Baseball Travels to South Carolina for First Pitch Invitational

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team will head down to Greenville, S.C. this weekend to take on a trio of opponents at the 2022 First Pitch Invitational - Michigan State, Kansas and Western Carolina. Game one against Michigan State will be on Friday at 2 p.m., game two against Kansas will be on Saturday at 6 p.m. and game three will be on Sunday against Western Carolina at 5 p.m. 

All three games will be streamed on the Greenville Drive's YouTube page. Live stats will be available at BearcatStats.com. 

This is the start of five games in five days against five different opponents for the Bearcats.

CINCINNATI
2022 Record: 6-5, 0-0 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 101-98 (5th)
Career Record: 442-455 (17th)
 
OPPONENTS
Combined 2022 Record: 17-19 
Michigan State: 5-6, 0-0 Big 10
Kansas: 6-6, 0-0 Big 12
Western Carolina: 6-7, 0-0 SoCon

PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY, MARCH 11 vs. Michigan State
2 p.m. • YouTube
LHP Tristan Weaver vs. RHP Zach Iverson

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 vs. Kansas
6 p.m. • YouTube
RHP Zach Segal vs. RHP Ryan Vanderhei

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 vs. Western Carolina
5 p.m. • YouTube
RHP Garrett Harker vs. RHP Gavin Mortenson

SERIES BUSINESS

UC has a 3-0 all-time record against Kansas, 2-11 against Michigan State and 3-0 against Western Carolina.

SETTING THE STAGE

• After a huge 4-1 week at home, the Bearcats fell to Indiana on the road Tuesday. They'll look to bring back some of the weekend magic for the trip to Greenville. 
• Michigan State just lost to Clemson, 4-2, Kansas beat Charleston Southern Tuesday and Wednesday and WCU just took down Presbyterian, 15-2.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS

• UC's offense had a big week last week, averaging 7.6 runs over five games, including a 16-run effort on Saturday. Despite playing the fewest games in the conference, UC ranked first in total bases and home runs, third in runs scored and second in hits prior to Tuesday's game against Indiana.
• Redshirt sophomore JP Sponseller had a huge game against Northwestern last Saturday, hitting three homers and driving in seven runs. He was named one of Collegiate Baseball's national players of the week.
• This past week, senior Beau Keathley threw 6.1 innings of shutout ball against Ohio State, grad transfer Tristan Weaver threw a complete game, freshman Garrett Harker gave up two runs over 6.2 innings and sophomore Conner Linn's first career start ended with a quality start and a win.

ELITE OFFENSE

• The Bearcats rank 16th in the nation in homers (20) and 11th in homers per game (1.82), both of which are tops in the AAC.
• In the conference, UC now ranks first in slugging % (.493), fourth in runs scored per game (7.0), and first in home runs (20) despite playing the second-least amount of games in the conference.
• Paul Komistek, Ryan Nicholson, JP Sponseller and Griffin Merritt are leading the charge at the plate. Merritt ranks second in slugging percentage and all four rank in the top-six in home runs in the AAC.
• Merritt's five homers are second in the AAC and rank 24th in the nation. His .860 slugging percentage is good for 28th in the country. 

CARDIAC 'CATS

• The Bearcats have already ended two games this year with walk-off homers.
• On March 2, Cam Scheler hit a pinch-hit walk-off homer to right field to beat Ohio State. 
• Just three days later on March 5, Cole Harting hit his first homer of the year at the perfect time, driving one to right to beat Northwestern, 4-2.
• Five of UC's 11 games have been decided by two or less runs. Cincinnati's record is 4-1 in those games.

GOING, GOING, GONE

• After the first weekend of college baseball this year, Cincinnati led the nation in home runs with nine. They now rank first in the conference and 16th in the country with 20.
• Nicholson and Sponseller have four each, which is tied for third-most in the AAC. Komistek has three while Merritt is second with five long balls. Catcher Cam Scheler has two, including a walk-off against Ohio State.
• The Bearcats launched 67 homers during the 2021 season, which ranked third in the conference.

BIG TEN MATCHUPS

•  UC is currently in the middle of a seven-game stretch against Big Ten opponents. 
• The Bearcats beat Ohio State in their home opener before taking three of four against Northwestern. They dropped one on the road to Indiana.
• Cincinnati will now travel to Greenville, S.C. to face off against  Michigan State, Kansas and Western Carolina.

SHUT 'EM DOWN

• The Bearcats' pitching staff had a big week last week in five games against Ohio State and Northwestern.
• Tristan Weaver threw a seven-inning complete game against Northwestern on March 4, striking out six.
• Beau Keathley threw 6.1 scoreless innings in relief against Ohio State, striking out eight and securing the win.
• In his first career home start, Garrett Harker was one out shy from throwing a seven-inning complete game.
• Conner Linn pitched a quality start in his first-ever start, going 6.1 innings while only giving up three runs.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets for the 2022 season are now on sale! To purchase season tickets, visit cpaw.me/SeasonTickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX (1-877-228-7849).
 
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For up-to-the-minute updates, follow @GoBearcatsBASE on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

NOTE: All dates and times are subject to change due to weather. All schedule changes will be announced on Twitter at @GoBearcatsBASE.