TicketsMay 13, 2009
THE MATCH-UP
It all comes down to the final three games of the regular season as a berth to the 2009 BIG EAST Conference Tournament is at stake when Cincinnati welcomes Seton Hall to Marge Schott Stadium for a critical three-game set May 14-16. The series opener on Thursday, May 14, begins at 6:30 p.m., while Game 2 on Friday, May 15, also begins at 6:30 p.m. The series finale on Saturday, May 16, will begin at 1 p.m. Cincinnati enters the series 1/2 game behind Pittsburgh for the eighth seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Conference Tournament, and Seton Hall owns a one-game lead on the Bearcats. Prior to the start of Saturday's game, seniors Jake Geglein, Michael Hill, Cameron Satterwhite, Mike Spina, and Billy Welsh will be honored on Senior Day as they play their final home game in the Red and Black.
SCOUTING SETON HALL
· Seton Hall comes to Marge Schott Stadium with a 24-22 overall record and a 12-12 BIG EAST Conference mark.
· The Pirates sit in a tie for seventh place in the conference after taking two-of-three games at Rutgers last weekend.
· Entering the final weekend of conference action, Seton Hall owns the second best team ERA in the league with a 4.29 ERA.
· All three weekend starters for the Pirates have been successful this season led by Keith Cantwell. Cantwell holds a team-best six wins and has pitched five complete games in 12 starts. Cantwell also has struck out 68 batters and walked 22 men in 86.1 innings of work.
· Alongside Cantwell are Sean Black and Joe Dirocco, who own ERA's of 3.71 and 4.11, respectively. Both pitchers have two complete games and have opponents hitting below .295 against them.
· Cantwell and Black rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the BIG EAST in ERA.
· Offensively, Matt Smedberg hits a team-high .394, and has a team-best 69 hits and 39 runs scored.
· The leading run producer this season for the Pirates is A.J. Rusbarsky, who has a team-best nine home runs and 49 RBI.
FINAL HOMESTAND
· Cincinnati hosts its final home games of the 2009 season May 14-16 when the Bearcats welcome the Seton Hall Pirates to Marge Schott Stadium.
· Seton Hall is tied for seventh in the BIG EAST Conference with a 12-12 record, one game ahead of Cincinnati.
· The Cincinnati Department of Athletics has several promotions going on at this weekend's games.
· Thursday's series opener is Date Night as all couples will enter for free. In addition to Date Night, Thursday will also be Cause Awareness Night, raising awareness for Leukemia/Lymphoma. Pompons and black and red Mardi gras beads will be sold for $1 apiece to also raise money for Lymphoma and Leukemia through Team in Training.
· Friday's game will be Superhero Night as all fans who come dressed as their favorite superhero will receive free admission.
· Saturday, May 16, marks Senior Day as UC seniors Jake Geglein, Michael Hill, Cameron Satterwhite, Mike Spina, and Billy Welsh will play their final game at Marge Schott Stadium and will be honored prior to the start of the game. Saturday's game also will be Beach Day as all fans who wear swimsuits, wetsuits, or bikinis receive free admission. Following the completion of Saturday's game, all kids in attendance are invited to come down to the field, run the bases, and get autographs from the team.
· Both Friday's and Saturday's games will also be Diamond Club Awareness Games. In conjunction with the Cincinnati Reds, the Bearcats are raising awareness for collegiate baseball in Cincinnati. The Reds and Bearcats have collaborated on raffle prizes which will be available as a drawing. All money raised will go towards the Diamond Club which directly funds the UC baseball team. The raffle will take place both Friday and Saturday and the winners will be notified on Monday, May 18.
· Finally, there are several $1 deals at Marge Schott Stadium throughout the weekend. All youth tickets will be just $1 for all three days, there is $1 admission for anyone who shows a Cincinnati Reds ticket stub at the ticket office, and there will be $1 hot dogs on both Friday and Saturday.
WHAT LIES AHEAD
· Heading into the final weekend of BIG EAST Conference play, Cincinnati sits in ninth place in the conference, 1/2 game behind No. 8 Pittsburgh and one full game behind Seton Hall and Connecticut.
· Going into the final weekend, Connecticut plays at Villanova, Pittsburgh hosts West Virginia, and UC hosts Seton Hall.
· While there are a few scenarios for UC to qualify for the BIG EAST Championships in Clearwater, Fla., May 18-23, the Bearcats control their own destiny to reach to conference tournament.
· If Cincinnati wins 2-of-3 three games against Seton Hall, UC will finish with a 13-14 conference mark, which would equal Seton Hall. The Bearcats would own the tiebreaker over the Pirates with the head-to-head series win.
RECORD WATCH
· Heading into the final week 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 21 home runs on the season and 66 RBI. His 21 home runs ties for first on the single-season home runs chart and his 66 RBI ties for fifth on the single-season list. Spina needs just one home run and 14 RBI to break the UC single-season records in those categories.
· Additionally, Spina has 42 career home runs, which ranks third in school history. Spina's 145 career RBI ranks sixth and he also ranks in the career Top 10 in batting average (.361), sacrifice flies (10), slugging percentage (.706), and on-base percentage (.446).
· Senior Cameron Satterwhite is also making a name for himself on the UC career record books. Satterwhite has 52 doubles for his career, which is tied for fifth on the UC career doubles list, and he became the seventh player in Bearcats history to reach 50 career doubles with three doubles last weekend at West Virginia. 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 20 career saves. Geglein also is tied for fifth in career appearances with 82. In the single-season books, Geglein's nine saves this season is tied for second 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 .434 average. The current UC record holder in batting average is Mark Gabbard, who hit .416 in 1993.
· Durham also ranks third on the single-season hits list (92), and is second on the single-season on-base percentage list (.510).
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 matched last year's total with 21 this season. His 42 career home runs ranks 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 145 runs in his career, which ranks sixth on the school's career RBI list.
· This season, his 21 home runs are tied for first on the single-season home runs list and his 66 RBI is tied for fifth on the single-season chart.
HOUGH HELPS SNAP SKID
· Coming into the Tuesday, May 12, game at Ohio University, Cincinnati had lost three straight games.
· The game got off to a rough start for the Bearcats and they fell behind 4-0 through three innings.
· UC scored three runs in the fifth to close the deficit to 4-3, but from that point, Cory Hough helped lead Cincinnati to a key mid-week win over the Bobcats.
· In the sixth inning, Hough belted a one out, opposite field solo home run that tied the game at four, his third home run of the season.
· After Cincinnati scored twice in the seventh, Hough came up with a runner on third and two outs and he delivered a two-out, RBI single that proved to be the game winning RBI.
· Hough finished 2-for-2, with two RBI, marking his second multi-hit game and his second multi-RBI game this season.
"BULL"S-EYE
· Lance "Bull" 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 .434 average. Durham is the league leader in hits (92), and is second in on-base percentage (.510).
· In 53 games, Durham has 32 multi-hit games and he has reached base safely in 50 games.
· Durham ranks second on the squad with 48 RBI and has hit eight 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 98 hits, which would rank first in the UC single-season record book, and his .434 average would be the best single-season mark in school history. Durham needs just five 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 has added to his career saves mark in recent weeks with saves against Villanova, USF, Butler, and Ohio.
· Geglein enters the week with nine saves, which is second in the BIG EAST. His four saves in league play ranks first.
· Geglein ranked second in the BIG EAST with nine saves in 2008.
· With his save against Ohio on May 12, Geglein notched the 20th save of his career, becoming the first UC player to reach 20 career saves.
· 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 28 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 .302 (32-of-106), with 12 doubles, four home runs, and 24 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 28 games, Satterwhite has raised his batting average 60 points -- from .193 to .253.
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 37 games since March 20, Jones is second on the team in batting average, hitting .333.
· During that span, Jones leads the team in triples (4) and is third on the team with 28 RBI.
· For the season, Jones is batting .309, which ranks in the Top 10 among freshman batting averages in the conference.
· 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 .333, with two home runs and 15 RBI, and owns an on-base percentage of .460.
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 53 games this season, 21 of Spina's 72 hits have been home runs.
· Spina is averaging one home run for every 9.9 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.
· 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 ball, 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 21 home runs, and is third in RBI (66).
· 110 games into his UC career, Spina ranks third on the UC career home runs chart with 42 and ranks sixth in career RBI with 145.
MAKING THE MOST OF HIS CHANCE
· Jimmy Jacquot was inserted into the starting lineup following the Notre Dame series and since he entered 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 .284.
· During that span, Jacquot ranks second on the team with a .386 batting average.
· Since April 17, Jacquot has hit five home runs and driven in 12 runs. He owns a .657 slugging percentage during that span which is tops on the squad.