TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team will travel to New Orleans, La., this weekend to take on the Tulane Green Wave for three conference games. The series opener will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, followed by a 3:00 p.m. game Saturday and a 2:00 p.m. finale Sunday.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at BearcatStats.com.
CINCINNATI
2022 Record: 17-24, 7-8 AAC
Head Coach: Scott Googins
Record at UC: 112-117 (5th)
Career Record: 453-474 (17th)
TULANE
2022 Record: 28-17-1, 9-6 AAC
Head Coach: Travis Jewett
School Record: 158-133-1 (6th)
Career Record: Same
PITCHING MATCHUP
FRIDAY, MAY 6
7:30 p.m. • ESPN+
RHP Beau Keathley vs. LHP Dylan Carmouche
SATURDAY, MAY 7
3 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Conner Linn vs. RHP Grant Siegel
SUNDAY, MAY 8
2 p.m. • ESPN+
LHP Tristan Weaver vs. RHP Michael Massey
SERIES BUSINESS
UC trails in the all-time series against the Green Wave, 17-45. Despite the lopsided series record, the Bearcats have won each of the past six games, including a four-game sweep last season.
SETTING THE STAGE
- UC finds itself in the midst of dry spell, dropping each of its past four games. Its midweek game against Wright State was canceled due to inclement weather Tuesday.
- Tulane won its midweek game against New Orleans but dropped a series to UCF last weekend.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
- The Bearcats average 7.1 runs per game, which leads the American Athletic Conference.
- Griffin Merritt leads the conference with 16 homers and Joe Powell (.353) and Paul Komistek (.349) rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in the AAC in batting average.
- UC has seven players with five or more home runs. No other team in the conference has more than five. Those seven players, Merritt (16), Nicholson (9), Komistek (8), Cole Harting (5), JP Sponseller (5), Kerrington Cross (5) and Joe Powell (5), have accounted for over 86% of the team's home runs and over 77% of the RBIs.
- Merritt (1.131) and Powell (1.108) each have over a 1.000 OPS, while their slugging percentages rank first and third in the AAC, respectively (Merritt: .738, Powell: .655)
- As a team, UC has hit 61 homers and 1.49 homers per game, both of which are best in the conference.
CINCINNATI SLUGGERS
- The Bearcats rank 41st in the nation with 61 homers and 28th in homers per game (1.49), both of which are tops in the AAC.
- In the conference, UC leads in slugging % (.480) and is second in total bases (676). Its .374 on-base percentage is good for third in the AAC.
- Griffin Merritt (.738) and Joe Powell (.655) rank first and third, respectively, in the AAC in slugging %. Merritt's numbers are good for 19th in the nation.
LAST TIME VS THE GREEN WAVE
- This will be the first meeting of the two teams this season, but they met four times last season, with UC winning all four.
- The Bearcats outscored Tulane, 45-27, in four high-scoring games.
- UC scored 10+ runs in all four games. Cole Harting led the way, slugging 1.167 and hitting .556 in four games.
- UC trails in the all-time series, 17-45.
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 41st in the nation with 61.
- UC has four players with five each, Nicholson has nine, Komistek has eight and Merritt has 16.
- Merritt's 16 homers have come in 149 at-bats, averaging one every 9.3 ABs.
- The Bearcats launched 67 homers during the 2021 season, which ranked third in the conference. They are on pace for 77 right now.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE
- In 33 games played, catcher Joe Powell is hitting .353 (5th in AAC), has an OBP of .453 and is slugging .655 (3rd in AAC).
- His five homers rank fourth on the team and his four triples are the most in the conference.
- In the field, Powell has a 1.000 fielding % and has thrown out nine runners on the base paths this season.
THE BULLPEN CREW
- Jackson Murphy (22), Max Bergmann (16), Beau Keathley (14) and Aiden Bradbury (10) were all among the team leader bullpen appearances last season.
- Bergmann has thrown 38.2 innings, including five outings where he's gone four or more innings in relief. Five of his past seven outings have been scoreless.
- Ben Vore hasn't given up an earned run in his past four innings thrown.
- Ryan Steckline has struck out 11 batters in his last 8.2 innings thrown.
- Four of Murphy's last six outings have been scoreless.
SHUT 'EM DOWN
- Conner Linn pitched a quality start in his first-ever start, going 6.1 innings while only giving up three runs. He now has a 2.84 ERA in seven starts and threw seven innings against ECU on April 30, giving up just one earned run.
- Tristan Weaver threw a seven-inning complete game against Northwestern on March 4, striking out six.
- In his first home start, Garrett Harker was one out shy from throwing a seven-inning complete game. He was also just named the AAC pitcher of the week for throwing six shutout innings in a 14-inning win on April 15.
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.