Cincinnati Notes | Championship Central | Bracket
CLEARWATER, Florida - The University of Cincinnati baseball team earned the No. 6 seed in the American Athletic Conference Championship and will open play against No. 3 seed UConn on Tuesday, May 23, at noon ET at Spectrum Field.
The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday afternoon but was moved with the potential for inclement weather later in the week.
David Orndorff (5-4, 3.19 ERA) will start the championship opener for UC. The junior has done a little bit of everything this year, making 20 appearances with seven starts and seven saves.
Watch Live (American Digital Network): UC vs. UConn
Listen Live (Bearcats TV $): UC vs. UConn
Live Stats: UC vs. UConn
// CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
· The tournament is an eight-team double elimination modified College World Series format with one team advancing out of each group to play in a single-elimination championship game on Sunday, May 28.
· The Bearcats are in the second group with No. 2 Houston, No. 3 UConn and No. 7 Memphis.
· All games will be played at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Florida.
// CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
2017 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
SPECTRUM FIELD · CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
Tuesday, May 23 (Games 1-2 on The American Digital Network; Games 3-4 on CBS Sports Network)
Game 1 - No. 7 Memphis (29-27) vs. No. 2 Houston (36-19) - 9 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 6 Cincinnati (28-28) vs. No. 3 UConn (31-23) - Noon
Game 3 - No. 5 Tulane (27-29) vs. No. 4 USF (40-15) - 3:30 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 8 East Carolina (29-27) vs. No. 1 UCF (38-18) - 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 24 (The American Digital Network)
Game 5 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 - 9 a.m.
Game 6 - Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 - Noon
Thursday, May 25 (The American Digital Network)
Game 7 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 - 3 p.m.
Game 8 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 7 p.m.
Friday, May 26 (The American Digital Network)
Game 9 - Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 5 - 11 a.m.
Game 10 - Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 27 (The American Digital Network)
Game 11 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 - 10 a.m.
Game 12 - Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 - 1 p.m.
Game 13 - Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 (if necessary) - 4:30 p.m.
Game 14 - Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (if necessary) - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 28 (ESPNews)
Game 15 - Semifinal winners - Noon
All times Eastern
// SERIES BUSINESS
· UConn leads the all-time series 20-12 dating back to 2006. The Huskies took two of three from the Bearcats at J.O. Christian Field in late April, but all three games were decided by two runs or less.
// PAIR OF BEARCATS TABBED FOR ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS
· R.J. Thompson and Ryan Noda both earned Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference accolades Monday.
· The duo are the sixth and seventh All-American Athletic Conference picks in program history, joining Andrew Zellner, a first team pick a season ago, and current MLB rookie Ian Happ, a two-time first team honoree in 2014 and 2015.
· Thompson leads the team and ranks third in the league with a .349 batting average while also ranking seventh in on-base percentage (.423), fourth in hits (75) and fourth in doubles (17). The senior enters the tournament on the hottest streak of his career, batting .567 with 17 hits, seven RBIs and eight runs scored in the final eight games of the regular season. The outfielder was named to The American Weekly Honor Roll in each of the final three weeks of the regular season.
· Noda earned his spot on the All-Conference Second Team as a utility player for his time in both the outfield and at first base this season. The junior leads the team with 43 runs scored and nine homeruns and has also tallied 41 hits, 30 RBIs and 12 doubles. He leads the league with 12 hit by pitches and is fourth with 32 walks. On May 10, 2017, he became just the second UC player to ever hit a homerun on top of Fifth Third Arena when his 2-run blast landed on the roof of the historic UC facility.
// STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS
· R.J. Thompson has hit safely in eight-straight games. He led off with a hit in all three games of the regular-season ending series at Houston, recording a single in the opener on Thursday and ending up on third base after a double and a fielding error on both Saturday and Sunday. Since April 19, Thompson has recorded multiple hits in 12 games.
· Connor McVey has reached base safely in 22 consecutive games.
Baseball Faces UConn In Opening Game Of American Championship
