TicketsApril 16, 2009
THE MATCH-UP
A pivotal three-game BIG EAST Conference series is on the horizon when Cincinnati (16-17; 5-7 BIG EAST) travels to Jamaica, N.Y., to take on St. John's (19-12; 8-4 BIG EAST), April 17-19 at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Cincinnati has dropped three straight contests, including two games this past week at the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic. The Red Storm have not played since last weekend, where they dropped two of three games at West Virginia.
SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
· The Red Storm enter the week with a 19-12 overall record and an 8-4 conference record.
· St. John's is 11-1 at home this season.
· 10 players are hitting over .300, led by Tim Morris' league best .461 average.
· As a team, the Red Storm own a batting average of .351.
· Five players also own 25-plus RBI.
· On the hill, the Red Storm have a team ERA of 5.22.
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.
A LOOK BACK
· April 14-15, the University of Cincinnati baseball team hosted the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic at Marge Schott Stadium.
· The event honored one of Cincinnati's most beloved figures, Joe Nuxhall, while promoting collegiate baseball in Southwest Ohio.
· On the first day of the tournament, Wright State defeated Miami (OH), 7-3, before Xavier beat Cincinnati 12-8 in the nightcap.
· In the Championship, Xavier rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Wright State, 10-9.
· Xavier's Zach Richard was named 2009 Joe Nuxhall Classic Most Valuable player. Richard went 3-for-7 at the plate, with three runs scored and four RBI, including the game-winning RBI in the championship game.
· In the consolation contest, Miami used a four-run second inning to down the Bearcats, 6-1.
· Opening ceremonies for the event included a video tribute from "The Voice of the Reds", Marty Brennaman, and a first pitch by Joe Nuxhall's son, Kim Nuxhall.
SENIOR SWING
· In the opening 25 games of his senior season, Cameron Satterwhite got off to a rough start hitting .193, with 30 strikeouts.
· Over the past eight games, Satterwhite has come to life and played a vital role in UC's series win over Notre Dame April 9-11.
· Since the start of the Louisville series on April 9, Satterwhite is hitting .371 (13-of-35), with five doubles, one home run, and a team-best nine-RBI.
· In the second game of a three-game set against Louisville on April 5, Satterwhite went 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI.
· The Cincinnati native collected his second multi-RBI game by driving in three runs against Xavier on April 14.
· Over the past eight games, Satterwhite has raised his batting average 51 points -- from .193 to .244.
BIG EAST NOTES
· On the season, Cincinnati has hit .277, but hitting in conference play has been tough for the Bearcats.
· In BIG EAST-only action, UC is hitting .226, and only two players own a batting average over .300.
· Freshman T.J. Jones is the Red and Black's top hitter in conference play with a .313 average, which includes two triples.
· The other Bearcat player to bat over .300 in league play is Lance Durham, who is hitting .304.
· Michael Hill owns the top ERA among starters for UC in conference play with a 6.20 ERA.
· Out of the pen, Jake Geglein has been the top hurler owning a 2.00 ERA in five appearances.
LUCK OF THE IRISH
· For the first time this season, the Bearcats won a conference series taking two of three games from Notre Dame.
· In the series, the Bearcats top three hitters were its 2-3-and-4 hitters, Cameron Satterwhite, Mike Spina, and Lance Durham.
· Durham led the team with a .545 average in the series, while Spina and Satterwhite hit .385 and .308, respectively.
· The trio combined to hit all six doubles for the Bearcats in the three-game set and scored seven of the team's 14 runs.
· On the mound, the UC pitching staff had its best weekend in BIG EAST action, combining for a 4.33 ERA.
· Michael Hill went 6.0 innings in the opener of a doubleheader on Saturday, April 11, and struck out five en route to his first win of the season.
ON PACE
· Lance Durham, the son of former MLB player Leon Durham, is in his first season with the Red and Black and has made an immediate impact on the UC program.
· Durham leads the team with a .446 batting average, 58 hits, and an on-base percentage of .526.
· 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 33 games, Durham leads the team with 23 multi-hit games and he has reached base safely in 31 games.
· Durham ranks second on the squad with 31 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.
· Durham is on pace to finish the season with 94 hits, which would rank second in the UC single-season record book, and his .446 average would be the best single-season mark in school history.
· The top single-season batting average in UC history is held by Mark Gabbard, who batted .416 in 1993 (min. 100 at-bats).
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 18 games, Jones is second on the team in batting average (.333), trailing only Lance Durham.
· In conference action, Jones is hitting .313 with two triples, a home run, and 6 RBI. Jones' .313 conference average is tops on the Bearcat squad.
· Jones is tied for third 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.
· Jones collected his second multi-RBI game against Notre Dame on Sat., April 11, with two RBI in UC's 7-3 win over the Irish.
DOUBLE UP
· Senior Cameron Satterwhite has begun to get out of his slump at the plate with two strong conference series' the last two weekends against Louisville and Notre Dame.
· Satterwhite has hit .333 (9-of-27), and five of his nine hits have been doubles in the last two conference series.
· The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has accumulated 45 doubles in his career and with two doubles against Notre Dame last weekend, Satterwhite moved into eighth place on UC's all-time doubles list.
· Currently, Chris Hamblen (1999-02), sits in seventh place on UC's all-time doubles list with 47 doubles.
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 37 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 .414.
· So far this season, Spina has hit 11 home runs and driven in 42 runs, while Durham has added four home runs and 31 RBI.
· Durham's and Spina's 15 combined home runs account for 44.1 percent of the team's home runs, while their 73 RBI's account for 36.9 percent of the team's RBI's.
OFF AND RUNNING
· Cincinnati has scored 10-plus runs in 11 of 33 games this season.
· Last season, it took UC 47 games to score 10-plus runs 11 times.
· UC has scored 222 runs this season in 31 games, averaging out to 6.73 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 34 home runs this season and UC has hit two-plus home runs in 12 of its 33 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 33 games this season, 11 of Spina's 45 hits have been home runs.
· Spina is averaging one home run for every 12.0 at-bats.
· 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 (41).
· Only 90 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 36 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 .303 batting average.