TicketsBy Dan Hoard
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - It was May of 1974.
Richard Nixon was President (for a few more months).
A gallon of gas cost 42 cents.
The number one movie at the box office was "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.
And the UC Bearcats made their most recent appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
"I knew it was a long time, but I didn't know it was THAT long," said UC junior infielder Jace Mercer.
It's been 45 years to be exact, but the drought comes to an end this Friday night at 10:00 when Cincinnati faces the defending national champion Oregon State in the Corvallis (Oregon) Regional.
"We're all so pumped to head out there and try to beat the defending national champions," said senior pitcher David Orndorff. "We're a fearless group and we are going to take that into next weekend."
The Bearcats earned their spot in the 64-team field by winning the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Clearwater, FL. Cincinnati won all four of its games by a combined score of 51-21, including a 22-5 mauling of UConn in Sunday's championship game. Cincinnati set AAC Tournament records for runs scored, hits, and home runs.
"It was such a pleasure to watch all of our guys play at such a high level and we're going to ride this wave as long as we can," said Orndorff.
"We've got a great group of seniors and the leadership has been awesome," said head coach Scott Googins. "They're playing hungry right now with a chip on their shoulder and I think that's going to carry over."
The NCAA Tournament trip is nothing new for Googins who is in his second season at UC after spending 12 years as the head coach at Xavier. He took the Musketeers to the tournament four times including three of his last four seasons.
"Sometimes when you get to the tournament you try to do something different and not be who you are," he said. "I think my first time there I was really uptight and I think the guys were uptight. Everything was uptight. You just have to be focused like we were this past week and have some fun and enjoy it."
The Bearcats certainly appeared to be having fun in Sunday's championship rout, even introducing many of us to the Gatorade "shot bat" celebration.
"Some of that stuff I don't necessarily agree with, but I also don't want to put a lid on them," said Googins. "I don't want to stifle their enthusiasm because there's a lot of energy in the dugout and if you're having fun you're going to play hard."
The Bearcats enter the tournament with a 30-29 record after opening the season by losing nine out of 10 games on a Southern road trip that began in mid-February.
"Part of the reason why we are the team we are today is that we started off the season 1-and-9," said Orndorff. "We went through all of those trials and tribulations and it made us a lot tougher and turned us into the force that we are today."
"Tough people survive," said Mercer. "We've been working and grinding all year and it finally showed at the end of the season."
Now they will try to extend the season at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. Michigan and Creighton are the other teams in the double-elimination bracket with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals. That's a best-of-three series between two of the 16 surviving teams with the winners of that stage advancing to the eight-team College World Series.
"We're ready to make a statement and let the world know what Cincinnati baseball is all about," said Mercer.
"Going through the American Conference Tournament, you're playing high level teams," said Googins. "So we're not scared or backing down – we're used to playing these types of teams."
The baseball team's success comes at the end of a school year that saw the football team go 11-2, the men's basketball team repeat as AAC Tournament Champions, the women's basketball team advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT, and the volleyball team advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Men's swimming and diving won their second-straight AAC title, lacrosse made the postseason for the first time in program history, a number of track and field student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Championship and golfer Austin Squires played in the NCAA event for the second time.
"Winning is truly contagious and that's part of the culture now at UC," said Orndorff.
"It's an exciting time," said Googins. "(Athletic Director) Mike Bohn does a great job. He's an awesome leader and we feed off that.
"It's an exciting time to be at UC – not only athletically but academically. I just feel blessed right now."
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - It was May of 1974.
Richard Nixon was President (for a few more months).
A gallon of gas cost 42 cents.
The number one movie at the box office was "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.
And the UC Bearcats made their most recent appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
"I knew it was a long time, but I didn't know it was THAT long," said UC junior infielder Jace Mercer.
It's been 45 years to be exact, but the drought comes to an end this Friday night at 10:00 when Cincinnati faces the defending national champion Oregon State in the Corvallis (Oregon) Regional.
"We're all so pumped to head out there and try to beat the defending national champions," said senior pitcher David Orndorff. "We're a fearless group and we are going to take that into next weekend."
The Bearcats earned their spot in the 64-team field by winning the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Clearwater, FL. Cincinnati won all four of its games by a combined score of 51-21, including a 22-5 mauling of UConn in Sunday's championship game. Cincinnati set AAC Tournament records for runs scored, hits, and home runs.
"It was such a pleasure to watch all of our guys play at such a high level and we're going to ride this wave as long as we can," said Orndorff.
"We've got a great group of seniors and the leadership has been awesome," said head coach Scott Googins. "They're playing hungry right now with a chip on their shoulder and I think that's going to carry over."
The NCAA Tournament trip is nothing new for Googins who is in his second season at UC after spending 12 years as the head coach at Xavier. He took the Musketeers to the tournament four times including three of his last four seasons.
"Sometimes when you get to the tournament you try to do something different and not be who you are," he said. "I think my first time there I was really uptight and I think the guys were uptight. Everything was uptight. You just have to be focused like we were this past week and have some fun and enjoy it."
The Bearcats certainly appeared to be having fun in Sunday's championship rout, even introducing many of us to the Gatorade "shot bat" celebration.
For best results, hydrate with teammates.
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) May 26, 2019
🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Y8zfrdWnVq
"Some of that stuff I don't necessarily agree with, but I also don't want to put a lid on them," said Googins. "I don't want to stifle their enthusiasm because there's a lot of energy in the dugout and if you're having fun you're going to play hard."
The Bearcats enter the tournament with a 30-29 record after opening the season by losing nine out of 10 games on a Southern road trip that began in mid-February.
"Part of the reason why we are the team we are today is that we started off the season 1-and-9," said Orndorff. "We went through all of those trials and tribulations and it made us a lot tougher and turned us into the force that we are today."
"Tough people survive," said Mercer. "We've been working and grinding all year and it finally showed at the end of the season."
Now they will try to extend the season at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. Michigan and Creighton are the other teams in the double-elimination bracket with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals. That's a best-of-three series between two of the 16 surviving teams with the winners of that stage advancing to the eight-team College World Series.
"We're ready to make a statement and let the world know what Cincinnati baseball is all about," said Mercer.
"Going through the American Conference Tournament, you're playing high level teams," said Googins. "So we're not scared or backing down – we're used to playing these types of teams."
The baseball team's success comes at the end of a school year that saw the football team go 11-2, the men's basketball team repeat as AAC Tournament Champions, the women's basketball team advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT, and the volleyball team advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Men's swimming and diving won their second-straight AAC title, lacrosse made the postseason for the first time in program history, a number of track and field student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Championship and golfer Austin Squires played in the NCAA event for the second time.
"Winning is truly contagious and that's part of the culture now at UC," said Orndorff.
"It's an exciting time," said Googins. "(Athletic Director) Mike Bohn does a great job. He's an awesome leader and we feed off that.
"It's an exciting time to be at UC – not only athletically but academically. I just feel blessed right now."
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard