TicketsApril 8, 2010
Following a five-run comeback win over Morehead State University on Wednesday evening, the University of Cincinnati baseball team hits the road for a three-game BIG EAST Conference series at Seton Hall University beginning on Friday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m., at Owen T. Carroll Field. Game 2 of the three-game set is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 10 and the series finale is slated to begin at Noon on Sunday, April 11. Heading into the weekend, the schools have met nine times with the Bearcats owning a 5-4 lead in the all-time series. All three games of the series will be available through live stats on www.GoBEARCATS.com.
THE SERIES WITH THE PIRATES
· Cincinnati leads the all-time series with Seton Hall, 5-4.
· Six of the nine games played between the schools have been decided by three runs or less, including all three games last season.
· In 2009, SHU and UC met on the final weekend of the regular-season with the winner of the series securing the eighth and final spot in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament.
· The first two games of the series were split, making the series finale a winner-take-all game.
· SHU took its first lead of the game in the top of the ninth inning, 5-4, giving Cincinnati one more chance to advance.
· A two-out, RBI bloop single by senior Cameron Satterwhite plated Chris Peters from second to tie the game at five in the ninth.
· In the 10th inning, three consecutive two-out singles, including the game-winning RBI single by junior Lance Durham gave UC the 6-5 win.
ABOUT SETON HALL
· The Pirates come into the weekend as a mirror image of the Bearcats.
· Seton Hall sits at the bottom of the conference in hitting, but ranks in the upper echelon of the league in pitching.
· Offensively, Michael Rogers leads the team in hitting at a .345 clip and owns a team-best nine stolen bases.
· Outside of Rogers, the rest of the starters are hitting below .290.
· However, the SHU pitching staff entered the week ranked sixth in the BIG EAST in overall games in ERA at 4.05.
· Joe DiRocco has been the typical Friday night starter for the Pirates and posts a 4-2 record, a 3.24 ERA, and a team-best 34 strikeouts.
· Opponents are hitting just .257 off Seton Hall this season and only 29.9 percent (61-of-204) of the hits given up by the Pirates have gone for extra bases.
· On the season, Seton Hall is 9-4 when playing at Owen T. Carroll Field.
CLEARY GOES FOR 350
· Cincinnati head coach Brian Cleary is in his 14th season as the head coach of the Bearcats and a 9-7 victory over the Morehead State Eagles on Wednesday, April 7, was Cleary's 349th win at UC.
· Cleary's next win will give him 350 for his career, which will join him with legendary coach Glenn Sample as the only two baseball coaches in UC history to accumulate 350 wins.
· Sample coached the Bearcats from 1961-1981 and led UC to four of the program's five NCAA Tournament berths and two Missouri Valley Conference championships.
· Sample finished his career as UC baseball's all-time winningest coach with 391 wins.
CRAZY EIGHTS
· There is an old saying that the game is never over until it is over. Because of the eighth inning this season, UC has proven that true.
· The Bearcats have scored in the eighth inning in 10 of 26 games this season.
· Against LeMoyne on March 10, Cincinnati was tied with the Dolphins heading into the eighth inning and in the bottom of the eighth inning, UC scored six runs and went on to win 13-7.
· In their BIG EAST home opener on April 1, the Bearcats were again tied in the eighth inning, this time against USF, and scored a run on a RBI sacrifice fly by sophomore T.J. Jones to go up, 4-3. UC went on to take the series opener by that same score.
· On April 7, UC trailed 5-3 entering the eighth inning and rallied for six runs in the eighth, which included a two-run home run by Jones, leading UC to a 9-7 win.
· Cincinnati has outscored its opponents 28-12 in the eighth inning alone this season, and has combined to outscore its opponents 53-34 in innings 7-9.
COLEMAN STEPPING UP
· Sophomore Kendal Coleman saw his first action of the season against Dayton on Wednesday, March 24.
· Coleman was a solid reserve for UC in 2009, making 34 appearances, including 21 starts. He hit .256 with 12 RBI on the season.
· In Coleman's season-debut against Dayton, he was the designated hitter and went 2-for-3 against the Flyers.
· In his eight starts this season, Coleman is 10-for-27 (.370) and has an on-base percentage of .481.
· The Hillsboro, Ohio, native is UC's top hitter in conference play, hitting .375, with six hits in 16 at-bats.
LEADING THE CHARGE
· All season long, senior Jimmy Jacquot has ranked among the team leaders in batting average, home runs, and RBI.
· Jacquot currently ranks third on the team with a .303 batting average, while tying for the team lead with four home runs and 20 RBI.
· Prior to the March 30 game against No. 30 Kentucky, Jacquot was ranked second on the team with a .347 average.
· However, over a four-game stretch, from March 30 to April 3, Jacquot went 0-for-14 at the plate.
· The senior busted out of his slump on Wednesday, April 7, against Morehead State finishing 2-for-3, with a home run and two RBI.
· Jacquot has not only impressed offensively, but he has been an asset behind the plate.
· Entering the week, runners had attempted to steal 30 times on Jacquot and he had thrown out 15 runners. The 15 runners caught stealing by Jacquot was tied for the BIG EAST lead entering the week.
· After the Morehead State game, Jacquot has thrown out 15 of 32 runners (46.9 percent) attempting to steal.
EXPERIENCE IN THE PEN
· Senior Brian Garman, junior Brian Sand, and senior Andrew Burkett have been spectacular out of the bullpen for Cincinnati this season.
· Garman has posted a 1.48 ERA in eight appearances out of the bullpen and one start, and has struck out 33 batters, while walking eight in 24.1 innings.
· Sand owns an ERA of 2.86 and has struck out 20 and given up six walks in 28.1 innings of work.
· Garman got the start against Villanova on March 28, and in the first four innings had at least one runner on second base with less than two outs. In each situation, Garman got out of the inning without giving up a run.
· In relief, Sand shut down Ohio State on Feb. 28 and did not surrender a hit in 5.0 innings of work to pick up his first win of the season.
· Sand has pitched at least two innings in seven of his nine relief appearances and on the season has struck out 20, while giving up six walks, three of which were intentional walks.
· Burkett has posted five saves for Cincinnati this season and has struck out 15 in 9.2 innings en route to a 3.72 ERA.
· Burkett is tied for 10th on UC's single-season saves list with five saves.
NEW YEAR, NEW RESULTS
· The Cincinnati pitching staff has 10 returners from last year's staff, giving the Bearcats an experienced group of hurlers.
· Last season, the UC pitching staff struggled with an ERA of 6.56, which ranked last in the BIG EAST.
· In the first 22 games of the 2009 season, the Cincinnati's ERA was at 6.46.
· Through 26 games this season, the Bearcats pitching staff has been much improved as Cincinnati has an ERA of 4.08.
· Two of UC's starters, senior Tyler Smith and junior Dan Jensen have ERA's of 3.55 and 4.05, respectively.
· Senior Brian Garman and junior Brian Sand have both pitched 20-plus innings in relief this season and own ERA's of 1.48 and 2.86, respectively.
FEB. 26-28 BIG TEN/BIG EAST BASEBALL CHALLENGE
· In the inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge in 2009, Cincinnati went 0-3, which included an 11-10 loss to Purdue and a 6-5 loss to Ohio State.
· The Bearcats responded in the 2010 edition of the Big Ten/BIG EAST Baseball Challenge with a 2-1 record.
· Cincinnati lost a heartbreaker in its first game of the challenge to Penn State when the Nittany Lions rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie the game, before winning in the 12th inning.
· In game two, UC trailed 6-0 to Purdue heading into the ninth inning, before the Bearcats rallied for seven runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Boilermakers, 7-6.
· In the finale of the event, Cincinnati jumped in front early and never looked back as it defeated No. 13 Ohio State, 12-4.
· The win over the Buckeyes was the highest-ranked opponent the Bearcats have beaten since beating No. 11 Tulane, 12-4, on April 4, 2004.
SAND, JONES NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
· For the second year in a row, Cincinnati had two players named to the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament team.
· In 2009, senior Jamel Scott and junior Justin Riddell were the two Bearcats selected to the all-tournament team.
· This season, UC junior Brian Sand and T.J. Jones were named to the all-tournament team with Sand earning first-team honors and Jones getting the second-team nod.
· In relief, Sand shut down Ohio State and did not surrender a hit in 5.0 innings of work.
· He inherited runners on first and second with no outs in the fifth inning after Ohio State scored two quick runs in the inning to make the score 8-4. Sand was helped out by junior Mikel Huston, who made a leaping catch at the wall to save a three-run home run, before inducing a 4-6-3 double play to end the scoring threat in the fifth.
· From that point on, Sand was untouchable and he picked up his first win of the season. The Cincinnati native forced the Buckeyes into three double plays.
· Jones led the Bearcats offensively for the weekend hitting .462 (6-of-13), with five RBI.
· Jones started the weekend off with a three-hit performance against Penn State, before going 1-for-4 with two RBI in a comeback win over Purdue.
· In the weekend finale against Ohio State, Jones went 2-for-3, scored two runs, and drove in three in the win over the Buckeyes, while defensively he helped turn four of UC's five double plays.
· The five double plays tied a single-game school record.
INJURY UPDATE
· Cincinnati has been without the services of two of its freshmen for most of the season.
· Freshman pitcher Chris McElroy will be out for the remainder of the 2010 season with an elbow injury.
· Fellow freshman Jake Proctor was hit by a pitch on the hand on Saturday, Feb. 27, and missed nine games with a broken hand. Proctor made his return to the lineup on March 19 against Toledo.