TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team visits Kansas State this weekend, its first conference weekend series as a member of the Big 12.
First pitch for Friday's conference opener is set for 7 PM ET. Saturday's game will begin at 6 PM ET and the finale on Sunday will start at 2 PM ET. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Bearcats (8-5) and Wildcats (7-5) have never met on the diamond prior to this weekend.
This will be the first of 10 Big 12 weekend series for UC this season in its inaugural year in the league. In addition to traveling to Kansas State, the Bearcats will also make trips to Baylor (March 28-30), Oklahoma State (April 12-14), UCF (April 26-28), and BYU (May 9-11). They will host Kansas (March 15-17), TCU (April 5-7), Houston (April 19-21), West Virginia (May 3-5), and Oklahoma (May 16-18.
Cincinnati will return home and host five games next week, two midweek contests vs. Western Illinois and the aforementioned three-game series vs. Kansas next weekend. The series against the Jayhawks will be UC's first-ever Big 12 home series and begins on Friday, March 15 with a 5 PM contest.
// LAST TIME OUT
Cincinnati's final tune-up before conference play was a 19-8 victory against Akron at home on Wednesday.
The 19 runs were a season-high and UC's 15 hits tied for its most in a game this season. An eight-run second inning propelled the Bearcats to a large early lead, and the hits kept coming on offense for the rest of the night.
Josh Hegemann was terrific, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three RBI, and three runs scored. Josh Kross, fresh off his Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week award, went 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBI, and Kerrington Cross was 3-for-5 with two walks and a career high-tying four runs scored.
// WALK THIS WAY
Cincinnati has done an excellent job working the count this year, ranking 15th in the nation in walks (85). Kerrington Cross (14) and Tommy O'Connor (13) lead UC in walks, and both rank among the top six in the Big 12 in that category. Cincinnati drew 11 walks vs. Akron on Wednesday, one off its season-high of 12 walks vs. Northern Illinois on March 2.
// QUARTET OF BEARCATS RIDING LENGTHY ON-BASE STREAKS
Tommy O'Connor, Kerrington Cross, Dalton Pearson, and Lauden Brooks have all reached base in every game they've played in this season, and all four Bearcats also have impressive on-base streaks dating back to last year.
O'Connor's stretch is the longest of the bunch, as he has reached base in 28 consecutive games dating back to 2023. Cross has reached base in 23 straight games, while Pearson and Brooks are riding 21 and 18-game streaks, respectively, dating back to last season.
Cross ranks fourth in the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.586) and O'Connor sports an OBP over .500 as well (.516).
// JOSH KROSS IS HEATING UP
Ever since hitting his first home run as a Bearcat at Xavier on Feb. 27, Josh Kross has been on an absolute tear offensively. Over the last seven games, he is hitting .464 (13-for-28) with four home runs, 16 RBI, and a .929 slugging percentage. He has five multi-hit performances during that stretch and has reached base at least twice in six of seven games.
// ABOUT KANSAS STATE
Kansas State is 7-5 this season and is coming off a pair of midweek losses against ranked teams. The Wildcats lost at No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday, 15-5, before falling at No. 10 Clemson, 8-3, on Wednesday. K-State is hitting .299 as a team and has five regulars batting over .300, with Brady Day (.362) leading the charge. Day is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week after posting a .667 batting average last week. Kaelen Culpepper was ranked No. 24 on D1Baseball's Top 200 Draft Prospects list heading into the season.
// 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.
First pitch for Friday's conference opener is set for 7 PM ET. Saturday's game will begin at 6 PM ET and the finale on Sunday will start at 2 PM ET. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Bearcats (8-5) and Wildcats (7-5) have never met on the diamond prior to this weekend.
This will be the first of 10 Big 12 weekend series for UC this season in its inaugural year in the league. In addition to traveling to Kansas State, the Bearcats will also make trips to Baylor (March 28-30), Oklahoma State (April 12-14), UCF (April 26-28), and BYU (May 9-11). They will host Kansas (March 15-17), TCU (April 5-7), Houston (April 19-21), West Virginia (May 3-5), and Oklahoma (May 16-18.
Cincinnati will return home and host five games next week, two midweek contests vs. Western Illinois and the aforementioned three-game series vs. Kansas next weekend. The series against the Jayhawks will be UC's first-ever Big 12 home series and begins on Friday, March 15 with a 5 PM contest.
// LAST TIME OUT
Cincinnati's final tune-up before conference play was a 19-8 victory against Akron at home on Wednesday.
The 19 runs were a season-high and UC's 15 hits tied for its most in a game this season. An eight-run second inning propelled the Bearcats to a large early lead, and the hits kept coming on offense for the rest of the night.
Josh Hegemann was terrific, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three RBI, and three runs scored. Josh Kross, fresh off his Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week award, went 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBI, and Kerrington Cross was 3-for-5 with two walks and a career high-tying four runs scored.
// WALK THIS WAY
Cincinnati has done an excellent job working the count this year, ranking 15th in the nation in walks (85). Kerrington Cross (14) and Tommy O'Connor (13) lead UC in walks, and both rank among the top six in the Big 12 in that category. Cincinnati drew 11 walks vs. Akron on Wednesday, one off its season-high of 12 walks vs. Northern Illinois on March 2.
// QUARTET OF BEARCATS RIDING LENGTHY ON-BASE STREAKS
Tommy O'Connor, Kerrington Cross, Dalton Pearson, and Lauden Brooks have all reached base in every game they've played in this season, and all four Bearcats also have impressive on-base streaks dating back to last year.
O'Connor's stretch is the longest of the bunch, as he has reached base in 28 consecutive games dating back to 2023. Cross has reached base in 23 straight games, while Pearson and Brooks are riding 21 and 18-game streaks, respectively, dating back to last season.
Cross ranks fourth in the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.586) and O'Connor sports an OBP over .500 as well (.516).
// JOSH KROSS IS HEATING UP
Ever since hitting his first home run as a Bearcat at Xavier on Feb. 27, Josh Kross has been on an absolute tear offensively. Over the last seven games, he is hitting .464 (13-for-28) with four home runs, 16 RBI, and a .929 slugging percentage. He has five multi-hit performances during that stretch and has reached base at least twice in six of seven games.
// ABOUT KANSAS STATE
Kansas State is 7-5 this season and is coming off a pair of midweek losses against ranked teams. The Wildcats lost at No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday, 15-5, before falling at No. 10 Clemson, 8-3, on Wednesday. K-State is hitting .299 as a team and has five regulars batting over .300, with Brady Day (.362) leading the charge. Day is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week after posting a .667 batting average last week. Kaelen Culpepper was ranked No. 24 on D1Baseball's Top 200 Draft Prospects list heading into the season.
// 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.