TicketsApril 15, 2010
Coming off a 3-2 win in the championship game of the 2010 Joe Nuxhall Classic over Miami University, the University of Cincinnati baseball team looks to carry the momentum gained from its two mid-week wins into a three-game BIG EAST Conference series against St. John's University, beginning on Friday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Marge Schott Stadium. The Bearcats and Red Storm play the second game of their three-game set on Saturday, April 17, at 4 p.m., before closing out the series on Sunday, April 18, at 1 p.m. Live audio and Gametracker for all three games can be accessed through www.GoBEARCATS.com.
ABOUT ST. JOHN'S
· The Red Storm comes into the weekend with a 19-11 overall record and a 5-4 BIG EAST mark.
· St. John's owns a team batting average of .327 in all games, which ranks second in the BIG EAST, and is hitting .307 in conference games to rank third in conference-only games.
· Sophomore Joe Panik leads the squad hitting .400 on the season, and he is one of four players hitting over .380 on the season.
· Freshman Jeremy Baltz is leading the team with eight home runs and has driven in a team-best 35 runs.
· The St. John's pitching staff owns a team ERA of 5.47 and has walked 178 batters, while striking out 205.
· Bruce Kern leads the team with five wins in eight starts and has struck out a team-leading 44 batters.
THE MATCH-UP
· One of the key match-ups during the series will be the UC pitching staff against the St. John's offense.
· The Bearcats are third in conference-only games with a 2.72 ERA, while the Red Storm is third in BIG EAST-only contests in batting average, hitting at a .307 clip.
· One of the other keys to the series will be walks. STJ is third in the league in drawing walks (134), while UC is fourth in the league in walks allowed (98). On the other hand, St. John's ranks in the lower half of the league giving up 178 walks, while UC has walked just 98 times this season, ranking 11th in the conference.
· The Red Storm are efficient stealing bases, swiping 38 bags in 48 attempts, but UC senior catcher Jimmy Jacquot leads the league in throwing out runners attempting to steal (19).
JOE NUXHALL CLASSIC
· In the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic in 2009, the Bearcats fell to Wright State and Miami (OH) in its two games in the tournament that honors the Ol' Lefthander.
· UC opened with Wright State in the 2010 Joe Nuxhall Classic at McKie Field at Hayden Park on the campus of Miami University and trailed 5-4 entering the ninth inning.
· In the ninth, senior Jimmy Jacquot belted a one out, solo home run to left field to tie the game up, before senior Kevin Johnson followed Jacquot with a single. Senior Brian Garman pinch ran for Johnson, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher, and then scored on a wild pitch to give UC the 6-5 come-from-behind win.
· In the championship game against Miami (OH), UC led from the get-go and senior Andrew Burkett nailed down his seventh save of the season to preserve the 3-2 win.
· UC captured its first Joe Nuxhall Classic title and improved to 2-2 all-time in the tournament.
· Junior Chris Peters was named tournament Most Valuable Player after going 4-for-9 (.444), with two RBI, and three stolen bases in the two-day event.
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.
· With the two wins this week at the Joe Nuxhall Classic, Cleary now has a career record of 352-417-1 at UC.
· 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 19 errors in its 17 wins.
· In UC's last five games, 10 errors have resulted in 15 unearned runs.
THE DECIDING NUMBER
· Despite its offensive struggles this season, the Bearcats have scored six or more runs in 12 of its 31 games.
· UC is a perfect 12-0 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 5-14 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 31 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 55-43 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 six home runs and 25 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.
· The Swansea, Ill., came through in a big way against Wright State on April 13 against Wright State, when he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at five. UC came back later in the winning and won the game, 6-5.
· Jacquot has not only impressed offensively, but he has been an asset behind the plate.
· Entering the weekend, runners have attempted to steal 40 times on Jacquot and he has thrown out 19 runners. The 19 runners caught stealing by Jacquot leads the BIG EAST.
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 1.26 ERA in 10 appearances out of the bullpen and one start, and has struck out 37 batters, while walking nine in 28.2 innings.
· Sand owns an ERA of 2.61 and has struck out 23 and given up six walks in 31.0 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 six games, he has completed 17.0 innings, given up 12 hits, one earned run, struck out 22 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 12 relief appearances and on the season has struck out 23, while giving up six walks, three of which were intentional walks.
· Burkett has posted seven saves for Cincinnati this season and has struck out 17 in 12.2 innings en route to a 3.55 ERA.
· Burkett is tied for sixth on UC's single-season saves list with seven 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 31 games of the 2009 season, the Cincinnati's ERA was at 6.42.
· Through 31 games this season, the Bearcats pitching staff has been much improved as Cincinnati has an ERA of 3.70.
· 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 1.26 and 2.61, respectively.
· Eight of UC's pitchers who have completed at least 10.0 innings of action this season have ERA's below 4.00.
· Entering the week, UC ranked 25th nationally in earned run average (3.82).
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.
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.