USF baseball, 20-10 (5-1), are hitting the road for the first time in 22-games as they head to Cincinnati to get back to the Big East portion of their schedule (3-game series).
The Bearcats, fresh off of their 11 to 2 win over Ohio, are just 11-16 on the season, including 1-5 in conference play. They are 8-7 at home however, posing a real challenge to the Bulls who were no-hit against Stetson last time out until the 6th inning. The team will have to shake off that performance and battle as they look to stay in the Big East title hunt (games are scheduled for 6:30PM today, 6:30PM tomorrow, and will wrap up on Saturday at 1PM).
The Bearcats are led by freshman infielder Joey Bielek (6-1 187-pounds) who is batting .351 on the year with 10 doubles and 18 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Justin Glass (6-2 209-pounds) is batting .383 with 1 home run, 18 RBIs, and has 10 steals on the season. Junior outfielder Jake Proctor (6-2 221-pounds) is batting .311 on the year, adding 2 home runs and 22 RBIs to the middle of the Bearcat batting order. Senior catcher/outfielder Branden Kline (6-1 194-pounds) is batting .276 with 1 home run and 16 RBIs and sophomore infielder Matt Williams (5-10 181-pounds) is batting .243 with 2 home runs and 15 RBIs. Cincinnati doesn't have a powerful lineup, but has hitters up and down the order that can drive in runs. The USF pitching staff, the strength of the team, will have to work hard to keep them off the bases and limit their chances of getting anyone on.
The Cincinnati pitching staff is led by freshman LHP Zach Morris (6-6 225-pounds) who is 2-2 on the year with a 3.31 ERA. He has pitched 35.1 innings, allowing 34 hits, 12 walks, and has struck out 23 batters (opponents hitting .260 against him). Junior LHP Thomas Gentile (5-11 194-pounds) is 1-1 on the year with a 4.78 ERA. He has tossed 32 innings, allowing 28 hits, 11 walks, and has struck out 30 batters while holding opponents to a .252 batting average against him. Junior RHP Zach Isler (6-5 239-pounds) is 0-2 on the year with 4 saves. He has worked 16.1 innings, allowing 17 hits, 7 walks, and has struck out 17 batters. Freshman RHP Grant Walker (6-3 173-pounds) is 2-2 after working 19 innings, allowing 21 hits, 9 walks, and has struck out 6 batters. Their rotation is not that overpowering, but they do have high strike out numbers, but surrender a lot of hits. The USF offense will need to do what it does best, get runners on and push them home, not relying on power to do the job.
This is a big series for Prado and the team. After dropping the game to Stetson, they need to shake it off and focus on the task at hand; the Big East race. The Bulls have been impressive against Georgetown and Notre Dame and facing a 1-5 Cincinnati team gives them an opportunity to improve on their win total in league play, but it won't be easy on the road. Taking two out of three would make for a very successful series for the Bulls.
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