TicketsFeb. 17, 2011
By Shawn Sell
GoBEARCATS.com
A large cast of fresh faces will help usher in the 2011 college baseball season for UC as the Bearcats open the new campaign this weekend. The group of 16 newcomers will join a contingent of 16 returning letterwinners for the Bearcats who will try to improve on last season's 29-29 campaign. The kickoff to the year will come in Florida as UC takes part in the Big Ten/BIG EAST Baseball Challenge for the third consecutive year.
For the Bearcats to advance to the BIG EAST Championship for the fourth straight season, 15th year head coach Brian Cleary will rely on an experienced pitching staff and an almost entirely new set of position players. That combination will look to improve upon the seventh place BIG EAST finish predicted by the conference's coaches in preseason polling.
"As I look at last year, we were right in the middle of the pack and I felt like we weren't very far away from being better," Cleary says. "With that said, I think this year's team is a better team. I don't know that, we will have to play to find out. I think if we can get ourselves into the top third of the league, we are in contention and whoever plays hot at the time will win it. We want to be in position to compete for a BIG EAST Championship now. We have some work to do and we have to get off to a good start early."
To get into the position to challenge for a league title and a coveted NCAA Regional berth, the Bearcats will need to continue to get strong efforts from its pitching staff. UC hurlers wound up 2010 ranked third in the BIG EAST in team ERA (4.25) and many of the top performers are back. Headlining the group and anchoring the top of the rotation will be senior Dan Jensen and sophomore Andrew Strenge. Jensen got off to a great start last year, before missing nearly a month with injury, and finished with a 4-2 record. According to Cleary, the 6'8" senior has looked great leading up to the year. Strenge came out nowhere last year, earning Freshman All-American honors by season's end (7-1, 1.93 ERA) and setting a BIG EAST record for ERA in league contests (0.62). He and Jensen will make a solid 1-2 punch in the rotation.
The third spot in the weekend rotation could go in a number of different directions, with Cleary and his staff using the pre-conference schedule to sort out that spot, along with other pitching roles. Among the options for the No.3 rotation slot will be two returnees in senior Nick Johnson and sophomore Thomas Gentile, along with newcomers Brad Mergen and Matt Ring. Johnson showed flashes of his potential last year, including a dazzling 11-strikeout, eight inning start against West Virginia, but will need to find more consistency. Gentile earned four starts last season and should continue to improve with more innings of work. Mergen, a junior college lefty, along with Ring, a freshman, should also contribute lots of innings and will be in contention for weekend starts.
The bullpen, while not short on talented arms, will have to replace a couple of key contributors in Andrew Burkett and Brian Garman. Burkett saved 14 games for the Bearcats last year, while Garman contributed a 3.79 ERA and a team-high 65 strikeouts, mostly out of the pen. A couple of returnees sure to be in the mix out as relievers will be junior Cory Hough and sophomore Zach Isler. According to Cleary, Isler could be the big surprise among the hurlers this year.
"I really feel like Isler is the guy to watch," he says. "His velocity is really good and his secondary pitches have gotten better. I think he is a much improved pitcher so far and he will definitely be counted on."
In addition to Hough, Isler and whoever else isn't starting, Cleary will also turn to seniors Brian Sand (3-3, 3.86 ERA) and Dan Glozer, junior Sam Slavik and redshirt freshman Jason Pascuzzi to eat up innings.
While the pitching staff packs plenty of experience, the batting line-up will look much different, with just three regular starters back this year. To be competitive in the BIG EAST, the Bearcats will have to improve at the plate, where they finished last in the league in hitting last year and next-to-last in runs scored. The MLB Draft took catcher Jimmy Jacquot and first baseman Kevin Johnson on to the professional ranks, but Cleary is confident in the new faces that will replace the pair and others.
"Going into last year, I thought that defense was going to be a strength for us," he says. "But as the season progressed, we didn't play defense as well as we needed to or as well as I thought we would. We really looked at needing to improve that and I think we did that at almost every position."
Steadiness up the middle often proves to be the measure of a successful team and it will be the job of senior shortstop Chris Peters to help anchor that. A starter at short for all 58 games of each of the last two seasons and 46 as a freshman, Peters (.294 average, 27 RBI, 15 SB) has also improved offensively each year. This year, Peters will find himself with a new double play mate in junior college transfer Sam Vandenheuvel. The corners of the infield will also be manned by newcomers to start the year, with junior college transfer Nic Spence, a native of Australia, opening the year at first and freshman Matt Williams likely to get the opening day nod at third.
While catcher does present perhaps the biggest hole of the position players to fill, Cleary is excited about the trio of backstops that will battle for time. Headlining the group is junior Jake Saylor, a high school teammate of Vandenheuvel's back in Arizona. Already, Cleary sees Saylor as the next in a long line of outstanding catchers at UC and is reminded of one in particular when watching him on the diamond.
"I think Jake will remind people of Ryan Baker," Cleary stats. "He is a similar type player. He is a good catcher, a good thrower, a good blocker and he plays with energy. We have had a pretty good history of catchers here lately going back a ways. Hopefully, he can add to that."
Along with Saylor, Cleary also has the luxury of welcoming back senior Nick Rohlfs and junior Braden Kline at the position. Rohlfs was hampered by injuries last year, but enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign in 2009. Kline came on strong late last year and finished the season with a .313 average.
In addition to the depth at catcher, Cleary also has options when it comes to the outfield. With the three outfield spots and the DH duties, the Bearcats will have to do some juggling to get five potent bats in the line-up.
"We've got a little bit of an issue that we have to address," Cleary says. "We think (freshman) Justin Glass is going to be a very impactful middle of the line-up hitter, but he has some shoulder problems going on right now that will prevent him from getting out there in the field early on, so he will DH."
With Glass not in the equation early, senior Justin Riddell, juniors T.J. Jones and Jamell Cervantez and sophomore Jake Proctor will battle for outfield starts and at-bats. Riddell has played lots for the Bearcats and led the team with a .313 average last season. Jones, a converted second baseman, also has a strong bat and will likely get the nod in left. Centerfield should be manned by the speedy Cervantez, with Proctor also in the mix for any of the spots.
As the 2011 season gets underway, Cleary's expectations are simple, play hard and with energy and let the results take care of themselves.
"We made a concerted effort as a coaching staff to bring in some guys that we felt like were good players and that would play hard and with some energy," he says. "We've had a pretty good tradition here of fielding teams of guys that like to play and will play hard. Every team is a little bit different and it's hard to know the personality of the team until you get into the season. This year had a much different feel to it during fall practice. I like the personalities we have."