TicketsMay 8, 2009
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THE MATCH UP
With the BIG EAST Conference regular season winding down, Cincinnati travels to Morgantown, W.Va., to face West Virginia in three-game conference series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 9 at 3 p.m. at Hawley Field. West Virginia currently sits two games ahead of Cincinnati in the BIG EAST standings with six conference contests remaining. All three games of this weekend's series can be heard live on GoBEARCATS.com.
SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA
· The Mountaineers enter the weekend with a 31-14 record and a 13-8 record in BIG EAST Conference play.
· West Virginia has not played all week due to final exams and Saturday's doubleheader will be its first games in six days.
· The Mountaineers own a home conference record of 7-2.
· West Virginia leads the conference in batting average (.356), slugging percentage (.565), on-base percentage (.441), runs scored (421), RBI (393), doubles (136), total bases (880), and sacrifice bunts (73).
· 10 WVU players own batting averages over .300, led by Dan DiBartolomeo's .417 batting average. Additionally, Vince Belnome is also hitting over .400 with a .410 average. DiBartolomeo and Belnome rank third and fourth in the league, respectively, in batting average.
· Belnome has driven in a BIG EAST-best 67 runs this season.
· Austin Markel owns a team-best 12 home runs.
· On the hill, Jarryd Summers has the team's best ERA at 2.82, which ranks third in the BIG EAST. Summers ranks second in the league with 79 strikeouts and a .230 opponents batting average.
· WVU has a team ERA of 5.33 that ranks sixth in the conference.
RECORD WATCH
· Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, UC has several players making their way up the UC single-season and career record charts.
· Senior Mike Spina enters the weekend with 19 home runs on the season and 63 RBI. His 19 home runs rank third on the single-season home runs chart and his 63 RBI ranks seventh on the single-season list. Spina needs just three home runs and 17 RBI to break the UC single-season records in those categories.
· Additionally, Spina has 40 career home runs, which ranks third in school history. Spina's 142 career RBI ranks sixth and he also ranks in the career Top 10 in batting average (.357), sacrifice flies (10), slugging percentage (.698), and on-base percentage (.442).
· Senior Cameron Satterwhite is also making a name for himself on the UC career record books. Satterwhite has 49 doubles for his career and needs just one more double to become the seventh player in Bearcats history to reach 50 career doubles. The Cincinnati native also ranks seventh on the career home runs chart with 32 and is tied for sixth on the sacrifice flies chart with 10.
· With every save, senior Jake Geglein continues to add to his all-time saves record. Geglein enters the weekend with 19 career saves. Geglein also ranks sixth in career appearances with 81. In the single-season books, Geglein's eight saves this season ranks fifth on the single-season charts.
· Junior Lance Durham is terrorizing the UC single-season record books as we approach the end of the regular season. Durham currently ranks first in UC single-season history in batting average with a .448 average. The current UC record holder in batting average is Mark Gabbard, who hit .416 in 1993.
· Durham also is tied for 10th on the single-season doubles list (18), ranks sixth on the single-season hits list (87), and is second on the single-season on-base percentage list (.524).
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.
HILL MAKES HIS MARK
· Senior Michael Hill led the Bearcats to a 4-2 win over USF on Saturday, May 2, handing the Bulls their first conference home loss of the season.
· Hill pitched 8.0 innings, giving up just two earned runs, and matched a season-high with eight strikeouts.
· That start moved Hill into a tie for eighth on UC's career starts chart and his eight strikeouts gave the senior right-handed pitcher 179 career strikeouts, leaving him three strikeouts away from cracking the career strikeouts chart.
· In his last two road starts, Hill has pitched 15.0 innings, given up four earned runs, and struck out 11 en route to picking up two wins.
· In road conference starts this season, Hill has a 3.34 ERA in 29.2 innings of work. During that span, he has struck out 21, walked 10, and opponents are hitting .229 against Hill.
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 19 this season. His 40 career home runs ranks him third on UC's all-time list. He is just the third player in UC history to reach 40 career home runs, joining Matt Singer and current Boston Red Sox first baseman, Kevin Youkilis.
· 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.
· Spina also has driven in 142 runs in his career, which ranks sixth on the school's career RBI list.
· This season, his 19 home runs ranks third on the single-season home runs list and his 63 RBI ranks seventh on the single-season chart.
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 .448 average. Durham is the league leader in hits (87), and on-base percentage (.524).
· In 49 games, Durham has 30 multi-hit games and he has reached base safely in 46 games.
· Durham ranks second on the squad with 45 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. It is estimated that Durham hit the home run about 500 feet.
· Durham is on pace to finish the season with 99 hits, which would rank first in the UC single-season record book, and his .448 average would be the best single-season mark in school history. Durham needs just nine hits to break Kevin Youkilis' single-season hits record of 96 set in 1999.
· The top single-season batting average in UC history is held by Mark Gabbard, who batted .416 in 1993.
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 saves in UC's last two series' against Villanova and USF, and a mid-week save against Butler.
· Geglein enters the weekend with eight saves, which is tied for first in the BIG EAST. His four saves in league play also ranks first.
· Geglein ranked second in the BIG EAST with nine saves in 2008.
· With the save at USF on Saturday, May 2, Geglein earned his ninth career save in BIG EAST play. One more save will tie Geglein for fourth in BIG EAST history in saves.
· The BIG EAST career leader in saves is current Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Craig Hansen, who collected 14 saves at St. John's from 2003-05.
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 24 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 3, Satterwhite is hitting .310 (27-of-87), with nine doubles, four home runs, and 21 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 24 games, Satterwhite has raised his batting average 58 points -- from .193 to .251.
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 33 games since March 20, Jones is second on the team in batting average, hitting .345.
· During that span, Jones leads the team in triples (4) and is third on the team with 25 RBI.
· For the season, Jones is batting .316, which is the sixth best batting average among all freshmen in the league.
· In league play, Jones is tied for second in the conference in triples (3).
· 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 .354, with one home run and 10 RBI, and owns an on-base percentage of .475.
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, and is closing in on the school's career RBI list.
· The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has accumulated 49 doubles in his career and currently sits in seventh place on UC's all-time doubles list with Chris Hamblen (1999-02).
· Satterwhite needs just four RBI to crack UC's Top 10 chart for RBI.
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 48 multi-hit games and 28 multi-RBI games, including nine four-plus RBI games.
· With runners in scoring position, Spina and Durham have combined to hit .376.
· Durham's and Spina's 26 combined home runs account for 43.3 percent of the team's home runs, while their 108 RBI's account for 34.4 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 60 home runs this season and UC has hit two-plus home runs in 20 of its 49 games.
· The Red and Black are 14-6 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 49 games this season, 19 of Spina's 64 hits have been home runs.
· Spina is averaging one home run for every 10.1 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 19 home runs, and is third in RBI (63).
· 106 games into his UC career, Spina ranks third on the UC career home runs chart with 40 and ranks sixth in career RBI with 142.
MAKING THE MOST OF HIS CHANCE
· Jimmy Jacquot was inserted into the starting lineup following the Notre Dame series and since he was inserted into the lineup, he has been an asset at the bottom of the order.
· Since the start of the St. John's series on April 17, Jacquot has improved his batting average from .083 to .290.
· During that span, Jacquot has hit .426, the second best average on the team, and has an on-base percentage of .492.
· Since April 17, Jacquot has hit five home runs and driven in 12 runs. He owns a .778 slugging percentage during that span which is tops on the squad.