TicketsMay 1, 2009
THE MATCH UP
Cincinnati hits the road for a crucial three-game BIG EAST Conference series at USF beginning on Friday, May 1, at 7 p.m. Game 2 of the series will be played on Saturday, May 2, at 7 p.m., and the series finale will be on Sunday, May 3, at 1 p.m. All three games will be contested at Red McEwen Field on the campus of USF. Cincinnati comes into this weekend as winners of eight of its last 10 conference games, while USF is a perfect 9-0 at home in conference games. All three games of this weekend's series can be heard on www.GoBEARCATS.com.
SCOUTING USF
· USF enters the weekend with a 28-16 overall mark and a 15-3 record in the BIG EAST, which leads the conference.
· USF is a perfect 9-0 on the season in BIG EAST home contests.
· The Bulls have nine players batting over .300, including Junior Carlin's team-leading .390 average. As a team, the squad hits .319.
· USF is one of the best teams in the league at manufacturing runs evidenced by its league-best 27 sacrifice flies.
· Randy Fontanez and Derrick Stultz both rank in the Top 10 in the conference in ERA. Fontanez ranks second with a 2.88 ERA, while Stultz ranks fifth with a 3.54 ERA.
UC HONORS ONE OF ITS ALL-TIME GREATS
· On Wednesday, April 29, the UC baseball program honored its all-time winningest coach, Glenn Sample, who passed away on Nov. 21, 2008.
· Prior to the game, a video from the "Voice of the Reds", Marty Brennaman, was played and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Sample's grandsons, Maxx Sample and Tory Heithaus.
· Honoring him the best way they knew how, the Bearcats defeated Xavier, 19-3, which included a nine-run fourth inning.
· Chris Peters finished 3-for-4 with two triples and a home run, while Mike Spina also recorded three hits and drove home four runs.
· In the fourth inning, Lance Durham became the first player in Marge Schott Stadium history to hit a home run that landed on top of Fifth Third Arena in a game.
· When all was said and done, Cincinnati finished the game with a season-high 19 runs and boasted a season-best 22 hits.
IT ONLY TAKES TWO
· Since arriving in Clifton in 2008, Mike Spina has turned himself into one of top players in UC history in only two seasons.
· After hitting 21 home runs last season, Spina has hit 16 this season. His 37 career home runs ranks him in a tie for fifth on UC's all-time list.
· Of the top seven players on Cincinnati's all-time home run list, Spina is the only player on that list not to play four years in the Red and Black.
· Spina also ranks in the Top 10 on UC's career batting average list, on-base percentage list, slugging percentage list, and sacrifice flies list.
· With four RBI against Xavier on April 29, Spina moved into eighth place on UC's career RBI chart with 136.
WEEKEND SWEEP
· For the first time this season, Cincinnati earned a weekend sweep taking all three games from Villanova.
· Cincinnati got off to a strong start on Friday, April 24, when UC scored a season-high 16 runs en route to a 16-2 win. Billy Welsh earned his first win of the season going a season-best 6.0 innings.
· On Saturday, April 25, Cincinnati trailed 8-7 in the bottom of the 10th inning and was down to its last strike when Mike Spina deposited a home run over the left-field fence, tying the game at eight. During the next at-bat, Lance Durham hit a walk-off home run to right field, giving the Bearcats a 9-8 come-from-behind win.
· In the series finale on Sunday, April 25, Brian Garman, Tyler Smith, and Jake Geglein combined to strike out 13 batters and Justin Riddell hit a three-run home run to carry Cincinnati to a 4-3 win.
· For the series, UC hit .316 and was led by Lance Durham's .533 average. Cameron Satterwhite, Spina, Durham, and Riddell combined to hit .421 with seven home runs and 19 RBI.
KING OF THE HILL
· For almost one month, senior Jake Geglein was tied atop the University of Cincinnati career saves list with Curtis Moak (1998-01).
· Moak was a 25th-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds in 2001 and he finished his career with 15 career saves.
· On Friday, April 17, Geglein recorded a six-out save against St. John's to preserve an 11-8 win and move past Moak on UC's career saves list with 16.
· Geglein added to his career saves mark with a save in UC's series finale against Villanova on April 26, giving him 17 for his career.
· Geglein entered the week with six saves, which was tied for first in the BIG EAST. His three saves in league play are also tied for first.
· Geglein ranked second in the BIG EAST with nine saves in 2008.
· In his career, Geglein has collected eight saves in BIG EAST action, and needs just one more save to tie for 10th on the all-time conference saves lists.
· On Sunday, April 5, against Louisville, 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.
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 17 games, Satterwhite has come to life and played a vital role in UC's series wins over Notre Dame, St. John's and Villanova.
· Since the start of the Louisville series on April 9, Satterwhite is hitting .339 (20-of-59), with seven doubles, three home runs, and 18 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.
· In the series opener against Villanova on April 24, Satterwhite hit two home runs, marking his second multi-home run game of the season.
· Over his past 17 games, Satterwhite has raised his batting average 59 points -- from .193 to .252.
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 enters the weekend leading the team and ranking first in BIG EAST with a .453 average. Durham is the league leader in hits (78), and on-base percentage (.516).
· In 42 games, Durham has 28 multi-hit games and he has reached base safely in 39 games.
· Durham ranks second on the squad with 43 RBI and has hit seven 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.
· On April 29 vs. Xavier, Durham hit his seventh home run of the year, which landed on top of Fifth Third Arena becoming the first player to achieve that feat in a game.
· Durham is on pace to finish the season with 102 hits, which would rank first in the UC single-season record book, and his .453 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 top of the order for UC in the second half of the season.
· After starting the season 1-for-14 (.071), Jones has moved from the bottom of the order to the top of the order.
· In the 26 games since March 20, Jones is second on the team in batting average, hitting .362.
· During that span, Jones leads the team in triples (4) and is third on the team with 22 RBI.
· In league play, Jones is tied for second in the conference in triples (3) and ranks eighth in on-base percentage (.479).
· April 17-19 at St. John's was Jones' first weekend as a lead-off man for UC, and he finished the weekend series with a .450 average, one home run, three RBI, a stolen base, and an on-base percentage of .625.
· As a lead-off hitter this season, Jones is batting .400, with one home run and nine RBI, and owns an on-base percentage of .529.
DOUBLE UP
· Senior Cameron Satterwhite has proven to be a threat to hit for extra bases throughout his career at UC.
· In only three years, Satterwhite ranks in the all-time Top 10 on the UC home runs and doubles charts.
· The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has accumulated 47 doubles in his career and currently sits in a tie for seventh place on UC's all-time doubles list with Chris Hamblen (1999-02).
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 45 multi-hit games and 25 multi-RBI games, including eight four-plus RBI games.
· With runners in scoring position, Spina and Durham have combined to hit .392.
· Durham's and Spina's 23 combined home runs account for 43.4 percent of the team's home runs, while their 100 RBI's account for 34.8 percent of the team's RBI's.
· In Cincinnati's come-from-behind win over Villanova on Saturday, April 25, Spina and Durham hit back-to-back two-out, solo home runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give UC a 9-8 win.
POWER SURGE
· In UC's 19-3 win over Villanova on April 29, the Bearcats hit four home runs.
· It was the fourth time this season that UC has hit four home runs in a game, with the other occurrences coming against Purdue in the season opener on Feb. 20, against Pittsburgh on March 22, and against Villanova on April 26.
· Cincinnati has hit 53 home runs this season and UC has hit two-plus home runs in 18 of its 42 games.
· The Red and Black are 12-6 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 42 games this season, 16 of Spina's 58 hits have been home runs.
· Spina is averaging one home run for every 10.4 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.
· Against Villanova on April 25, the Bearcats were down 8-7 in the bottom of the 10th and Spina was down in the count, one balls, two strikes. Spina delivered a home run on the next pitch that tied the game at eight, and during the next at-bat Lance Durham hit a solo home run giving UC the win.
· Spina leads the BIG EAST with 16 home runs, and is second in RBI (57).
· Only 99 games into his UC career, Spina ranks in a tie for fifth on the UC career home runs chart with 37 and ranks eighth in career RBI with 136.
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 equaled 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).
· For his efforts, Riddell was named to the BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge All-Tournament team presented by CollegeBaseball360.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.
· In UC's 4-3 win over Villanova on April 26, Riddell's three-run, third-inning home run proved to be the deciding factor in the win.
· In the Villanova series April 24-26, Riddell had three multi-RBI games.
· Of his 48 hits this season, 18 have gone for extra bases. Riddell has 11 doubles, two triples, and five home runs. He also ranks fourth on the team with a .318 batting average.