TicketsIn a season of ups and downs, how you finish is what matters, and University of Cincinnati baseball proved that during the 2019 season. The Bearcats found belief within themselves to win a championship in one of the toughest Division I baseball conferences and to make their first NCAA postseason appearance in 45 years. Here's a look back at how the 2019 season unfolded and the milestones and records achieved along the way.
// A SLOW START
The Bearcats started the season with a 1-9 record. UC first went to Florida Atlantic and lost the series, including an 8-7 defeat in extra-innings, then traveled to Houston Baptist were the Bearcats were able to avoid a series sweep with a 5-4, 12-inning victory thanks to a game-winning RBI double by Jace Mercer. After a midweek contest at Indiana, UC dropped a series at No. 18 and College World Series-contender Auburn. The team had a slow start at the plate, hitting just .190 as a team through the first ten contests, but Joey Wiemer started hot, hitting .395 to spark the offense.
// COMING HOME
Once UC came home to Marge Schott Stadium, the season's momentum slowly began to shift. The Bearcats swept Bowling Green in a three-game series with identical scores of 4-3. The team also got redemption with a 7-5 midweek victory against Indiana. During the nine games after the Bearcats returned home, UC picked up its batting average, hitting .238 in those games while the pitching staff also started finding its groove, holding teams to a .266 average at the plate, striking out 84 while walking 37. Joey Bellini and A.J. Bumpass were a big part of the upswing, posting batting averages of .440 and .375, respectively, during those nine games.
// STRONG START IN THE AAC
The Bearcats were ranked eight out of nine American Athletic Conference teams by the conference's head coaches in the preseason poll, but started league play strong with a series victory at USF. After dropping the first game, UC answered by erasing a 5-1 deficit in the final three innings to tie the series. Garrett Schoenle's 12-strikeout performance – the most K's by any UC pitcher since 2016 – ensured the series victory on Sunday and handed Schoenle AAC Pitcher of the Week honors. A commanding 14-6 win over NKU led into a tough home series with Tulane. The Bearcats dropped both games of a doubleheader on Friday before getting a 7-6 win on Sunday.
// TURNING HEADS
UC started gaining some attention with an impressive start to the month of April. At Ohio State, the Bearcats took down the Buckeyes 9-5. A trip to No. 22 UConn followed, where UC won the series. A.J. Kullman went head-to-head with the preseason pitcher of the year in the Friday start and led UC to a 5-4 victory. Wiemer got the scoring started with a three-run homerun in the third, prompting the birth of the #mulletmash. After the Huskies tied the series, the Bearcats secured the series with a 10-4 victory with great performances in all facets of the game.
// 11thANNUAL JOE NUXHALL CLASSIC
UC hosted the annual Joe Nuxhall Classic, the midweek tournament featuring Miami, Xaiver and Wright State, April 9-10. UC beat Xavier and Miami beat Wright State to decide who would vie for the championship. After walking-off over the Bearcats the previous season to be crowned champions, the RedHawks made it three-in-a-row with a 12-8 victory in eleven innings.
// A DAY TO REMEMBER
A long week of baseball at Marge Schott Stadium came to a close when UC hosted UCF for a three-game series – and it was a series to remember. First, in the game to forget, the Knights came out strong and won the series-opener 15-0 in eight innings. However, the Bearcats came storming back in a doubleheader on Saturday. Evan Shawver struck out 12 in seven strong innings to lead UC to an 8-4 victory to start the day. In the finale, it was a battle for the series victory. Both teams held early leads before UCF posted a four-run fifth to lead 6-4. UC got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning. It remained a one-run game going to the ninth, thanks in part to a head's up double-play turned by Eric Santiago when the Knights had a runner on third and one out in the eighth. With two outs, 2-2 count and runner on, Wiemer blasted a ball over the wall in left field to make it a doubleheader sweep and series win for the Bearcats.
// UPS AND DOWNS
After a 15-5 win to grab some redemption against Miami, UC traveled to Houston where they lost the series after taking the first game 3-2. David Orndorff was brilliant in the Friday start, going 8.0 innings with just one run, five hits and five strikeouts. He had two walks, but both were intentional, and he needed just 88 pitches in the performance. After a loss to No. 7 Louisville, the Bearcats bounced back to win four straight, starting with a win over EKU. At home against Wichita State, UC started the series with a 5-2 victory. In a wild Saturday contest, the teams combined for 16 runs in the first two innings after a nearly two-hour rain delay before the Bearcats captured an 11-9 victory. A 10-4 win on Sunday secured the series sweep. After a break from midweek games due to finals week, No. 8 ECU came to Cincinnati for a tough series, winning all three games.
// REGULAR SEASON WINDS DOWN
The Bearcats went 4-4 in their final eight regular season games. First, the team battled with Miami yet again and fell 7-6 in ten innings. UC closed out AAC play with a trip to Memphis, taking two games to win the series and help its cause in the upcoming tournament seeding. The Marge Schott Stadium attendance record was shattered at the annual Fastball and Fitness day on May 14 with a 6-5 Bearcats win over NKU. The final three games were played against rival Xaiver. UC lost 11-2 at home, won 10-4 in front of a great crowd at Prasco Park on Friday night then lost 10-2 at Great American Ball Park as Cincinnati's two collegiate teams ended their regular season in an encore after a Reds game.
// A HISTORIC WEEK
Once the regular season was complete, UC earned the No. 2 seed in the 2019 AAC Tournament held in Clearwater, Florida. That seed was the highest for UC since the 2008 season when it was also the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. The Bearcats entered the week never having won a game in the AAC Tournament, going 0-10 in the previous five years, and not winning a game in any conference tournament since 2008, carrying a 0-17 mark. That slide ended with a 11-6 victory over Memphis. Orndorff was strong through six innings on the mound and fellow Kullman came in to get a three-out save. Fellow senior Bumpass was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a triple. The run continued with an 8-4 victory against No, 3 Tulane on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals. Facing a tough No. 6 UCF, the Bearcats used a three-run sixth inning to come back and take the game. Offense was once again the key, with every player in the order contributing. Faced with No. 4 UConn and 45 years since making the NCAA Tournament, UC captured the championship trophy in a big way, blistering UConn by a final score of 22-5.
// AAC ACCOLADES
UC broke numerous records in the four-game run to the championship. 51 runs, 47 RBI and 60 hits throughout the week were all AAC Tournament records. Seven homeruns in the event and four homeruns in one game were also tournament records. The Bearcats posted the largest margin of victory in a tournament game and tied the high for hits in a single AAC Tournament game. UC hit .390 as a team in the four games despite holding a .247 team average entering the postseason. Eleven different Bearcats had a hit in the tournament even though the same eight batters starting in the lineup all four games. UC also slugged .597 and had an on-base percentage of .643 with nine doubles, one triple and seven homeruns. Bumpass was the no-doubt Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after he hit .643 with a triple, two homeruns and seven RBI. Mitch Holding, Joey Bellini, Jace Mercer, Jeremy Johnson and Wyatt Stapp were all on the all-tournament team.
// READY FOR REGIONALS
UC once again had a daunting task in front of it as it entered its first NCAA Tournament since 1974 and looked for its first NCAA postseason victory since 1971. Faced with Regional host, national seed and reigning College World Series Champion Oregon State, UC proved the prior week had been no fluke as the Bearcats took down the Beavers 7-6. UC took an early 3-0 lead before OSU answered and went up 6-5 late. Small-ball and gritty base running tied the game at six in the eighth. After Nathan Moore threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth, Mercer led off the ninth with a base hit. Bumpass continued on his torrid pace with a triple to score Mercer for the winning run. Bumpass was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate entering that ninth inning at-bat. The win was Head Coach Scott Googins' 400thof his career.
// ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END
The historic 2019 campaign ended at NCAA Regionals as the Bearcats fell 10-4 to CWS-finalist Michigan then lost 6-1 to Creighton. UC finished the season with a 31-31 record, reaching 30 wins for the first time since 2011 and the most wins since 2008. In the end, Stapp led the team on the year with a .294 batting average, followed by Bumpass (.290) and Bellini (.289). Bumpass also led with eight homeruns while five players had twelve or more doubles. On the mound, Orndorff led with five wins while Shawver led the club with 69 strikeouts in 61.2 innings, followed closely by Schoenle who had 62 in 56.0. Korren Thompson and Moore were the main bullpen arms, having 28 and 26 appearances, respectively. Kullman and Clayton Colvin showed versatility, as both split time between relieving and starting roles, doing whatever was needed most for the team. Five postseason victories in 2019 was the most since the 1963 team also won five games, all in the Missouri Valley Championship.
// TEAM RECORDS
• Games played: 62
• At-bats: 2,113
• Innings pitched: 549.0
• Strikeouts: 483
• Saves: 17 (tie)
• Putouts: 1,647
• Assists: 529
// IN THE RECORD BOOK
Career Records
• Bumpass: 1stin triples (15; also AAC record)
• Kullman: 7thin appearances (84); 9thin innings pitched (234.0)
• Orndorff: 8thin appearances (79); tied 5thin games started (39); 5thin innings pitched (260.1)
• Thompson: tied 3rdin saves (13)
Individual Season Records
• Bumpass: tied 3rdin games played (60); tied 6thin triples (6)
• Johnson: tied 1stin games played (62); tied 9thin hit by pitch (12)
• Wiemer: tied 1stin games played (62)
• Santiago: 2ndin games played (61)
• Thompson: 2ndin saves (13); tied 10thin appearances (28)
// DEFENSE DOMINATES
The Bearcats once again shined on defense this season. The team turned 57 double plays, which was good for the seventh-most in the nation. UC ranked 23rdin double plays per game. A fielding percentage of .978 was the second-highest in program history. For the third consecutive season, the Bearcats turned a triple play. Individually, the outfield had an impressive 15 assists. Johnson started all of the team's 62 games in center field and did not commit an error with 176 putouts and eight assists. Bumpass had just one error and 125 putouts while starting 59 games in right field. Santiago started 55 games at third base and five at first base while posting incredibly sound defensive numbers. He had just one error on the season while recording 81 putouts and 90 assists. After switching to center field in the final regular season game, Santiago can now boast that he's played every defensive position in a Bearcats uniform, a remarkable feat for the junior.
// IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
Head Coach Scott Googins has the Bearcats on an upward trend, and even before the magical postseason run, home attendance grew this past season. UC posted its highest average attendance per game in the last eight years and the second-highest total home attendance, trailing only the 2013 season which saw four more games played at Marge Schott Stadium. With 3,680 attendees at the third-annual Fastballs & Fitness Day on May 14, the Bearcats shattered the stadium attendance record, with the previous high coming at the same event the year prior with 2,363 fans. Two other games also broke in to the attendance top ten. The fourth-most people came out to see UC take on ECU on April 27 and the eighth-most came on April 9 for a rivalry game versus Xavier. Student attendance also took a big jump, increasing by 165% from the 2018 season and a 44% increase from the three-year average.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
// A SLOW START
The Bearcats started the season with a 1-9 record. UC first went to Florida Atlantic and lost the series, including an 8-7 defeat in extra-innings, then traveled to Houston Baptist were the Bearcats were able to avoid a series sweep with a 5-4, 12-inning victory thanks to a game-winning RBI double by Jace Mercer. After a midweek contest at Indiana, UC dropped a series at No. 18 and College World Series-contender Auburn. The team had a slow start at the plate, hitting just .190 as a team through the first ten contests, but Joey Wiemer started hot, hitting .395 to spark the offense.
// COMING HOME
Once UC came home to Marge Schott Stadium, the season's momentum slowly began to shift. The Bearcats swept Bowling Green in a three-game series with identical scores of 4-3. The team also got redemption with a 7-5 midweek victory against Indiana. During the nine games after the Bearcats returned home, UC picked up its batting average, hitting .238 in those games while the pitching staff also started finding its groove, holding teams to a .266 average at the plate, striking out 84 while walking 37. Joey Bellini and A.J. Bumpass were a big part of the upswing, posting batting averages of .440 and .375, respectively, during those nine games.
// STRONG START IN THE AAC
The Bearcats were ranked eight out of nine American Athletic Conference teams by the conference's head coaches in the preseason poll, but started league play strong with a series victory at USF. After dropping the first game, UC answered by erasing a 5-1 deficit in the final three innings to tie the series. Garrett Schoenle's 12-strikeout performance – the most K's by any UC pitcher since 2016 – ensured the series victory on Sunday and handed Schoenle AAC Pitcher of the Week honors. A commanding 14-6 win over NKU led into a tough home series with Tulane. The Bearcats dropped both games of a doubleheader on Friday before getting a 7-6 win on Sunday.
// TURNING HEADS
UC started gaining some attention with an impressive start to the month of April. At Ohio State, the Bearcats took down the Buckeyes 9-5. A trip to No. 22 UConn followed, where UC won the series. A.J. Kullman went head-to-head with the preseason pitcher of the year in the Friday start and led UC to a 5-4 victory. Wiemer got the scoring started with a three-run homerun in the third, prompting the birth of the #mulletmash. After the Huskies tied the series, the Bearcats secured the series with a 10-4 victory with great performances in all facets of the game.
// 11thANNUAL JOE NUXHALL CLASSIC
UC hosted the annual Joe Nuxhall Classic, the midweek tournament featuring Miami, Xaiver and Wright State, April 9-10. UC beat Xavier and Miami beat Wright State to decide who would vie for the championship. After walking-off over the Bearcats the previous season to be crowned champions, the RedHawks made it three-in-a-row with a 12-8 victory in eleven innings.
// A DAY TO REMEMBER
A long week of baseball at Marge Schott Stadium came to a close when UC hosted UCF for a three-game series – and it was a series to remember. First, in the game to forget, the Knights came out strong and won the series-opener 15-0 in eight innings. However, the Bearcats came storming back in a doubleheader on Saturday. Evan Shawver struck out 12 in seven strong innings to lead UC to an 8-4 victory to start the day. In the finale, it was a battle for the series victory. Both teams held early leads before UCF posted a four-run fifth to lead 6-4. UC got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning. It remained a one-run game going to the ninth, thanks in part to a head's up double-play turned by Eric Santiago when the Knights had a runner on third and one out in the eighth. With two outs, 2-2 count and runner on, Wiemer blasted a ball over the wall in left field to make it a doubleheader sweep and series win for the Bearcats.
// UPS AND DOWNS
After a 15-5 win to grab some redemption against Miami, UC traveled to Houston where they lost the series after taking the first game 3-2. David Orndorff was brilliant in the Friday start, going 8.0 innings with just one run, five hits and five strikeouts. He had two walks, but both were intentional, and he needed just 88 pitches in the performance. After a loss to No. 7 Louisville, the Bearcats bounced back to win four straight, starting with a win over EKU. At home against Wichita State, UC started the series with a 5-2 victory. In a wild Saturday contest, the teams combined for 16 runs in the first two innings after a nearly two-hour rain delay before the Bearcats captured an 11-9 victory. A 10-4 win on Sunday secured the series sweep. After a break from midweek games due to finals week, No. 8 ECU came to Cincinnati for a tough series, winning all three games.
// REGULAR SEASON WINDS DOWN
The Bearcats went 4-4 in their final eight regular season games. First, the team battled with Miami yet again and fell 7-6 in ten innings. UC closed out AAC play with a trip to Memphis, taking two games to win the series and help its cause in the upcoming tournament seeding. The Marge Schott Stadium attendance record was shattered at the annual Fastball and Fitness day on May 14 with a 6-5 Bearcats win over NKU. The final three games were played against rival Xaiver. UC lost 11-2 at home, won 10-4 in front of a great crowd at Prasco Park on Friday night then lost 10-2 at Great American Ball Park as Cincinnati's two collegiate teams ended their regular season in an encore after a Reds game.
// A HISTORIC WEEK
Once the regular season was complete, UC earned the No. 2 seed in the 2019 AAC Tournament held in Clearwater, Florida. That seed was the highest for UC since the 2008 season when it was also the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. The Bearcats entered the week never having won a game in the AAC Tournament, going 0-10 in the previous five years, and not winning a game in any conference tournament since 2008, carrying a 0-17 mark. That slide ended with a 11-6 victory over Memphis. Orndorff was strong through six innings on the mound and fellow Kullman came in to get a three-out save. Fellow senior Bumpass was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a triple. The run continued with an 8-4 victory against No, 3 Tulane on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals. Facing a tough No. 6 UCF, the Bearcats used a three-run sixth inning to come back and take the game. Offense was once again the key, with every player in the order contributing. Faced with No. 4 UConn and 45 years since making the NCAA Tournament, UC captured the championship trophy in a big way, blistering UConn by a final score of 22-5.
// AAC ACCOLADES
UC broke numerous records in the four-game run to the championship. 51 runs, 47 RBI and 60 hits throughout the week were all AAC Tournament records. Seven homeruns in the event and four homeruns in one game were also tournament records. The Bearcats posted the largest margin of victory in a tournament game and tied the high for hits in a single AAC Tournament game. UC hit .390 as a team in the four games despite holding a .247 team average entering the postseason. Eleven different Bearcats had a hit in the tournament even though the same eight batters starting in the lineup all four games. UC also slugged .597 and had an on-base percentage of .643 with nine doubles, one triple and seven homeruns. Bumpass was the no-doubt Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after he hit .643 with a triple, two homeruns and seven RBI. Mitch Holding, Joey Bellini, Jace Mercer, Jeremy Johnson and Wyatt Stapp were all on the all-tournament team.
// READY FOR REGIONALS
UC once again had a daunting task in front of it as it entered its first NCAA Tournament since 1974 and looked for its first NCAA postseason victory since 1971. Faced with Regional host, national seed and reigning College World Series Champion Oregon State, UC proved the prior week had been no fluke as the Bearcats took down the Beavers 7-6. UC took an early 3-0 lead before OSU answered and went up 6-5 late. Small-ball and gritty base running tied the game at six in the eighth. After Nathan Moore threw a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth, Mercer led off the ninth with a base hit. Bumpass continued on his torrid pace with a triple to score Mercer for the winning run. Bumpass was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate entering that ninth inning at-bat. The win was Head Coach Scott Googins' 400thof his career.
// ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END
The historic 2019 campaign ended at NCAA Regionals as the Bearcats fell 10-4 to CWS-finalist Michigan then lost 6-1 to Creighton. UC finished the season with a 31-31 record, reaching 30 wins for the first time since 2011 and the most wins since 2008. In the end, Stapp led the team on the year with a .294 batting average, followed by Bumpass (.290) and Bellini (.289). Bumpass also led with eight homeruns while five players had twelve or more doubles. On the mound, Orndorff led with five wins while Shawver led the club with 69 strikeouts in 61.2 innings, followed closely by Schoenle who had 62 in 56.0. Korren Thompson and Moore were the main bullpen arms, having 28 and 26 appearances, respectively. Kullman and Clayton Colvin showed versatility, as both split time between relieving and starting roles, doing whatever was needed most for the team. Five postseason victories in 2019 was the most since the 1963 team also won five games, all in the Missouri Valley Championship.
// TEAM RECORDS
• Games played: 62
• At-bats: 2,113
• Innings pitched: 549.0
• Strikeouts: 483
• Saves: 17 (tie)
• Putouts: 1,647
• Assists: 529
// IN THE RECORD BOOK
Career Records
• Bumpass: 1stin triples (15; also AAC record)
• Kullman: 7thin appearances (84); 9thin innings pitched (234.0)
• Orndorff: 8thin appearances (79); tied 5thin games started (39); 5thin innings pitched (260.1)
• Thompson: tied 3rdin saves (13)
Individual Season Records
• Bumpass: tied 3rdin games played (60); tied 6thin triples (6)
• Johnson: tied 1stin games played (62); tied 9thin hit by pitch (12)
• Wiemer: tied 1stin games played (62)
• Santiago: 2ndin games played (61)
• Thompson: 2ndin saves (13); tied 10thin appearances (28)
// DEFENSE DOMINATES
The Bearcats once again shined on defense this season. The team turned 57 double plays, which was good for the seventh-most in the nation. UC ranked 23rdin double plays per game. A fielding percentage of .978 was the second-highest in program history. For the third consecutive season, the Bearcats turned a triple play. Individually, the outfield had an impressive 15 assists. Johnson started all of the team's 62 games in center field and did not commit an error with 176 putouts and eight assists. Bumpass had just one error and 125 putouts while starting 59 games in right field. Santiago started 55 games at third base and five at first base while posting incredibly sound defensive numbers. He had just one error on the season while recording 81 putouts and 90 assists. After switching to center field in the final regular season game, Santiago can now boast that he's played every defensive position in a Bearcats uniform, a remarkable feat for the junior.
// IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
Head Coach Scott Googins has the Bearcats on an upward trend, and even before the magical postseason run, home attendance grew this past season. UC posted its highest average attendance per game in the last eight years and the second-highest total home attendance, trailing only the 2013 season which saw four more games played at Marge Schott Stadium. With 3,680 attendees at the third-annual Fastballs & Fitness Day on May 14, the Bearcats shattered the stadium attendance record, with the previous high coming at the same event the year prior with 2,363 fans. Two other games also broke in to the attendance top ten. The fourth-most people came out to see UC take on ECU on April 27 and the eighth-most came on April 9 for a rivalry game versus Xavier. Student attendance also took a big jump, increasing by 165% from the 2018 season and a 44% increase from the three-year average.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.