TicketsApril 29, 2010
Coming off an 8-5 win at home over Xavier University of Wednesday, April 28, the University of Cincinnati baseball team looks to carry that momentum into a three-game BIG EAST Conference series against West Virginia University that begins on Friday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m. at Marge Schott Stadium. West Virginia holds a slight edge against UC all-time with a 14-12 lead over the Bearcats, but the past two seasons the home team has pulled off the three-game sweep over the visitor. Game 2 of the three game-set will be played on Saturday, May 1, at 4 p.m., before the series concludes on Sunday, May 2, at 1 p.m.
YOUTH WEEKEND AT MARGE SCHOTT STADIUM
· The series between Cincinnati and West Virginia will be Youth Baseball Weekend at Marge Schott Stadium.
· On Friday night, selected members from Cincinnati’s football, volleyball, and men’s and women’s soccer teams will be on hand to sign autographs.
· On Saturday, $1 hot dogs will be available at the concession stands.
· Finally on Sunday, children under the age of 13 can run the base paths and get autographs from the baseball players following the completion of the game.
ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA
· The Mountaineers enter the weekend with an 18-23 overall record and a 3-12 BIG EAST mark.
· West Virginia came into the week hitting at a .302 clip and it is led by Dom Hayes, who owns a .408 batting average.
· BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, Jedd Gyorko, has not disappointed and leads the Mountaineers in home runs (14) and RBI (47).
· Gyorko’s 14 home runs ranks second in the BIG EAST and his 47 RBI puts him in the Top 5 in the conference in that category.
· As a pitching staff, WVU has a team ERA of 7.19, which ranks last in the BIG EAST.
· Jarryd Summers is the top pitcher for West Virginia with a 4.66 ERA in 10 starts. Summers leads the team with 47 strikeouts, but has walked a team-high 34 batters.
THE MATCH-UP
· West Virginia’s .302 batting average entering the week ranked sixth in the BIG EAST Conference, and they will be facing off against a UC pitching staff that owned an ERA of 3.70 entering the week, ranking second in the conference.
· WVU’s pitching staff entered the week ranked last in the conference in ERA (7.22), and they match up with a UC offense that ranks last in the league in hitting with a .241 average.
· West Virginia gives up over 5.0 bb/g , while the Bearcats average 3.5 bb/g.
· The Mountaineers are also fourth in the conference in strikeouts (279), while UC leads the conference offensively in strikeouts with 306.
· UC ranks eighth in the conference in stolen bases (47), while West Virginia has allowed the most stolen bases in the league (66).
THE DECIDING NUMBER
· Despite its offensive struggles this season, the Bearcats have scored five or more runs in 16 of its 40 games.
· UC is a perfect 16-0 on the season when scoring five or more runs in a game.
· Last season, Cincinnati was 26-11 when scoring more than five runs in a game.
· On the other end of the scale, the Bearcats are just 4-20 when scoring less than five runs.
RIDDELL POSTS BIG WEEKEND
· Junior Justin Riddell put together a big weekend against Notre Dame April 23-25 to help the Bearcats take a game from the Irish.
· The Lexington, Ky., native went 8-for-12 (.750) against Notre Dame for the weekend, drove in two runs, and stole a base.
· Prior to the series, Riddell was hitting .067 (1-for-15) in conference play and last weekend upped his conference average to .333 (9-for-27).
IN THE MIDDLE
· On the season, Cincinnati has a slow starting team offensively as it has only scored in the first inning in nine of 40 games.
· In innings 1-3, UC has been outscored 76-47 by its opponents.
· However, in the middle innings (innings 4-6), the Bearcats have responded by outscoring its opponents 80-63. The 80 runs during that stretch accounts for 41 percent of UC’s run total this season.
· Typically, Cincinnati has done the most damage in the sixth and the eighth innings this season, outscoring its opponents by a combined 18 runs during those two frames.
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 20 starts this season, Coleman is 21-for-70 (.300) and has an on-base percentage of .402, both of which are tops on the team.
· The Hillsboro, Ohio, native is UC’s third-leading hitter in conference play, hitting .304, with 14 hits in 46 at-bats.
EXTRA-INNINGS
· Last season, Cincinnati was 4-0 in extra-inning contests.
· The Bearcats have struggled in 2010 in extra-inning games as UC is 0-3 in extra innings.
· The Bearcats lost to Penn State, 5-4, in 12 innings at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Baseball Challenge on Feb. 26, after UC led 4-3 entering the ninth inning.
· UC also dropped an extra-inning contest to Seton Hall, 4-3, on April 11, in addition to losing to Ohio University, 2-1, on April 20.
· The Bearcats have been outscored 4-1 in extra-innings this season.
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 fifth on the team with a .273 batting average, while leading the team with seven home runs and 32 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. Two weeks ago, 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 52 times on Jacquot and he has thrown out 19 runners. The 19 runners caught stealing by Jacquot ranks second in 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 1.63 ERA in 12 appearances out of the bullpen and two starts, and has struck out 44 batters, while walking 11 in 34.2 innings.
· Sand owns an ERA of 2.29 and has struck out 26 and given up seven walks in 39.1 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 eight of his 16 relief appearances and on the season has struck out 26, while giving up seven walks, three of which were intentional walks.
· Burkett has posted 10 saves for Cincinnati this season and has struck out 19 in 15.2 innings en route to a 4.02 ERA.
· Burkett is second on UC’s single-season saves list with 10 saves and was tied for eighth nationally entering the week.
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.
· Through 40 games this season, the Bearcats pitching staff has been much improved as Cincinnati has an ERA of 3.78.
· Two of UC’s starters, senior Tyler Smith and junior Dan Jensen have ERA’s of 3.47 and 3.60, respectively.
· Senior Brian Garman and junior Brian Sand have both pitched 35-plus innings in relief this season and own ERA’s of 1.63 and 2.29, respectively.
· Five of UC’s pitchers who have completed at least 30.0 innings of action this season have ERA’s below 4.00.
· Entering the week, UC ranked 15th nationally in earned run average (3.70).
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.
· After a win against Xavier on April 28, Cleary has accumulated 355 career wins 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.
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 one of its freshmen for most of the season.
· Freshman pitcher Chris McElroy is out for the remainder of the 2010 season with an elbow injury.