Baseball Plays Host To UCF In Four-Game Set

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati baseball team returns to UC Baseball Stadium for a four-game set against UCF this weekend. The Bearcats and Knights will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 1 p.m. ET. Saturday's matchup will start at 4 p.m. while the Sunday finale features a 1 p.m. first pitch. 
 
Friday and Saturday's games will air on ESPN+ while Sunday's game features an audio-only radio stream on GoBEARCATS.com. Live stats for all four games will be available on BearcatStats.com.

SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
Single-game tickets are available. Fans should visit the baseball ticket page for more information or to make their purchase now! Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, 1,000 fans will be allowed in UC Baseball Stadium for game days.
 
CINCINNATI
2021 Record: 11-14, 0-4 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 77-81 (4th)
Career Record: 418-438 (16th)
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Live Stats: BearcatStats.com
Watch: ESPN+ (Friday & Saturday)
Listen: GoBEARCATS.com (Sunday)
Series Record: UCF leads 11-6
Last Meeting: UC 10-6, 5/25/19
 
UCF
2021 Record: 12-16, 2-2 AAC
Head Coach: Greg Lovelady
Record at UCF: 138-84 (5th)
Career Record: 262-140 (8th) 
 
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
FRIDAY, APRIL 9
1 p.m. • ESPN+
RHP Zach Segal vs. LHP Colton Gordon
 
FRIDAY, APRIL 9
4:30 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Garrett Schoenle vs. RHP Kenny Serwa
 
SATURDAY, APRIL 10
4 p.m. • ESPN+
TBD vs. RHP AJ Jones
 
SUNDAY, APRIL 11
1 p.m. • GoBEARCATS.com
TBD vs. RHP Jack Sinclair
 
ABOUT THE BEARCATS

• The Bearcats (11-14) walked off No. 5 Louisville 13-12 and dropped a four-game series at No. 11 ECU last week.
• The Tuesday win came on a one-out single from Louisville native Ryan Nicholson in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Bearcats trailed 8-2 in the middle of the fourth and 12-11 in the middle of the 10th. It was UC's first win over a ranked foe since Oregon State in the NCAA Regional on June 1, 2019.
• UC has turned an NCAA-best 29 doubles plays this season.
• Ten of UC's 25 games have been decided by two runs or less.
• As a team, UC is hitting at a .266 clip with 37 doubles and 31 home runs with double-digit hits in 14 games.
• Wyatt Stapp's 30 hits and 20 runs batted in leads the squad.
• Jace Mercer has hit .314 with 27 hits, five home runes, 14 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
• Freshman Cole Harting has hit .313 on the season from the leadoff spot, belting six homers, 17 RBIs and six stolen bases.
• Griffin Merritt has drawn a team-best 13 walks along with 23 hits, 20 runs scored, five doubles and two home runs.
• On the mound, UC has a team ERA of 6.01 with 191 strikeouts over 116 walks. 
• UC's hurlers have struck out five or more batters combined in all but one game this season (Feb. 20 at Clemson).
• Starters Dean McCarthy (36.2), Garrett Schoenle (32.1) and Evan Shawver (31.0) lead the way in innings pitched.
• Friday starter Zach Segal made his first career start at No. 11 ECU last week and has pitched 16 innings in relief.
• Max Bergmann, Beau Keathley, Jackson Murphy, Nathan Moore have all made 10 appearances out of the bullpen. 
• Murphy has pitched 13.1 innings with 12 strikeouts to lead the relief pitchers. 

 
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR ...

• UC hitting coach Kyle Sprague was at UCF from 2014-15, working with the outfielders and coaching first base as the Knights ascended to No. 6 in the nation in 2015.
• UCF Head Coach Greg Lovelady was at Wright State from 2005-16, serving as an assistant (2005-06), associate head coach (2007-13) and head coach (2014-16).
• UCF assistant Ted Tom was at UC from 2015-17, serving as director of operations (2015), assistant coach (2016-17) and UC's interim head coach at the close of 2017.
• UCF pitching coach Nick Otte spent nine seasons at Xavier from 2010-18, serving on UC Head Coach Scott Googins' staff for eight of his nine seasons across town.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Baseball season-ticket packages for 2021 are on sale, priced at $50 for adults and $30 for youths (aged 4-12), seniors (age 65 and up), UC faculty and staff and members of the military. Get your season tickets to lock in your seats! Make your purchase online.
 
Make your purchase online today! Contact the Bearcats Ticket Office at 1-877-CATS-TIX with any questions.

FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati baseball, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow UC baseball (@GoBearcatsBase) and Coach Googins (@CoachGoogs) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Instagram and Facebook.