TicketsApril 2, 2009
THE MATCH-UP
Cincinnati (13-12; 2-4 BIG EAST) hosts its first BIG EAST Conference series of the season this weekend when it welcomes Louisville (18-8; 3-3 BIG EAST) to Marge Schott Stadium, April 3-5. The series begins on Friday, April 3, at 6:30 p.m., and is followed by a 4 p.m. contest and a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5, respectively. Sunday's 2 p.m. match-up between the Bearcats and Cardinals will be televised on ESPNU with Clay Matvick handling the play-by-play duties and Kyle Peterson providing analysis.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
· The Cardinals enter the weekend with an overall record of 18-8 and a BIG EAST Conference record of 3-3.
· U of L won its only mid-week game this week, defeating Ball State 5-4 in 12 innings.
· Louisville is led by preseason conference Player of the Year, Chris Dominguez, and preseason conference Pitcher of the Year, Justin Marks.
· After getting off to a cold start, Dominguez has been one of the top hitters for Louisville raising his average to .337.
· Dominguez leads the team in home runs (7), RBI (35), slugging percentage (.615), on-base percentage (.452), and stolen bases (11).
· On the hill, Marks owns a 3.25 ERA, tops among all Cardinal starters, and has struck out 48, while walking 14 in 36.0 innings of work.
· Entering the week, Louisville ranked first in the BIG EAST in opponents batting average (.262) and strikeouts (204).
· Offensively, the Cardinals rank second in the conference in runs scored (206), RBI (185), home runs (28), and stolen bases (45), while ranking first in triples (12).
ON THE AIR
· For the first time in program history, the UC baseball team will host a nationally televised contest on Sunday, April 5.
· The series finale between Cincinnati and Louisville on Sunday, April 5, will be televised by ESPNU at 2 p.m.
· Sunday's game is a re-match of the 2008 BIG EAST Conference Championship game, where Louisville defeated UC, 6-3.
· The series finale between the Bearcats and Cardinals is also a Ring of Red Game. The Bearcats will wear their red jerseys and fans are encouraged to wear red in support of UC.
· Following the game, there will be an autograph session on the field with the team.
· Finally, fans will also have the opportunity to take their picture with the Keg of Nails.
JOE NUXHALL CLASSIC
· On April 14-15, the UC baseball team will host the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic at Marge Schott Stadium.
· The event is set to honor the legacy of Joe Nuxhall and promote amateur baseball in southwest Ohio.
· The Bearcats welcome Miami University, Wright State University, and Xavier University to compete in this year's tournament.
· Cincinnati, Miami (OH), and Xavier will always participate in the tournament and the fourth team will be decided each season.
· The tournament also will alternate between Marge Schott Stadium and McKie Field at Hayden Park on the Miami University campus.
· On April 14, Miami takes on Wright State at 3 p.m. with the Bearcats and Musketeers meeting in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
· The following day, the winners and losers from the previous day will play each other, with the Bearcats playing the night game.
SMITH SPELLS RELIEF
· In his last five outings against Western Michigan, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Rutgers, and Indiana, Tyler Smith has been a huge asset for the Bearcats.
· Prior to giving up two runs in the fourth inning at Rutgers on Saturday, March 28, Smith had gone 15.1 consecutive innings without giving up a run.
· In his last 17.0 innings of work, Smith has punched out 19 batters compared to giving up just one free pass. During that stretch, opponents are hitting .265 off Smith.
· Against Western Michigan on Saturday, March 14, Smith came out of the pen and pitched 5.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn his first win of the season. In the outing, Smith struck out a season-best nine batters.
· Smith picked up his second win of the season with another 5.0 innings of scoreless relief against Pittsburgh on Sunday, March 22.
· The Bryan, Ohio, native pitched 2.0 innings out of the bullpen at Kentucky and struck out two, while giving up one hit.
SETTING THE PACE
· Lance Durham, the son of former MLB player Leon Durham, is in his first season with the Red and Black and has not wasted any time making an impact.
· Durham leads the team with a .464 batting average, 45 hits, and an on-base percentage of .542.
· Against Bradley on March 6, Durham hit his first career home run, which cleared the scoreboard beyond the right field fence and bounced off of Fifth Third Arena.
· In 25 games, Durham leads the team with 17 multi-hit games and he has reached base safely in 24 games.
· Durham ranks second on the squad with 28 RBI and has hit four home runs.
· On March 31 vs. Wright State, Durham went 3-for-5 from the plate, including a three-run home run, and drove in a career-high five runs.
· Over the last eight games, Durham is hitting .485 (16-for-33), with six runs scored, and 16 RBI.
· During that stretch, Durham has seven multi-hit games and has five multi-RBI games.
GEGLEIN CLOSING IN
· With a four-out save at Rutgers on March 27, Jake Geglein moved into a tie for first place on UC's all-time saves list with 15.
· Geglein is tied atop UC's all-time saves list with Curtis Moak (1998-01), who was a 25th-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds in 2001.
· Geglein has four saves this season, which was tied for second in the BIG EAST entering the week.
· Geglein ranked second in the BIG EAST with nine saves in 2008.
· Since giving up two earned runs against Purdue in the season-opener, Geglein has given up three earned runs and struck out 10 while walking one in 10.2 innings of work.
ONE-TWO PUNCH
· Mike Spina and Lance Durham have provided UC with clutch performances this season in the middle of the lineup.
· The duo has combined for 27 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games, including seven four-plus RBI games.
· With runners in scoring position, Spina and Durham have combined to hit .448.
· So far this season, Spina has hit 10 home runs and driven in 36 runs, while Durham has added four home runs and 28 RBI.
· Durham's and Spina's 14 combined home runs account for 45.2 percent of the team's home runs, while their 63 RBI's account for 40.5 percent of the team's RBI's.
OFF AND RUNNING
· Cincinnati has scored 10-plus runs in 10 of 25 games this season.
· Last season, it took UC 46 games to score 10-plus runs 10 times.
· UC has scored 179 runs this season in 25 games, averaging out to 7.16 runs per game.
· This season, UC is 8-2 when scoring 10-plus runs.
POWER SURGE
· In UC's 9-5 win over Pittsburgh on March 22, the Bearcats hit four home runs.
· It was the second time this season that UC has hit four home runs in a game, with the other occurance coming against Purdue in the season opener on Feb. 20.
· Cincinnati has hit 31 home runs this season and UC has hit two-plus home runs in 11 of its 25 games.
· The Red and Black are 8-3 on the season when hitting two-plus home runs.
TOUCH `EM ALL
· In his first season in the Red and Black in 2008, Mike Spina hit a UC single-season record 21 home runs and drove in a UC single-season record tying 79 RBI.
· Through 25 games this season, Spina is off to a hot start as 10 of his 34 hits have been home runs.
· In the first game vs. Purdue on Feb. 20, Spina hit two home runs to continue where he left off last season and finished the weekend with two home runs and six RBI.
· In the only game played at Davidson on Feb. 27, Spina hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to put UC on top, 9-5, his third home run of the season.
· A first-inning, two-run home run against Miami (OH) on March 4 gave Spina his fourth home run of the season and the 25th of his career.
· In the series finale against Bradley, Spina went 2-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI, as one of his home runs was a grand slam -- his second of the season.
· In his first two at bats in game two of a doubleheader against Western Michigan on March 14, Spina hit two home runs, one of which was a grand slam, upping his home run total to nine. It was Spina's third grand slam this season.
· Heading into the week, Spina leads the BIG EAST with 10 home runs, and ranks third in RBI (35).
· Only 82 games into his UC career, Spina sits in a tie for sixth place on the UC career home runs chart with 31.
· Spina needs one more home run to move into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time home runs chart.
SOPHOMORE SURGE
· In his rookie campaign at UC last season, Justin Riddell played in 40 games and made 35 starts for the Bearcats. In those 40 games, Riddell collected two home runs, 15 RBI, and owned a slugging percentage of .360.
· At the BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge Feb. 20-22, Riddell was a tough out as he batted .615, going 8-for-13 from the plate.
· In the season-opener vs. Purdue, Riddell went 4-for-4 from the plate and equalled his home run total from 2008 with two home runs in the contest.
· Against Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 22, Riddell hit his third home run of the season, surpassing his total from 2008.
· At the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge, Riddell led the tournament in home runs (3), total bases (19), and slugging percentage (1.462), while tying for the tournament lead in batting average (.615).
· Riddell also ranked second among all players in on-base percentage (.643) and hits (8).
· For his efforts, Riddell was named to the BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge All-Tournament team presented by CollegeBaseball360.com, and was also one of 12 players nationally selected as Players of the Week by RecruitingCloser.com.
· In the eighth inning vs. Dayton on March 10, Riddell opened up a 7-6 lead in the eighth inning with a three-run home run to give UC a 10-6 lead.
· Of his 33 hits this season, 12 have gone for extra bases. Riddell has seven doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He also ranks in a tied for second on the team with a .340 batting average.
OFF THE BENCH
· In 22 pinch-hit at-bats this season, the Bearcats have delivered 11 hits.
· Freshman Cory Hough is 3-for-5 in pinch-hitting opportunities, while freshman Dorian West, redshirt freshman Zach Collaros, sophomore Justin Riddell, and junior Beach Brooks have all collected hits in pinch-hitting roles.
· In the seventh inning against Miami (OH) on March 4, Hough and Brooks strung together back-to-back two-out pinch-hit base hits to keep the inning alive. Later in the inning, both scored on passed balls to tie the game at eight.
· Freshman T.J. Jones broke open a 4-4 game on March 22 against Pittsburgh with a pinch-hit triple. Jones is 2-for-3 in pinch-hitting roles.
· Trailing 1-0 in the series opener against Rutgers on March 27, Kendal Coleman tied the game with a clutch one-out, pinch-hit single that kickstarted a six-run inning leading to Bearcat victory.
BIG EAST PREDICTIONS
· In the 2009 BIG EAST preseason poll, UC was picked to finish fifth by the BIG EAST head coaches.
· Seniors Michael Hill and Cameron Satterwhite were chosen to the all-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
· Louisville was unanimously chosen as the favorite to win the 2009 conference championship. Louisville's Chris Dominguez and Justin Marks took home Preseason Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors, respectively.
· USF was picked to finish in second place with 103 votes, followed by Notre Dame (99 votes), St. John's (93 votes), and Cincinnati (77 votes). Filling out spots six through 10 were Connecticut, West Virginia, Rutgers, Seton Hall, and Villanova. Pittsburgh and Georgetown were selected 11th, and 12th, respectively.