPROVEMENT: It appears that head coach Brian Cleary's theory about new Division I players needing 100 at-bats to really get comfortable is right on again with junior Ryan Baker. The ironman catcher has started 40 of UC's 45 games behind the plate and is hitting .355 (11-for-31) over his last nine games since approaching the 100 AB mark. Included in the recent surge are a pair of three-hit games and his first two home runs.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: In its nearly three seasons of existence, Marge Schott Stadium has provided a solid home field advantage for the Bearcats. Since its opening, the Bearcats hold a 57-33 (.633) record at home. As was the case last season, the Bearcats' team numbers have been better at home than on the road. Both UC's team batting average (.314 to .273) and ERA (3.67 to 5.86) are significantly better at Marge Schott Stadium.

YEAGER HEATING UP: Much like he did in 2006, sophomore Adam Yeager is starting to heat up late in the season. UC's starting shortstop in every game this year, Yeager has his batting average up to its highest point since the second week of the season. On the strength of a season-best six-game hit streak, Yeager has upped his average to .280. During the six-game stretch, he is hitting .458 (11-for-24) with four doubles, seven runs scored and six RBI.