TicketsApril 12, 2010
Cincinnati returns to the diamond on Tuesday, April 13, when it travels to Oxford, Ohio, to play in the first game of the 2010 Joe Nuxhall Classic. UC takes on Wright State in the opener of the four-game tournament, which will be played at 3 p.m. at McKie Field at Hayden Park on the campus of Miami University. The Bearcats hosted the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic last season at Marge Schott Stadium and Xavier went on to win the tournament that honors the Ol' Lefthander. Tournament host Miami (OH) will play Xavier in the Day 1 nightcap at 6:30 p.m., and the winners from Day 1 will meet in the championship and the losers from Day 1 will play in the consolation game on Wednesday, April 14.
JOE NUXHALL CLASSIC
· On Tuesday, April 13, Cincinnati will take on Wright State in the opening game of the 2010 Joe Nuxhall Classic.
· The Bearcats hosted the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic last season at Marge Schott Stadium and Xavier took home the title.
· Xavier's Zach Richard was named the 2009 Joe Nuxhall Classic Tournament MVP after going 3-for-7 at the plate, with three runs scored and four RBI, including the game-winning RBI in the championship game.
· Wright State's Quentin Cate had a great tournament for the Raiders and led the tournament in batting average (.750), slugging percentage (1.250), hits (6), RBI (5), and tied for the tournament lead in home runs (1).
· Xavier has a 2-0 record in the tournament, Wright State and Miami (OH) are both 1-1, and UC is 0-2.
CLEARY HITS 350
· In his 14th season at Cincinnati, head coach Brian Cleary became just the second coach in program history to reach 350 wins for his career when UC defeated Seton Hall on Friday, April 9.
· Cleary's joins 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.
ERRORS TAKE TOLL
· Last weekend in a three-game series at Seton Hall, Cincinnati, who came into the week with a .967 fielding percentage, committed seven errors and posted a fielding percentage of .942.
· The seven errors turned into 12 unearned runs, which proved to be the difference in the series as Seton Hall took two of three games from Cincinnati.
· In conference play, UC has committed 17 errors, which amounts to 40.4 percent of its season total.
· In Cincinnati's 14 losses this season, the Bearcats have committed 26 errors, compared to just 16 errors in its 15 wins.
THE DECIDING NUMBER
· Despite its offensive struggles this season, the Bearcats have scored six-plus runs in 11 of its 29 games.
· UC is a perfect 11-0 on the season when scoring six or more runs in a game.
· Last season, Cincinnati was 24-9 when scoring more than six runs in a game.
· On the other end of the scale, the Bearcats are just 4-14 when scoring five runs or less.
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 to be true.
· The Bearcats have scored in the eighth inning in 10 of 29 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 28-17 in the eighth inning alone this season, and has combined to outscore its opponents 53-42 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 11 starts this season, Coleman is 13-for-39 (.333) and has an on-base percentage of .462.
· The Hillsboro, Ohio, native is UC's top hitter in conference play, hitting .321, with nine hits in 28 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 fourth on the team with a .294 batting average, while leading the team with five home runs and 24 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. Last week, the senior hit .313 with two home runs and seven RBI in four games.
· Jacquot has not only impressed offensively, but he has been an asset behind the plate.
· Entering the week, runners have attempted to steal 39 times on Jacquot and he had thrown out 18 runners. The 18 runners caught stealing by Jacquot was tied for the BIG EAST lead entering the week.
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 1.30 ERA in nine appearances out of the bullpen and one start, and has struck out 36 batters, while walking nine in 27.2 innings.
· Sand owns an ERA of 2.70 and has struck out 22 and given up six walks in 30.0 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 Garman's last five games, he has completed 16.0 innings, given up 12 hits, one earned run, struck out 21 and walked three.
· 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 11 relief appearances and on the season has struck out 22, while giving up six walks, three of which were intentional walks.
· Burkett has posted six saves for Cincinnati this season and has struck out 17 in 11.2 innings en route to a 3.86 ERA.
· Burkett is tied for eighth on UC's single-season saves list with six 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 29 games of the 2009 season, the Cincinnati's ERA was at 6.51.
· Through 29 games this season, the Bearcats pitching staff has been much improved as Cincinnati has an ERA of 3.82.
· Two of UC's starters, senior Tyler Smith and junior Dan Jensen have ERA's of 3.55 and 3.60, respectively.
· Senior Brian Garman and junior Brian Sand have both pitched 25-plus innings in relief this season and own ERA's of 1.30 and 2.70, respectively.
· Nine of UC's pitchers who have completed at least 10.0 innings of action this season have ERA's below 4.00.
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 a good portion 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.