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Bearcats Open Conference Play Against ECU

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team opens up conference play this weekend as it will host the East Carolina Pirates for three games at UC Baseball Stadium. Friday's game will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET, Saturday's at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday's at noon.  

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Bearcats Open Conference Play Against ECUBearcats Open Conference Play Against ECU

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team opens up conference play this weekend as it will host the East Carolina Pirates for three games at UC Baseball Stadium. Friday's game will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET, Saturday's at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday's at noon.  

All three games will air on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at BearcatStats.com.

CINCINNATI
2022 Record: 9-14, 0-0 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 104-107 (5th)
Career Record: 445-464 (17th)
 
ECU
2022 Record: 14-12, 0-0 AAC
Head Coach: Cliff Godwin
School Record: 272-142-1 (8th)
Career Record: Same

PITCHING MATCHUP
FRIDAY, APRIL 1 
5 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Conner Linn vs. LHP Jake Kuchmaner

SATURDAY, APRIL 2 
4 p.m. • ESPN+
RHP Beau Keathley vs. TBD

SUNDAY, APRIL 3
Noon • ESPN+
RHP Zach Segal vs. TBD

SERIES BUSINESS
UC trails in the all-time series against ECU, 7-27-2. ECU has won the last three matchups.

SETTING THE STAGE

  • UC is looking to bounce back from a tough week that included four-straight losses. With conference play starting, they have a chance to shoot up the standings in a competitive American Athletic Conference.
  • ECU is coming off a loss to NC State and a series win against VCU where they took two of three games. 

ABOUT THE BEARCATS

  • The Bearcats average 7.1 runs per game, which is good for third in the conference. 
  • Redshirt junior outfielder Griffin Merritt continues to crush the ball. In the conference, UC's left fielder ranks third in batting average (.378), first in slugging percentage (.829) and is tied for first in home runs (9). 
  • Cincinnati currently has five starters with four or more home runs - Merritt (9), redshirt junior outfielder Paul Komistek (5), redshirt sophomore infielder Ryan Nicholson (6), redshirt sophomore  JP Sponseller (4) and sophomore outfielder Cole Harting (4).
  • Merritt (1.269), Komistek (1.072) and Powell (1.131) each have over a 1.000 OPS, and Merritt (.378) and Komistek's (.374) batting averages rank third and fourth in the AAC, respectively. 
  • As a team, UC has hit 37 homers and 1.61 homers per game, both of which are best in the conference and in the top-25 nationally. 

ELITE OFFENSE

  • The Bearcats rank 25th in the nation with 37 homers and 22nd in homers per game (1.61), both of which are tops in the AAC. 
  • In the conference, UC leads in slugging % (.499), is third in runs scored per game (7.1), second in batting average (.284) and first in total bases (390).
  • Griffin Merritt is leading the charge at the plate. His nine homers are good for 25st-most in the country and his 1.09 RBIs per game rank second in the conference.
  • Merritt's .829 slugging percentage is the 14th-highest in the nation and by far the most in the AAC.

GOING, GOING, GONE

  • After the first weekend of college baseball this year, UC led the nation in home runs with nine. They now rank first in the conference and 25st in the nation with 37.
  • Harting and Sponseller have four each, Nicholson has six, Komistek has five and Merritt has 8 long balls. 
  • Catchers Cam Scheler Joe Powell have two and infielders Kerrington Cross (2) and Kameron Guidry (1) have pitched in too.
  • The Bearcats launched 67 homers during the 2021 season, which ranked third in the conference. They are on pace for 85 right now.

AAC PLAY

  • The Bearcats have a chance to prove themselves in conference play once again this season. They begin the conference schedule against two-time reigning regular season champs ECU. 
  • They'll follow this series will three at home against Houston, who is currently second in the standings.
  • The Bearcats will follow the Houston series with three of their last five AAC series' on the road, ending with three games against UCF on May 19-21. 

KOMISTEK RAKES

  • Through 23 games, Komistek is second on the team with a .374 batting average. He's tied for the team-lead in runs (21), ranks second in total bases (56), third in homers (5) and third in slugging % (.615).
  • He leads the team and is third in the AAC with 34 hits and his .457 on-base percentage is the second-highest on the team.
  • The redshirt junior outfielder from Knoxville, Tenn. was named the 2022 Preseason AAC Player of the Year by the league's coaches.
  • In the conference, he ranked second in BA (.364), third in slugging percentage (.599) and second in on-base percentage (.459), which all led UC in 2021.
  • Komistek is only the second UC player to be named the AAC Preseason Player of the Year. The other was Ian Happ in 2015, who is now an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs.

HOME COOKING

  • UC won its first home game against Ohio State, 5-4. That marks the sixth-straight year it has won its home opener.
  • Cincinnati followed that up by winning three of four against Northwestern, starting the year 4-1 at home.
  • The Bearcats have a 291-182 (.613) all-time record at UC Baseball Stadium and have only had three seasons with a .500 winning percentage or lower at home.
  • Since 2016, the team's home record is 99-53 (.651).
  • Six of the team's next seven games are at home.
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.