TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team will host South Florida for three conference games this weekend at UC Baseball Stadium. The series will open on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET and continue on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The series will end on Sunday with first pitch set for noon.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at BearcatStats.com.
BARK IN THE PARK NIGHT
Saturday is Bark in the Park Night at UC Baseball Stadium. You can find more information, including the University of Cincinnati's animal policy and how to register your dog, here.
CINCINNATI
2022 Record: 16-19, 6-3 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 111-112 (5th)
Career Record: 452-469 (17th)
USF
2022 Record: 21-16, 2-7 AAC
Head Coach: Billy Mohl
School Record: 120-106-1 (5th)
Career Record: Same
PITCHING MATCHUP
FRIDAY, APRIL 22
5 p.m. • ESPN+
RHP Beau Keathley vs. RHP Brad Lord
SATURDAY, APRIL 23
4 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Conner Linn vs. LHP Ethan Brown
SUNDAY, APRIL 24
12 p.m. • ESPN+
TBD vs. TBD
SERIES BUSINESS
UC trails in the all-time series against the Bulls, 25-48. The two teams last met in 2021, splitting four games. UC has a 4-6 record in the last 10 matchups.
SETTING THE STAGE
- Despite dropping their mid-week game against Indiana, the Bearcats have still won five of their past seven games.
- USF is coming off back-to-back wins against Memphis and Florida A&M and is 3-3 in its past six games.
- The Bearcats average 7.2 runs per game, which leads the American Athletic Conference.
- The Bearcats have two players in the top-4 in home runs in the conference. Griffin Merritt is in first with 14 and Ryan Nicholson ranks fourth with nine of his own. Paul Komistek's 51 hits trail the conference leader by eight.
- Cincinnati leads the conference in homers with 52 thanks to a deep lineup filled with pop. Merritt (14), Nicholson (9), Komistek (6), Cole Harting (5) and Joe Powell (5) have accounted for 75% of the team's home runs and over 62% of the RBIs.
- Merritt (1.172), Komistek (1.018) and Powell (1.185) each have over a 1.000 OPS, and Powell (.370) and Komistek's (.364) batting averages rank fourth and seventh in the AAC, respectively.
- As a team, UC has hit 52 homers and 1.49 homers per game, both of which are best in the conference and in the top-33 nationally.
CINCINNATI SLUGGERS
- The Bearcats rank 33rd in the nation with 52 homers and 29th in homers per game (1.49), both of which are tops in the AAC.
- In the conference, UC leads in slugging % (.485) and total bases (584). Its .378 on-base percentage is good for second in the AAC.
- Griffin Merritt (.768) and Joe Powell (.717) rank first and third, respectively, in the AAC in slugging %. Those numbers are good for 14th and 37th in the country.
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 296-188 (.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 104-57 (.646).
- The Bearcats recently finished up a stretch where they played 13 of 15 games at home, going 7-6 in those games.
LAST TIME VS THE BULLS
- The last time UC and USF played, they split four games in Tampa, Fla. from April 30-May 2, 2021.
- USF outscored UC in those games, 23-16.
- Santiago hit .471 after collecting eight hits, including two doubles, with three runs scored, two RBIs.
- The two teams will meet in Cincinnati for the first time since 2018.
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 33rd in the nation with 52.
- Harting and Powell have five each, Nicholson has nine, Komistek has six and Merritt has 14 long balls.
- Merritt has hit his 14 homers in 125 at-bats, averaging one every 8.9 ABs.
- The Bearcats launched 67 homers during the 2021 season, which ranked third in the conference. They are on pace for 78 right now.
MILESTONE WATCH
- Head coach Scott Googins now has 111 wins at UC in his five seasons, which is the third-most for a Bearcats coach. He ranks behind only Brian Cleary (434) and Glenn Sample (391).
- Cole Harting has 100 career hits in under two seasons.
- Wyatt Stapp and Griffin Merritt both recorded their 100th careers RBIs Wednesday against Indiana.
- Coming into 2022, Komistek had a career .579 slugging % and a .442 on-base %. The slugging % would rank eighth in UC history and the on-base % would rank sixth.
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, and has now thrown two-straight quality starts after going six innings against Wichita State on April 15.
AAC PLAY
- The Bearcats went 1-2 against ECU in the opening weekend of AAC play, but have bounced back since.
- UC took two of three from Houston at home before traveling to Wichita State to sweep the Shockers.
- Coming into this week, head coach Scott Googins has a 49-40 (.555) record at UC in conference play.
- The Bearcats will play USF this weekend before traveling to ECU for three games, eventually ending AAC-play with three games against UCF on May 19-21 before the conference tournament begins on May 24.
To purchase single-game tickets or flex packs, visit GoBearcats.com/Tickets 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.