TicketsNov. 8, 2012
2012 RED & BLACK WORLD SERIES
FRIDAY, NOV. 9 | 6 p.m. | 7 innings | | Watch Live
Red Sr. RHP Andrew Strenge
Black R-Jr. RHP Christian McElroy
SATURDAY, NOV. 10 | Noon | 7 innings | | Watch Live
Red So. RHP Matthew Lathuras
Black R-Fr. RHP Connor Walsh
SUNDAY, NOV. 11 | 1 p.m. | Length of Game TBD | | Watch Live
Red Sr. LHP Thomas Gentile
Black Fr. RHP Mitch Patishall
CINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team will conclude its fall practice season with the annual Red & Black World Series, a three-game intrasquad series, Friday through Sunday at Marge Schott Stadium.
With plenty of talented new faces on this season's roster, as Baseball America pointed out, and a group of heralded veterans, the Red & Black World Series offers fans a final chance to preview the 2012-13 UC baseball team before the season begins in February.
Game 1 of the series is set for a 6 p.m. Friday first pitch. Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Christian McElroy (Middletown, Ohio/Monroe/Sinclair CC) will start for the Black team and face senior righty Andrew Strenge (Yardley, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) of the Red team.
McElroy, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in June, opted to return to UC and is expected to anchor the Bearcats starting rotation after last season when he finished sixth in the BIG EAST Conference in fewest hits allowed (59) and 12th in opponent batting average (.252).
Strenge, a 2010 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, started 2011 as the Bearcats' No. 1 starting pitcher, but suffered through shoulder fatigue after the first month of the season. Prior to his injury, Strenge was tied for fifth in the BIG EAST in strikeouts and earned runs allowed, sixth in opponent batting average, seventh in ERA and hits allowed, and ninth in total runs allowed. After missing three starts, he returned and made nine appearances with four starts the rest of the year.
The second game of the series will begin at noon on Saturday and feature redshirt freshman righty Connor Walsh (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) pitching for the Black team and sophomore RHP Matthew Lathuras (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Notre Dame) climbing the hill for the Red team.
Walsh was a medical redshirt last year while Lathuras pitched eight games in relief, posting a 5.40 ERA with three walks and seven strikeouts in 10 innings.
The series finale will begin 1 p.m. Sunday with senior left-hander Thomas Gentile (Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) set to take the mound for the Black team and freshman Mitch Patishall (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) throwing for the Red team.
Gentile was a stalwart out of the bullpen for UC head coach Brian Cleary last season, when the southpaw pitched in a team-high 23 ballgames with one start and led Bearcats in strikeouts (60) and opponent batting average (.245), while finishing second on the team in ERA (3.22) and innings pitched (67). Gentile finished 11th in the BIG EAST in ERA and opponent batting average (.245), third in fewest hits allowed (57), tied for eighth in fewest earned runs allowed (24) while his 25 batters struck out looking and 31 fewest runs allowed were good for sixth.
Patishall, who elected to enroll at UC after being drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 36th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, earned 2012 Pitcher of the Year honors from The Herald Bulletin (Ind.) and earned all-America honorable mentions from Rawlings and Perfect Game.
Offensively, junior outfielder Justin Glass (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) returns after a breakout 2011 season when he earned first-team All-BIG EAST honors and was one of just six BIG EAST players to finish among the conference leaders in batting average (.366 - 4th) and steals (15 - t-11th). His 83 hits and 21 doubles were tied for second in the league and ranked 15th and 23rd, respectively, in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
Game 1 and 2 are scheduled for seven innings, while Game 3's length of play is to be determined.
BLACK TEAM
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. B/T Cl. Hometown/High School/Last College
2 Colin Hawk INF 5-10 176 R/R FR Beech Grove, Ind./Roncalli
3 Taylor Schmidt OF 5-10 180 L/R RS FR Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills
5 Ian Happ INF 5-11 185 S/R FR Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon
7 Forrest Perron INF 5-9 160 R/R FR Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville
8 Devin Wenzel INF 6-1 179 R/R FR Blandon, Pa./Fleetwood Area
10 Woody Wallace C 5-9 182 R/R FR Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy
14 Connor Walsh RHP 6-2 176 R/R RS FR Wayne, Pa./Radnor
15 Evan Hills RHP 6-2 173 R/R SO Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota East
16 Justin Glass OF 6-2 202 L/R JR Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll
22 Matt Williams INF 5-10 180 R/R JR Mason, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian
23 Jeff Murray 1B 6-2 199 L/R FR Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg
25 Thomas Gentile LHP 5-11 192 L/L SR Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales
29 Aaron Oesch C 6-0 201 R/R RS SO Portsmouth, Ohio/Minford
38 Alex Lilley LHP 5-10 199 L/L RS SO Kettering, Ohio /Fairmont
43 Mark Downs LHP 6-2 142 L/L FR Union, Ky./Ryle
44 Austin Pritchard RHP 6-3 210 R/R FR Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville
46 Grant Walker RHP 6-3 179 R/R SO Brookville, Ohio/Northmont
49 Chris. McElroy RHP 6-4 194 R/R RS JR Middletown, Ohio/Monroe/Sinclair CC
RED TEAM
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. B/T Cl. Hometown/High School/Last College
4 Ethan McAlpine OF 5-8 148 R/R RS SO Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller
9 Brennan Laird OF 6-2 182 R/R FR Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls
17 Kyle Seeger 1B 6-0 180 L/L FR Cincinnati, Ohio/Reading
18 Brendon Neel OF 6-1 189 R/R JR Festus, Mo./Festus/Jefferson College
19 Mike Conrad LHP 6-1 224 L/L FR West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East
21 Matt Ring RHP 5-11 183 R/R RS SO Muncie, Ind./Yorktown
24 Mitch Patishall RHP 5-11 194 R/R FR Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights
26 And. Strenge RHP 6-1 194 R/R SR Yardley, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep
27 B. Chenoweth RHP 6-1 171 R/R RS FR Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon
28 Anthony Hunt C 6-0 204 R/R FR Amelia, Ohio/Amelia
30 Ryan Quinn INF 5-8 178 R/R JR Sparta, N.J./Sparta
31 J.P. Jackson UTIL 5-8 168 R/R SR Bowling Green, Ky./Bowling Green/Western Kentucky
32 Colton Cleary LHP 5-10 165 L/L FR Nicholasville, Ky./Lexington Catholic
33 Art Warren RHP 6-3 199 R/R SO Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon
34 Ryan Atkinson RHP 6-3 204 R/R SO Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain
35 Russell Clark C 5-11 214 R/R FR Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland
39 Matt. Lathuras RHP 6-1 193 R/R SO Sherman Oaks, Calif./Notre Dame
41 Joe Shaffer INF 6-2 168 R/R FR Okeana, Ohio/Ross
45 Connor Weir C/OF 6-0 181 R/R JR Amherst, Ohio/Steele/Danville Area CC