Baseball Closes Regular Season Against Tulane

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati baseball team closes out the regular season at home, welcoming Tulane for a four-games series which will run Thursday-Saturday at UC Baseball Stadium. The teams will play a Thursday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. ET followed by single games at 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. 

Single game tickets are available and 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.

EVENTS & PROMOTIONS
• UC men's basketball coach Wes Miller will throw out a ceremonial first pitch prior to Friday's game. 
• Saturday's game will feature the Baseball Bark in the Park event. All pets of Bearcats ticket holders receive free admission if their human has purchased a ticket for the game.  View more information online.
 
All four games air on ESPN+ with Matt Noonan (pxp) and Andy Nagel (ana) calling the action. Live stats are available at BearcatStats.com.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Live Stats: BearcatStats.com
Watch: ESPN+
Series Record: Tulane leads 45-14
Last Meeting: May 2019 (AAC Tourn.)
 
CINCINNATI
2021 Record: 25-24, 14-14 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 91-91 (4th)
Career Record: 432-448 (16th)
 
TULANE
2021 Record: 28-18, 17-6 AAC
Head Coach: Travis Jewett
School Record: 127-110 (5th)
Career Record: Same 
 
PROBABLE ROTATIONS
THURSDAY, MAY 20 - 1
1 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Garrett Schoenle vs. RHP Braden Olthoff
 
WATCH • LIVE STATS
 
THURSDAY, MAY 20 - 2
45 Minutes After Game 1 • ESPN+
RHP Zach Segal vs. LHP Jack Aldrich
 
WATCH • LIVE STATS
 
FRIDAY, MAY 21
1 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Evan Shawver vs. RHP Donovan Benoit
 
WATCH • LIVE STATS
 
SATURDAY, MAY 22
1 p.m. • ESPN+
RHP Jalen Wade vs. TBA
 
WATCH • LIVE STATS
 
SERIES BUSINESS

• Tulane holds a 45-14 edge in the all-time series, but UC has won the last two matchups, including an 8-4 win on May 23, 2019 in the AAC Tournament in Clearwater, Florida.

 
A LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE

• Heading into the last week of the regular season, not much is decided and the top five teams in the AAC standings are separated by four games. ECU holds a one-game lead over Tulane at 18-6 and 17-6, respectively. Wichita State (15-12) is third, followed by the Bearcats and UCF, both at 14-14. The AAC Championship starts Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida.

 
ABOUT THE BEARCATS

• UC is 25-24 and 14-14 in AAC play after beating ECU in 10 innings and dropping a one-run and two-run game to close the series.
• As a team, UC is hitting at a .275 clip with an AAC-leading 84 doubles and 566 home runs with double-digit hits in 26 games.
• On the mound, UC has a team ERA of 5.56 with 398 strikeouts over 235 walks. 

 
SENIOR SALUTE

• UC honored its senior class prior to Saturday's matchup with the Pirates, including: Joey Bellini, Dondrae Bremner, Jake Hansen, Tanner Holen, Dean McCarthy, Jace Mercer, Jake Meyer, Nate Moore, Jake Murray, Eric Santiago, Garrett Schoenle, Wyatt Stapp, Jalen Wade and student managers Michael DeLong and Jake Swearingen.

 
HONORING THE PAST

• UC will step back into the annals this weekend and honor teams from 1961 and 1971 on Saturday.

 
1961: Legendary coach Glenn Sample took over the reins of the Bearcats. In his first season, Sample leads UC to a 19-5-2 record, the MVC Championship and a District IV Playoffs appearance. Bill Faul becomes Cincinnati's first baseball all-American, as he is named a first-team choice. Faul also sets a UC best with 24 strikeouts in one game.
 
1971: The 1971 Bearcats finished 26-18 overall and received an at-large bid to the District 4 playoffs in East Lansing, Michigan. UC made a run, knocking off Michigan State and Southern Illinois before falling in consecutive games to the eventual national-runner-up Salukis. UC was one win away from playing in the College World Series. The team set a UC single-season record with 22 triples.
 
FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATICS

• UC earned a doubleheader split with No. 11 ECU thanks to a 7-6, walk-off win in 10 innings.
• Cincinnati got a pair of runs on a throwing error by ECU's Connor Norby who mishandled a bouncer from Cole Harting and threw it over the first basemen to allow two runs to score. 
• It marked UC's second-straight, extra-innings walk-off over a ranked team at UC Baseball Stadium. The Bearcats knocked off then No. 5 Louisville, 13-12 in 10 innings on March 30, 2021.

 
MILESTONE WATCH

• Jace Mercer has 57 career stolen bases and needs four to move into No. 6 all-time (61). 
• Mercer also needs 10 hits for 100 in his career and seven RBIs for 100. 
• Eric Santiago has 211 hits and needs 9 to tie for 10th all-time at 220 hits. He also needs eight doubles for 50, which would put him at ninth all time. 46 is 10th.
• Evan Shawver needs five strikeouts for 150 in his career. 
• Wyatt Stapp is 10 hits from 150 and 21 RBIs from 100.

 
TURN IT UP!

• The Cincinnati infield has turned an AAC-best 47 doubles plays this season and trails Arizona State (52) and Auburn (50) nationally. UC leads the American in fielding percentage at .979

 
GOING, GOING, GONE

• The Bearcats have belted 56 home runs thus far in 2021, third in the American behind ECU (65) and UCF (62).
• Griffin Merritt leads the team with nine long balls while Jace Mercer, and Cole Harting are on his heels with eight apiece.
• Merritt has hit seven of his nine homers against AAC foes.
• UC is 12-4 in 16 games this season when hitting two or more home runs and 17-10 when hitting a home run in a game.
• UC has seven players with four or more homers this season.

 
A LEAGUE-PLAY REVIVAL

• Ryan Nicholson has overcome a slow start and has his hit .314 in AAC play. His 26 walks are a team best.

 
DUAL ROLES FOR MCCARTHY

• LHP Dean McCarthy has split time as a starter and reliever this season, making 16 appearances in 2021.
• The grad transfer from Elon made seven starts to open the campaign but his last nine trips have been out of the bullpen.
• He has pitched 59.0 innings, going 4-3 with three saves.

 
THE BULLPEN CREW

• Jackson Murphy (19), Beau Keathley (16), Nathan Moore (15) and Max Bergmann (14) lead the way in bullpen appearances while Aiden Bradbury, Dean McCarthy and Zach Segal all have nine.
• Keathley, McCarthy and Segal have all spent time as starters.
• Murphy's 2.67 ERA is the lowest on the staff and the hurler has 29 strikeouts in 30.1 innings pitched.
• Bergman came on in relief in game one vs. ECU and gave up five hits and a single run in 6.0 innings, his longest career outing.

 
TRENDING TOPICS

• UC dropped three to No. 11 ECU but five of the eight games between the teams in 2021 were decided by two runs or less. 
• Joey Bellini batted in seven of the Bearcats runs and had two doubles among his five hits.
• Ryan Nicholson hit .333 for the week with five hits and four RBIs.
• Dean McCarthy struck out six in two appearances.
• Cole Harting and Tanner Holen drew four walks apiece. 
• Eric Santiago crossed the plate five times and had four hits.

 
MERCER A TOUGH OUT

• Jace Mercer snagged a spot on the AAC Honor Roll two weeks ago after hitting .556, slugging .833 and racking up 10 hits, including five doubles along with four runs scored and two walks at Houston. 
• He has hit .396 in AAC play, racking up team bests with 44 hits, nine doubles and 12 stolen bases.