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Bearcats Continue AAC Play at Wichita State

CINCINNATI – The Bearcats will travel to Wichita, Kan. this weekend to take on the Wichita State Shockers for three conference games. The AAC opponents will begin the series on Thursday with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. ET. Friday's game will begin at the same time and the series-finale on Saturday will start at 1:00 p.m.

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Bearcats Continue AAC Play at Wichita StateBearcats Continue AAC Play at Wichita State

CINCINNATI – The Bearcats will travel to Wichita, Kan. this weekend to take on the Wichita State Shockers for three conference games. The AAC opponents will begin the series on Thursday with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. ET. Friday's game will begin at the same time and the series-finale on Saturday will start at 1:00 p.m.

The games will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at BearcatStats.com.

CINCINNATI
2022 Record: 13-18, 3-3 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 108-111 (5th)
Career Record: 449-468 (17th)
 
WICHITA STATE
2022 Record: 13-19, 2-4 AAC
Head Coach: Eric Wedge
School Record: 57-44 (3rd)
Career Record: Same

PITCHING MATCHUP
THURSDAY, APRIL 13
6 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Conner Linn vs. RHP Jace Kaminska

FRIDAY, APRIL 14
6 p.m. • ESPN+
RHP Beau Keathley vs. LHP Jace Miner

SATURDAY, APRIL 15
1 p.m. • ESPN+
TBD vs. RHP Cameron Bye

SERIES BUSINESS
UC trails in the all-time series against the Shockers, 8-2. The Bearcats have won seven out of the last eight matchups.

SETTING THE STAGE

  • UC went 3-1 last week but is coming off an 18-10 loss to #3 Louisville on Tuesday. It will look to get its conference record above .500 this weekend.
  • The Shockers dropped a game to #5 Oklahoma State Tuesday. They have lost six of their last seven.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS

  • The Bearcats average 7.3 runs per game, which leads the American Athletic Conference.
  • The Bearcats have two players in the top-5 in home runs in the conference. Griffin Merritt is in first with 11 and Ryan Nicholson ranks fifth with eight of his own. Paul Komistek's 46 hits trail the conference leader by two.
  • Cincinnati is the one of two teams in the AAC that has five starters with five or more home runs - Merritt (11), Nicholson (8), Komistek (5), Cole Harting (5) and Joe Powell (5). Those five alone have accounted for 74% of the team's home runs and over 61% of the RBIs. 
  • Merritt (1.167), Komistek (1.050) and Powell (1.229) each have over a 1.000 OPS, and Komistek (.383) and Powell's (.368) batting averages rank second and third in the AAC, respectively. 
  • As a team, UC has hit 46 homers and 1.48 homers per game, both of which are best in the conference and in the top-35 nationally.  The team also leads the AAC in slugging percentage (.491) and is second in batting average (.282).

CINCINNATI SLUGGERS

  • The Bearcats rank 35th in the nation with 46 homers and 33rd in homers per game (1.48), both of which are tops in the AAC. 
  • In the conference, UC leads in slugging % (.491) and total bases (513). Its .379 on-base percentage is good for third in the AAC.
  • Griffin Merritt (.755) and Joe Powell (.750) rank first and second, respectively, in the AAC in slugging %. Those numbers are good for 25th and 29th in the country.
  • UC is one of four teams to have two players in the top-30 nationally in slugging % (Texas, Tennessee, Virginia Tech).

LAST TIME VS THE SHOCKERS

  • The last time UC and Wichita State played was April 23-25, 2021. The Bearcats took three of four games by a combined score of 25-13.
  • Cole Harting finished the series with seven hits, five runs scored, four walks and two SB.
  • Paul Komistek slugged .773 with seven hits in the four games.

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 35th in the nation with 46.
  • Harting, Komistek and Powell have five each, Nicholson has eight and Merritt has 11 long balls. 
  • Joe Powell has his five homers in only 76 at-bats, averaging one every 15.2 ABs.
  • The Bearcats launched 67 homers during the 2021 season, which ranked third in the conference. They are on pace for 78 right now.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE

  • In 24 games played, catcher Joe Powell is hitting .368 (3rd in AAC), has an OBP of .479 (2nd in AAC) and is slugging .750 (2nd in AAC).
  • His five homers rank third on the team and his three triples are the second most in the conference. 
  • In the field, Powell has a 1.000 fielding % and has thrown out eight runners on the basepaths this season.

BIG BEAU

  • Beau Keathley earned AAC pitcher of the week after throwing six shutout innings against Saint Joseph's while striking out 12 batters on March 19.
  • He just threw a complete game against Houston on April 9, giving up only one earned run and striking out six batters.
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.