TicketsFeb. 18, 2010
The University of Cincinnati baseball team kicks off its 2010 campaign on Friday, Feb. 19, when it travels down to Boca Raton, Fla., to kick off a three-game series against Florida Atlantic University. The three-game set begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19, while Saturday's start time is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the series finale is slated to begin at 1 p.m. This marks the fifth straight year that UC opens its season in the state of Florida and the second time that the Bearcats have opened their season against FAU.
SEASON OPENERS
· Cincinnati is making its sixth straight trip down to Florida to open its season, with two of those season-openers coming against Florida Atlantic.
· UC has lost five straight season openers dating back to 2005. The Bearcats' last season-opening triumph came against Duke during the 2004 campaign, when Cincinnati defeated the Blue Devils, 3-2.
· Since 2001, the Bearcats have won two season-opening series, with both series wins coming in the 2001 and 2002 seasons against North Carolina State and Furman, respectively.
· Three of the series have been played against nationally-ranked opponents (#28 Florida Atlantic in 2005; #1 Florida in 2006, #10 Miami (FL) in 2008).
STRONG TIES
· Cincinnati head coach Brian Cleary will be returning home to Boca Raton, Fla., when the Bearcats take on the Florida Atlantic Owls Feb. 19-21.
· Cleary and second-year FAU head coach John McCormack are long-time friends as the duo played high school baseball together at Pope John Paul II High School.
· This will be the third time that Cleary and McCormack have been on opposing sides with McCormack serving as associate head coach when UC met FAU in 2005 and 2007.
· This is the first meeting between the two as opposing head coaches.
LOOK WHO'S BACK
· The Bearcats have 20 letterwinners returning from the 2009 season including seven seniors.
· The seniors include Jamel Scott, Kevin Johnson, Jimmy Jacquot, Beach Brooks, Brian Garman, Andrew Burkett, and Tyler Smith.
· UC has eight players back that started at least 20 games last year. UC's top returning hitter from 2009 is sophomore second baseman T.J. Jones, who hit .327 as a freshman with four home runs and 32 RBI.
· Junior Chris Peters started all 58 games at shortstop last season and has started every game at shortstop for the Bearcats in his two seasons.
· Jaquot and junior Nick Rohlfs split time behind the plate last season. Jacquot finished the season strong and hit .248, while Rohlfs hit .226 before missing the second half of the season with a shoulder injury.
· Two of UC's top returners coming into the 2009 season, Kevin Johnson and Jamel Scott, were both injured early and battled through injuries most of the season. Both players are healthy and ready to make an impact in their senior campaigns.
· Junior Justin Riddell is also back after a season where he hit .294 with six home runs and 30 RBI.
· On the mound, 10 of the 13 players who pitched last year are back in 2010.
· Junior Dan Jensen owns the top returning ERA among the returners with a 4.60 ERA. Jensen played for the Mat-Su Miners in the Alaskan Summer League where he posted an ERA below 2.00.
· Tyler Smith is the top returning starter from a year ago after posting a 3-4 record with 40 strikeouts in 51.1 innings.
· The other pitchers returning are Brian Garman, Nick Johnson, Brian Sand, Sam Slavik, Dan Glozer, and Andrew Burkett.
NEW FACES
· Head coach Brian Cleary welcomes 10 true freshmen to campus for the 2010 season.
· Seven of the 10 freshmen are pitchers with Marcus Heath splitting time between the outfield and the mound.
· Freshmen Logan Jackson and Jake Proctor are the early favorites to get the starting nod at third base and right field, respectively.
· Freshman Chris McElroy is slated to get the start on Sunday of UC's opening series against Florida Atlantic.
· The freshmen class includes Jackson, Proctor, McElroy, Derek Cox, Thomas Gentile, Andrew Strenge, Heath, James Jones, Jason Pascuzzi, and Zach Isler.
· UC has two other newcomers in junior college transfer Mikel Huston and sophomore Anthony Howard.
SMITH NAMED CAPTAIN
· Head coach Brian Cleary announced that senior pitcher Tyler Smith will serve as captain for the 2010 season.
· Smith is the third straight pitcher to be tabbed captain for the Bearcats following in the footsteps of Jake Geglein (2009) and A.J. Upton (2008).
· "Tyler's work ethic and commitment to our team have been tremendous since his arrival at UC," Cleary said. "Because of this, his teammates have indicated great support for him to serve as our captain. The coaching staff also feels strongly about his ability to serve in this role for this coming season."
· Last season, Smith posted a 3-4 record and recorded 40 strikeouts in 51.1 innings of work.
· Smith made 19 appearances and five starts in 2009, with his best performance coming against Western Michigan where he threw five innings of scoreless relief, which included a career-high nine strikeouts.
UC PICKED SEVENTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL
· In the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, the Bearcats were picked to finish in seventh.
· Louisville has been chosen as the favorite to take the 2010 title in the BIG EAST preseason baseball coaches' poll.
· The coaches also selected West Virginia shortstop Jedd Gyorko as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and tabbed USF righthanded pitcher Randy Fontanez the BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
· Louisville earned nine of a possible 11 first-place votes to edge second-place USF as the 2010 favorite. The Cardinals had 119 points in the poll, while the Bulls were second with 113 points and three first-place votes.
· Connecticut was picked third in the preseason poll following the Huskies' run to the title game of last year's BIG EAST Championship.
· St. John's was tabbed for fourth in the preseason poll. The Red Storm went 30-22 overall and 16-11 in BIG EAST play to finish fourth in the 2009 standings.
· Notre Dame was fifth in the preseason poll on the heels of a 36-23 season in 2009 that saw the Fighting Irish narrowly miss an appearance in the NCAA Championship.
· West Virginia was projected to finish sixth by the BIG EAST coaches after the Mountaineers went 37-18 overall and 17-10 in the BIG EAST last year under head coach Greg Van Zant.
· Cincinnati and Rutgers were picked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the preseason poll. Pittsburgh was ninth, Seton Hall was 10th, Villanova was 11th, , and Georgetown was 12th.
· The 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Championship will return to Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., May 26-30, with the championship game to be televised on ESPNU.
2009 SEASON RECAP
· Cincinnati finished the season with a 29-29 record, falling one win shy of back-to-back 30 win seasons.
· The Bearcats made the BIG EAST Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 2005-06.
· Senior Mike Spina, who was drafted in the 11th round by Oakland A's, broke his own single-season home run record with 23 home runs and added 69 RBI to lead the squad.
· Junior Lance Durham, who was drafted in the 14th round by Toronto Blue Jays, set a new UC single-season batting average record by hitting .427. Durham also broke Kevin Youkilis' single-season hits record with 99 hits.
· Senior Jake Geglein broke UC's career saves record with 20 and finished the 2009 season with a 6-1 record and nine saves.
ONWARD WE GO
· With Cincinnati's extra-inning 6-5 win over Seton Hall in its regular-season finale, the Bearcats ended the 2009 season 4-0 in extra-inning games.
· Over the last two seasons, Cincinnati has won seven consecutive extra-inning contests.
· Cincinnati's last extra-inning loss was on May 17, 2007, against Louisville.
SCOTT LOOKING TO RETURN TO OLD FORM
· After battling injuries through most of the 2009 season, senior Jamel Scott is looking to return to his old form in his final season in the Red and Black.
· As a sophomore in 2008, Scott hit .311 with eight doubles, one home run, and 38 RBI.
· Scott also finished second on the team with 35 stolen bases on 44 attempts.
· Scott has 54 career stolen bases and ranks fourth all-time on UC's stolen bases chart.
· Scott needs just seven more stolen bases to tie Troy Muckerheide for third on UC's career stolen bases chart.
· Last season, Scott hit .262 and was 12-for-15 in stolen bases.