TicketsJune 7, 2011
By Shawn Sell
GoBEARCATS.com
The 2011 season for the University of Cincinnati baseball team was another good, solid campaign. But after 16 years at the helm, veteran Bearcat skipper Brian Cleary has had enough of good and solid.
In 2011, the Bearcats finished the year 30-27 overall and tied for fourth place in the BIG EAST at 14-13. The overall mark was UC's sixth straight .500-plus campaign and the conference finish was the Bearcats second-highest since joining the BIG EAST in 2006. Still, when looking back on the recent season, Cleary is still hungry for more.
"We got closer to the top with a tie for fourth (in the BIG EAST) so in that respect I think we are getting closer to winning a championship," he says. "I feel like you never have as many wins as you would like. In the second half of the season, I thought we played much better and more to our potential. But we aren't shooting for 30 wins here; we could have done better. I don't think we are very far away from being that 35, 36, 37 win (team) and feeling a lot differently about it. We have some work to do, but I think we are on our way up. We still want to win more than we did."
The Bearcats entered 2011 with just three returning starters in the field, but a large chunk of the starting pitching rotation back in tact. As expected, the starting pitching carried UC through much of the season, as the trio of seniors Dan Jensen and Nick Johnson, along with sophomore Andrew Strenge anchored the weekend rotation. The three combined to collect 13 wins, while posting a 4.27 ERA. Along with part-time starters Thomas Gentile, Zach Isler and Brad Mergen, Cleary was pleased with the efforts turned in by his starting staff.
"For the most part, I think those guys were pretty consistent, but our bullpen really put some pressure on them and we probably had to use them a little bit more," he says. "We kind of had to stretch them a little bit more than we wanted to at some points and I think that probably caught up with them towards the end. Certainly, I thought our starting pitching gave us a chance to win every day, particularly on the weekends. We have to bolster our bullpen and we have to find a way to replace a couple of the starters in Dan Jensen and Nick Johnson."
As Cleary noted, his bullpen did struggle at times during the 2011 season, posting a cumulative ERA of 4.86 (compared to 4.55 for the starters). UC did enjoy solid seasons from senior Brian Sand (4-0, two saves, 2.81 ERA) and freshman Matt Ring (4-1, two saves, 3.72 ERA), but that is one area Cleary and his staff will work to address prior to the 2012 campaign.
Offensively, senior Justin Riddell, freshman Justin Glass and junior Braden Kline (.326, five home runs, 31 RBI) were the biggest contributors, earning first, second and third team All-BIG EAST honors, respectively. After being a steady presence in the UC line-up throughout his career, Riddell ended his career with a bang, finishing with career highs in batting (.346), home runs (nine) and RBI (67), with the RBI tally good for sixth on UC's single season list. For Cleary, Riddell's impact in the middle of the line-up could not be ignored.
"He really put together a good season and was recognized as a first team All-BIG EAST Conference player," Cleary says. "He wound up hitting for some power and average and was in the middle of our line-up all year. That was a bat that we certainly got production out of this year."
Glass, thrust into the starting nine and often the No. 3 hole in the line-up (51 starts) from day one was an outstanding contributor at the plate for UC. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native tied for team-high honors with 22 multi-hit games and batted at a .326 clip, with 45 RBI, both second on the squad.
"I think for being a freshman and hitting in the third spot, he did a very good job," Cleary states. "I think the best thing he did was get a bunch of at-bats under his belt. I really think he has a chance, if he keeps working, to be a really good player over the next several years."
During the course of the 2011 season, the Bearcat program was also highlighted nationally as ex-Cats Tony Campana and Josh Harrison joined UC Hall of Famer Kevin Youkilis on Major League Baseball rosters. While the promotions didn't directly affect Cleary's 2011 squad, he knows the call ups have a chance to help the program in the long run.
"I hope that has a good impact," he says of the call-ups. "I think it speaks to the fact that we are doing a good job of identifying players and developing them once they get here. We are taking a situation here and making it as good as we possibly can for guys who want to come in the door and work hard and develop. And for those guys that can do that, it's more evidence that if you come in and work and listen and buy into what we are doing, you can not only succeed here, but you can succeed in pro baseball as well. I think those guys speak to that."
With the 2011 season now in the rearview, Cleary and company will say goodbye to the senior class of Dan Glozer, Jensen, Johnson, Chris Peters, Nick Rohlfs, Riddell and Sand and begin preparations for next year. Despite not being fully satisfied with 2011's final win total, Cleary was pleased with much of what he saw this spring.
"I thought our guys did a really good job of battling every day in the league and finding a way down the stretch in a must-win against Connecticut to win," he reflects. "I wish we had swung the bat a little bit better in Clearwater (at the BIG EAST Tournament) and if we had, I think we could have played a little deeper in the tournament. I thought our guys did a good job of playing hard all year and that's what I will take from it."