TicketsCLEARWATER, Fla. - The University of Cincinnati baseball team is the 2019 American Athletic Conference Tournament champion after a 22-5 thumping of UConn on Sunday afternoon.
The Bearcats, who entered the tournament 0-10 in the AAC postseason and 0-17 in conference postseasons dating back to 2008, went 4-0 this week to earn an automatic win into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed. They were selected to finish eighth out of nine teams by the conference coaches in the preseason poll.
The 16 regional sites will be announced later Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. on NCAA.com and the NCAA's social media platforms, and will also be on the ESPN Bottomline. The 2019 Selection Show will air on ESPNU Monday, May 27 at noon.
The Bearcats will play host to a fan watch party for the selection show from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET in the Champions Club of Fifth Third Arena. The show can be viewed on the Wyler Vision board inside the arena. Fans should enter the arena though the west concourse doors near the Richard E. Lindner Center.
UC's bats broke open this week, breaking numerous AAC Tournament records. 51 runs, 47 RBI and 60 hits is the record for any team throughout the tournament week. Seven homeruns overall and four homeruns in a single game are also tournament records. The Bearcats posted the largest margin of victory in a tournament game, tied the high for hits in an AAC tournament game and saw eleven different players get a hit through the four games played.
The trip to the NCAA Tournament is the first for the program since 1974. The conference title is the first since the 1967 season. 2019 will be UC's sixth trip to the NCAA postseason.
A.J. Bumpass was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player while Mitch Holding, Joey Bellini, Jace Mercer, Jeremy Johnson and Wyatt Stapp made the All-Tournament Team.
// NOTABLES
• The win puts UC above .500 with a 30-29 season record
• Every bat had a big day at the plate
• Mercer was a perfect 5-for-5 with a grand slam homerun, double, four RBI and three runs scored
• Stapp also had three RBI and finished 3-for-6 with three runs scored
• Eric Santiago had three hits with a RBI and run scored
• Bellini was 2-for-5 with a homerun, two walks, three runs scored
• Joey Wiemer had two hits in two at-bats with a double and a walk
• Holding led the team with four RBI as he had two hits, including a homerun
• Bumpass went 2-for-5 with a homerun and two runs scored
• Cole Murphy had a double and drove in two runs
• Johnson went 2-for-4 with two runs, a walk and a RBI
• David Orndorff went 3.0 innings in the start
• Garrett Schoenle earned the win after 4.0 innings of work, allowing just one run
• Nathan Moore finished the game on the mound, throwing the final 2.0 frames with one run, two hits and one strikeout
// KEY INNINGS
Top of the 2nd
• UC was the first team to score, bringing one across when Wiemer doubled, moved to third on a Mercer single and then slid home on the throw
Bottom of the 2nd
• A walk and double allowed UConn to tie the game in the same frame
Top of the 3rd
• The Bearcats posted their first big inning in the third. Johnson and Santiago started it with a single before Stapp sent Johnson home on a base hit of his own. Another single by Wiemer made it a 3-1 game. Holding had the big swing of the inning, going deep to left field for a three-run jack
Bottom of the 3rd
• The Huskies were once again able to answer, scoring two in the bottom. A single, two walks and another base hit brought the runs home
Top of the 4th
• UC started to pull away with three in the fourth. Johnson singled, Bellini walked and Stapp once again singled a run home. A wild pitch allowed Bellini to score later in the frame. Holding earned his fourth RBI in as many innings with a base hit to center
Bottom of the 5th
• A walk and two singles plated one for UConn
Top of the 6th
• UC got that run back on a solo homerun by Bellini
Top of the 7th
• After the seventh, there was no doubt as the Bearcats brought nine runs across. It started with a Mercer double, Bumpass reach on an error and Murphy bases-clearing double. With two outs, Bellini walked, Stapp had a RBI base hit and Wiemer walked to load the bases. Mason DeAnna followed with a walk and RBI. Four runs came home in one swing as Mercer sent one over the wall in right for a grand slam. Bumpass then decided to make it back-to-back with an opposite field homerun down the left field line
Top of the 9th
• As if 19 runs wasn't enough, the Bearcats tacked on three more for good measure in the final frame. J.P. Bitzenhofer walked, DeAnna singled and Mercer singled to load the bases. Griffin Merritt joined the hit parade with an RBI base hit to left. With bases still loaded, Johnson walked in a run. The final tally came on a Santiago single
Bottom of the 9th
• The Huskies never gave up, as they brought one across on a double and a single, but Nate Meyer caught a fly ball near the stands in right field to end the game
// UP NEXT
• The NCAA Selection Show is Monday at noon on ESPNU
• The Bearcats will hear then where they will be heading for the NCAA Tournament
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Bearcats, who entered the tournament 0-10 in the AAC postseason and 0-17 in conference postseasons dating back to 2008, went 4-0 this week to earn an automatic win into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed. They were selected to finish eighth out of nine teams by the conference coaches in the preseason poll.
The 16 regional sites will be announced later Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. on NCAA.com and the NCAA's social media platforms, and will also be on the ESPN Bottomline. The 2019 Selection Show will air on ESPNU Monday, May 27 at noon.
The Bearcats will play host to a fan watch party for the selection show from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET in the Champions Club of Fifth Third Arena. The show can be viewed on the Wyler Vision board inside the arena. Fans should enter the arena though the west concourse doors near the Richard E. Lindner Center.
UC's bats broke open this week, breaking numerous AAC Tournament records. 51 runs, 47 RBI and 60 hits is the record for any team throughout the tournament week. Seven homeruns overall and four homeruns in a single game are also tournament records. The Bearcats posted the largest margin of victory in a tournament game, tied the high for hits in an AAC tournament game and saw eleven different players get a hit through the four games played.
The trip to the NCAA Tournament is the first for the program since 1974. The conference title is the first since the 1967 season. 2019 will be UC's sixth trip to the NCAA postseason.
A.J. Bumpass was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player while Mitch Holding, Joey Bellini, Jace Mercer, Jeremy Johnson and Wyatt Stapp made the All-Tournament Team.
// NOTABLES
• The win puts UC above .500 with a 30-29 season record
• Every bat had a big day at the plate
• Mercer was a perfect 5-for-5 with a grand slam homerun, double, four RBI and three runs scored
• Stapp also had three RBI and finished 3-for-6 with three runs scored
• Eric Santiago had three hits with a RBI and run scored
• Bellini was 2-for-5 with a homerun, two walks, three runs scored
• Joey Wiemer had two hits in two at-bats with a double and a walk
• Holding led the team with four RBI as he had two hits, including a homerun
• Bumpass went 2-for-5 with a homerun and two runs scored
• Cole Murphy had a double and drove in two runs
• Johnson went 2-for-4 with two runs, a walk and a RBI
• David Orndorff went 3.0 innings in the start
• Garrett Schoenle earned the win after 4.0 innings of work, allowing just one run
• Nathan Moore finished the game on the mound, throwing the final 2.0 frames with one run, two hits and one strikeout
// KEY INNINGS
Top of the 2nd
• UC was the first team to score, bringing one across when Wiemer doubled, moved to third on a Mercer single and then slid home on the throw
Bottom of the 2nd
• A walk and double allowed UConn to tie the game in the same frame
Top of the 3rd
• The Bearcats posted their first big inning in the third. Johnson and Santiago started it with a single before Stapp sent Johnson home on a base hit of his own. Another single by Wiemer made it a 3-1 game. Holding had the big swing of the inning, going deep to left field for a three-run jack
Bottom of the 3rd
• The Huskies were once again able to answer, scoring two in the bottom. A single, two walks and another base hit brought the runs home
Top of the 4th
• UC started to pull away with three in the fourth. Johnson singled, Bellini walked and Stapp once again singled a run home. A wild pitch allowed Bellini to score later in the frame. Holding earned his fourth RBI in as many innings with a base hit to center
Bottom of the 5th
• A walk and two singles plated one for UConn
Top of the 6th
• UC got that run back on a solo homerun by Bellini
Top of the 7th
• After the seventh, there was no doubt as the Bearcats brought nine runs across. It started with a Mercer double, Bumpass reach on an error and Murphy bases-clearing double. With two outs, Bellini walked, Stapp had a RBI base hit and Wiemer walked to load the bases. Mason DeAnna followed with a walk and RBI. Four runs came home in one swing as Mercer sent one over the wall in right for a grand slam. Bumpass then decided to make it back-to-back with an opposite field homerun down the left field line
Top of the 9th
• As if 19 runs wasn't enough, the Bearcats tacked on three more for good measure in the final frame. J.P. Bitzenhofer walked, DeAnna singled and Mercer singled to load the bases. Griffin Merritt joined the hit parade with an RBI base hit to left. With bases still loaded, Johnson walked in a run. The final tally came on a Santiago single
Bottom of the 9th
• The Huskies never gave up, as they brought one across on a double and a single, but Nate Meyer caught a fly ball near the stands in right field to end the game
// UP NEXT
• The NCAA Selection Show is Monday at noon on ESPNU
• The Bearcats will hear then where they will be heading for the NCAA Tournament
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.