TicketsMay 9, 2008
SETTING THE SCENE: With the 2008 regular season winding down, Cincinnati heads to South Orange, N.J. to take on Seton Hall in BIG EAST baseball action this weekend (May 9-11). With a convincing 20-3 win over Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday night, UC secured its second 30-win campaign in the last three years, bringing a 30-18 overall mark to the East Coast. In conference action, the Bearcats stand in third place in the league standings at 14-7, just one game ahead of a fourth place tie between Seton Hall (28-18, 13-8 BIG EAST) and Louisville. Action gets underway under the lights at Owen T. Carroll Field on Friday at 6 p.m., with matinees on tap for Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon) afternoons.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES: After being picked 11th in the preseason BIG EAST coaches poll, Seton Hall has been one of the league's biggest surprises, entering the weekend tied for fourth in the league standings at 28-18 overall and 13-8 in league play. The Pirates are led by the BIG EAST's best pitching staff in the ERA category with a 3.46 team mark. Junior Corey Young is the ace and is 7-2 with a sparkling 2.73 ERA. Offensively, two-way player Greg Miller is the top hitter at .336, while Chris Affinito provides the power (seven home runs) and Mark Pappas the run production (34 RBI). The Pirates won two of three in the first and only meeting between the schools in 2006.
NOTING THE BEARCATS:
- Cincinnati is listed in third place in the current BIG EAST Conference race at 14-7.
- Mike Spina has raised his stock as the top hitter on the squad, batting .359, with 12 home runs and 56 RBI. In the BIG EAST, Spina ranks second in both homers and RBI and is 12th in hitting.
- Tony Campana, Jamel Scott and Josh Harrison are ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the BIG EAST in the stolen base department. Campana has been safe on 38-of-47 tries, while Scott owns 29 thefts on 36 attempts and Harrison is 23 of 30. The trio helps UC lead the BIG EAST with 107 stolen bases.
- The Bearcats exploded offensively on Tuesday night against Mount St. Joseph, scoring the most runs (20) they had in a game since a 23-10 rout of Oakland on March 19, 2006. UC scored 10 of the runs in the eighth inning, something that hadn't been done by the Bearcats since the same game against Oakland.
HARRISON RIDING HIGH: Josh Harrison has raised his batting average nearly 90 points, from .274 to .361 by hitting a torrid 36-of-70 (.514) over his last 17 games. The junior enters the weekend riding a season-best 11-game hit streak that includes nine multi-hit games. He shares the team lead with 23 multiple-game hits, including eight three-hit performances and is among the BIG EAST leaders in runs, hits, doubles, total bases and stolen bases.
SPINA HITS HIS STRIDE: After seeing his average dip to .256 early in the month, Mike Spina concluded April on a terror. For the month, Spina hit at a .432 clip, belting six doubles and nine home runs, while driving in 32 runs. In 22 games in the month, Spina collected at least one hit in all but three of the contests, posting 13 multi-hit games along the way. Spina hasn't let up as the calendar flipped over, hitting .313 with a homer and seven RBI after four games in May.
OFF AND RUNNING: The Bearcats' running game was one of the nation's best last year and was listed ninth nationally this week. The Bearcats have reached safely on 2.23 stolen bases per game and have made good on 107-of-136 stolen base attempts (.787) this season. The Bearcats swiped 130 bases in 2007, ranking as the highest total ever by a UC team. This year's squads boasts a fourth-place ranking on UC's single season team list.
STAFF ACE: In 2007, Dan Osterbrock was one of the BIG EAST's best hurlers posting a 9-1 record. Owning a 6-2 record and a 3.50 ERA, the Cincinnati native has been on a roll of late, winning five straight decisions, including three complete games. The lefty has show masterful control, striking out 55 this year against only nine walks in 72 innings.
RECORD SETTING THIEF: An offensive catalyst at the top of the lineup, Tony Campana set a Cincinnati single-season record with 60 stolen bases as a junior. Campana finished as the NCAA leader in steals at better than one stolen base per game. In his first year with the Bearcats, he came up one stolen base short of equaling the program's career record of 61. Already this season Campana eclipsed the mark for career stolen bases and his 38 thefts this season give him 98 career steals and counting.
SPEEDY SCOTT: After hitting the Bearcats' first home run of 2008 at Miami (FL), Jamel Scott has shown plenty of speed. UC's swift sophomore trails only teammate Tony Campana in the BIG EAST Conference in stolen bases, having made good on 29-of-36 attempts this season. Scott started the campaign with a string of 14 consecutive steals before being caught. The Bearcats' No. 2 hitter, Scott boasts a .300 average and a .378 on-base percentage.
LEAD-OFF TERROR: Tony Campana continues to be a big impact at the top of the Bearcats' lineup, while patrolling center field in every game since transferring to Cincinnati. A spark plug at the top of the order, Campana is hitting .327 and is 38-of-47 in stolen base attempts this year.
BULLPEN ANCHOR: Junior Jake Geglein has blossomed into the stopper in the Bearcats' bullpen, enjoying a phenomenal season in his new role. The Cincinnati native has appeared in a team-best 20 games and holds a 3-0 record with a 2.60 ERA and seven saves. Geglein has held opponents scoreless in 14 of his 20 outings this year and has 31 strikeouts in 34.2 innings of work. He is also making a name for himself in UC history, tying for fourth on the single season list with his seven saves and holding a tie for fifth with nine career saves.
A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH: Cameron Satterwhite has enjoyed an outstanding junior season that sees him entering the weekend tops on the squad with a .363 batting average. The Cincinnati native has done his part in the power department as well, ranking second on the Bearcats with nine home runs and sharing second place with close friend Josh Harrison with 42 RBI. Satterwhite really started to turn it on in late March. After hitting a respectable .271 through the first 18 games, Satterwhite has been hitting at a .407 (50-for-123) clip in the 30 games since March 25, with all but one of his home runs and all but eight of his RBI.
COMING ON STRONG: Head coach Brian Cleary's theory on new players needing 100 at-bats to get accustomed to Division I competition has another supporter in freshman shortstop Chris Peters. Since nearing and surpassing the mark in recent weeks, Peters is hitting .368 (14-for-38) in his last 12 games. Peters lashed three hits for the second time this year in game one of the May 3 doubleheader with Rutgers, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning.