TicketsApril 8, 2009
THE MATCH-UP Following its ESPNU nationally-televised, come-from-behind win over Louisville on Sunday, April 5, Cincinnati (14-14; 3-6 BIG EAST) returns to Marge Schott Stadium on Thursday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m., when it kicks off a pivotal three-game BIG EAST Conference series against Notre Dame (19-10; 5-4 BIG EAST). The Fighting Irish head into the series with a 5-4 conference mark after completing a three-game sweep at home over Villanova last weekend. The Bearcats took 1-of-3 from preseason conference favorite Louisville and look to climb up the league standings.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
· The Fighting Irish come into the week with a 19-10 overall mark and a 5-4 BIG EAST record.
· Last weekend, Notre Dame swept Villanova to improve to 5-4 in the conference.
· On Tuesday, April 7, Notre Dame played an exhibition against the South Bend Silver Hawks and lost 5-1.
· Five Fighting Irish players own a batting average over .300, including David Mills, who owns a team-best .370 average.
· As a team, the Fighting Irish are hitting .311, compared to .261 for its opponents.
· The strength of the Irish team this season has been their pitching staff.
· Cole Johnson has a 2.40 ERA and is a perfect 4-0 on the season. Johnson has given up only 29 hits in 45.0 innings of work.
· Notre Dame's team ERA of 4.75 ranks sixth in the BIG EAST.
PRIME TIME EXPOSURE
· For the first time in program history, the UC baseball team hosted a nationally-televised contest on Sunday, April 5.
· In front of a season-best 1,984 fans, Cincinnati defeated Louisville 10-9 on ESPNU.
· Sophomore Nick Rohlfs went 3-for-4 from the plate and drove in a career-high five runs, including the game-winning RBI's in the seventh inning.
· Senior Jake Geglein pitched the final five innings of the game, earning his second win of the season. In five innings, Geglein gave up just one earned run.
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.
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 .427 batting average, 47 hits, and an on-base percentage of .511.
· 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 28 games, Durham leads the team with 18 multi-hit games and he has reached base safely in 26 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.
ROHLFS COMES UP BIG
· In spot starts over the first 15 games, sophomore Nick Rohlfs struggled at the plate batting .133 (2-of-15).
· In UC's last 13 games, Rohlfs has played in 12 games, including 11 starts, and has been the Bearcats top hitter with a .353 average.
· During that span, Rohlfs is tied for second on the team with 10 RBI.
· In conference-only play, Rohlfs is batting a team-best .417 and has driven in a team-high eight runs.
· Since March 20, Rohlfs has had a hit in 8-of-11 games, including two three-hit games and two-multi-RBI games.
· Rohlfs drove in a career-high five runs on three hits in UC's 10-9 win over Louisville on Sunday, April 5.
ROOKIE SPOTLIGHT
· Freshman T.J. Jones has been one of the catalysts at the bottom of the order for UC in recent games.
· Over UC's last 13 games, Jones is second on the team in batting average (.351), trailing Nick Rohlfs by three percentage points.
· In conference action, Jones is hitting .348 with two triples, a home run, and 4 RBI.
· Jones is tied for second in BIG EAST-only games with two triples.
· On Saturday, April 4, Jones hit his first home run as a Bearcat against Louisville and finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI.
DOUBLE UP
· Senior Cameron Satterwhite had his best series at the plate so far in BIG EAST play this past weekend against Louisville.
· Satterwhite hit .357 (5-of-14), and three of his five hits were doubles.
· The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has accumulated 43 doubles in his career and needs just one more double to move into a tie for 10th place on UC's career doubles chart.
· Currently, Jack Kuzniczci (1977-80), Troy Muckerheide (1992-95), and John Young (1985-87), sit in 10th place on UC's all-time doubles list with 44 doubles apiece.
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 third in the BIG EAST entering the week.
· Geglein ranked second in the BIG EAST with nine saves in 2008.
· On Sunday, April 5, Geglein pitched a career-high five innings of relief to earn the win against Louisville. In his five innings of work, Geglein scattered four hits, struck out two, and gave up just one run.
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 29 multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI games, including seven four-plus RBI games.
· With runners in scoring position, Spina and Durham have combined to hit .437.
· So far this season, Spina has hit 11 home runs and driven in 38 runs, while Durham has added four home runs and 28 RBI.
· Durham's and Spina's 15 combined home runs account for 45.5 percent of the team's home runs, while their 65 RBI's account for 36.7 percent of the team's RBI's.
OFF AND RUNNING
· Cincinnati has scored 10-plus runs in 11 of 28 games this season.
· Last season, it took UC 47 games to score 10-plus runs 11 times.
· UC has scored 199 runs this season in 28 games, averaging out to 7.11 runs per game.
· This season, UC is 9-2 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 33 home runs this season and UC has hit two-plus home runs in 12 of its 28 games.
· The Red and Black are 8-4 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 28 games this season, 11 of Spina's 38 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 11 home runs, and ranks fourth in RBI (38).
· Only 85 games into his UC career, Spina ranks sixth on the UC career home runs chart with 32.
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 35 hits this season, 12 have gone for extra bases. Riddell has seven doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He also ranks third on the team with a .324 batting average.
OFF THE BENCH
· In 24 pinch-hit at-bats this season, the Bearcats have delivered 12 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.