# 2015 Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team

The 2015 Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Bearcats played their home games at Marge Schott Stadium as a member of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by head coach Ty Neal, in his second season at Cincinnati.

## Previous season

In 2014, the Bearcats finished the season 10th in the American with a record of 22–31, 6–18 in conference play. They failed to qualify for the 2014 American Athletic Conference baseball tournament or the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Seasons at Cincinnati | Alma Mater |
| Ty Neal | Head coach | 2 | Miami University (1999) |
| Adam Bourassa | Assistant coach | 2 | Wake Forest University (2003) |
| John Lackaff | Assistant coach | 1 | Miami University (2003) |

## Season
### February

The Bearcats opened their season with a four-game tournament in Starkville, Mississippi, against Miami (OH) and Mississippi State. In the first game, the Bearcats defeated Miami (OH) 3–1, but they were swept in the next three games by a nationally ranked Mississippi State team. In their second series of the year, the Bearcats were swept in a three-game road series against Santa Clara. Ian Happ recorded ten hits over the three games.
Cincinnati was originally scheduled to compete in a tournament at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, from February 27 – March 1, but inclement weather forced the Bearcats to schedule a three-game series against Iowa in Emerson, Georgia. Over the three-game series, the Bearcats were again swept, marking their third straight weekend series sweep to open the season, and nine straight losses following a neutral site win over Miami (OH). The closest Cincinnati came to a win in the series was in the final game, in which the Bearcats allowed five runs in the thirteenth inning in the loss.

### March

The Bearcats were scheduled to host a midweek game against Xavier on March 4, but the game was cancelled due to weather and not rescheduled. Cincinnati's first weekend series of the month was against Niagara, out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Against the Purple Eagles, the Bearcats picked up their first weekend sweep of the year. To complete the sweep, freshman Manny Rodriguez hit a walk off single in the tenth inning of the final game to lead Cincinnati to a 2–1 win.
In their second midweek game of the month, the Bearcats hosted Southeastern Conference foe Kentucky. Kentucky's Ka'ai Tom hit for the cycle for the Wildcats as they picked up a 9–1 win over Cincinnati. Cincinnati then hosted Toledo in a three-game weekend series from March 14–15. The first game of the series was originally scheduled for March 13, but weather pushed the game back to the 14th as part of a doubleheader. The Bearcats went on to win the series, two games to one, dropping the first game of the doubleheader before rebounding to win the final two games.
The Bearcats did not play a midweek game heading into a road series against nationally ranked Nevada over the sixth weekend of the season. Cincinnati endured their fourth weekend sweep of the season as they fell to the Wolf Pack all four games of the series. In the final game of the series, Cincinnati allowed 17 runs, marking the highest total of runs scored by Nevada since 2010.
On March 25, Cincinnati visited Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers had struggled with high expectations early in the season, but had no issues with the visiting Bearcats, leaving home with a 7–0 win. The following weekend, the Bearcats hit the road again to open American Athletic Conference play, visiting South Florida. For the second straight weekend, and the fifth time on the year, the Bearcats were swept over the weekend. After a 4–8 in the first game, the Bulls were subject to a walk-off base hit to lose 3–4 in 11 innings in the second game. To close out the series, the Bearcats were subject to the run rule as they fell to USF 4–15 in seven innings.

## Schedule

Legend :
| | Cincinnati win |
| | Cincinnati loss |
| | Postponement |
| Bold | Cincinnati team member |
2015 Cincinnati Bearcats baseball game log :
Regular season :
February
DateOpponentRankSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAAC Record
February 13vs. Miami (OH)Dudy Noble Field • Starkville, MSW 3–1Zellner (1–0)Banks (0–1)Cleary (1)7,9811–0–
February 13at #20 Mississippi StateDudy Noble Field • Starkville, MSL 2–6P. Brown (1–0)Lehnen (0–1)7,9811–1–
February 14at #20 Mississippi StateDudy Noble Field • Starkville, MSL 5–19Tatum (1–0)Yoakam (0–1)9,1591–2–
February 15at #20 Mississippi StateDudy Noble Field • Starkville, MSL 7–16D. Brown (1–0)Olasz (0–1)Fitts (1)6,5511–3–
February 20at Santa ClaraStephen Schott Stadium • Santa Clara, CAL 3–11Steffens (1–1)Atkinston (0–1)4161–4–
February 21at Santa ClaraStephen Schott Stadium • Santa Clara, CAL 8–10Inouye (1–0)Lehnen (0–2)Karalus (1)4101–5–
February 21at Santa ClaraStephen Schott Stadium • Santa Clara, CAL 4–8Hendron (1–0)Lowe (0–1)Karalus (2)4101–6–
February 27vs. IowaPerfect Game Park South • Emerson, GAL 2–6Radtke (1–0)Atkinson (0–2)2611–7–
February 28vs. IowaPerfect Game Park South • Emerson, GAL 1–5Hickman (1–0)Lehnen (0–3)Grant (1)1221–8– :
March
DateOpponentRankSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAAC Record
March 1vs. IowaPerfect Game Park South • Emerson, GAL 0–5 $^{(13)}$Radtke (2–0)Olasz (0–2)701–9–
March 4XavierMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHPostponed Rescheduled for May 12
March 7NiagaraMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 5–1Zellner (2–0)Kolodziejski (0–2)3022–9–
March 8NiagaraMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 6–4Atkinson (1–2)Eckerson (0–1)4923–9–
March 9NiagaraMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 2–1 $^{(10)}$Yoakam (1–1)Bucci (0–2)3154–9–
March 11KentuckyMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 1–9Dwyer (2–0)Patishall (0–1)7774–10–
March 13ToledoMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHPostponed Rescheduled for March 14
March 14ToledoMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 5–8 $^{(11)}$Tyson (1–0)Yoakam (1–2)4184–11–
March 14ToledoMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 5–3Lehnen (1–3)Calhoun (0–3)Atkinson (1)4185–11–
March 15ToledoMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 11–2Cleary (1–0)Schillace (2–2)5176–11–
March 18at #29 NevadaWilliam Peccole Park • Reno, NVL 3–5Wilkins (1–0)Perez (0–1)Whitt (10)7266–12–
March 19at #29 NevadaWilliam Peccole Park • Reno, NVL 10–11Held (4–0)Yoakam (1–3)8136–13–
March 20at #29 NevadaWilliam Peccole Park • Reno, NVL 4–7Deitrich (4–1)Lehnen (1–4)Romero (1)9306–14–
March 21at #29 NevadaWilliam Peccole Park • Reno, NVL 6–17Fain (3–0)Olasz (0–3)1,2476–15–
March 25at TennesseeLindsey Nelson Stadium • Knoxville, TNL 0–7Warren (2–0)Voss (0–1)1,6446–16–
March 27at South FloridaUSF Baseball Stadium • Tampa, FLL 4–8Herget (5–1)Orndorff (0–1)6096–170–1
March 28at South FloridaUSF Baseball Stadium • Tampa, FLL 3–4 $^{(11)}$Peterson (3–1)Yoakam (1–4)1,0446–180–2
March 29at South FloridaUSF Baseball Stadium • Tampa, FLL 4–15 $^{(7)}$Valdes (3–1)Atkinson (1–3)Peterson (8)6906–190–3
March 31at Wright StateNischwitz Stadium • Dayton, OHL 3–5Randolph (4–0)Patishall (0–2)Blair (2)3466–20– :
April
DateOpponentRankSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAAC Record
April 2#10 UCFMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 4–1Atkinson (2–3)Finfrock (6–1)Zellner (1)2677–201–3
April 3#10 UCFMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 5–3Orndorff (1–1)Howell (4–3)Zellner (2)2338–202–3
April 4#10 UCFMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 1–2Rodgers (5–0)Lehnen (1–5)9178–212–4
April 8at IndianaBart Kaufman Field • Bloomington, INW 5–4Yoakam (2–4)Foote (1–1)Zellner (3)1,5499–21–
April 10MemphisMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 6–2Atkinson (3–3)Wallingford (1–1)Yoakam (1)41110–213–4
April 11MemphisMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 3–8Toscano (5–1)Zellner (2–1)59810–223–5
April 12MemphisMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 8–7 $^{(12)}$Schimmoeller (3–3)Blackwood (0–1)53511–214–4
April 14XavierMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHW 4–0Hammans (1–0)Jacknewitz (0–2)1,31512–22–
April 15Wright StateMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 9–15Trapino (4–0)Perez (0–2)27912–23–
April 17at #28 HoustonCougar Field • Houston, TXPostponed Rescheduled for April 18
April 18at #28 HoustonCougar Field • Houston, TXL 1–4Weigel (4–0)Atkinson (3–4)1,90412–244–6
April 18at #28 HoustonCougar Field • Houston, TXL 0–13Dowdy (5–1)Orndorff (1–2)1,90412–254–7
April 19at #28 HoustonCougar Field • Houston, TXL 2–9Romero (4–3)Lehnen (1–6)1,79312–264–8
April 21#3 LouisvilleMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 2–6Leland (3–0)Hammans (1–1)48912–27–
April 22at XavierJ. Page Hayden Field • Cincinnati, OHW 8–5Yoakam (3–4)Johnson (1–3)Zellner (4)37813–27–
April 24TulaneMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 0–4Merrill (3–3)Atkinson (3–5)Gibaut (4)52213–284–9
April 25TulaneMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 6–8Duester (5–4)Zellner (2–2)29613–294–10
April 26TulaneMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 5–9Massey (5–2)Lehnen (1–7)Gibaut (5)63113–304–11 :
May
DateOpponentRankSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAAC Record
May 1at MemphisFedExPark • Memphis, TNW 11–4Atkinson (4–5)Hathcock (2–4)73214–305–11
May 2at MemphisFedExPark • Memphis, TNW 5–4 $^{(12)}$Perez (1–2)Caufield (3–1)Yoakam (2)127815–306–11
May 3at MemphisFedExPark • Memphis, TNL 3–4Blackwood (2–1)Perez (1–3)81115–316–12
May 6Ohio StateMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 0–6Niemeyer (2–0)Schimmoeller (1–1)1,07215–32–
May 8at ConnecticutJ. O. Christian Field • Storrs, CTL 6–12Cross (10–2)Yoakam (3–5)14915–336–13
May 9at ConnecticutJ. O. Christian Field • Storrs, CTL 8–10Kay (7–5)Zellner (2–3)22915–346–14
May 10at ConnecticutJ. O. Christian Field • Storrs, CTL 4–9Tabakman (3–4)Schimmoeller (1–2)28615–356–15
May 12XavierMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 1–5Jacknewitz (4–5)Voss (0–2)35015–36–
May 14East CarolinaMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 3–7Love (7–3)Atkinson (4–6)51915–376–16
May 15East CarolinaMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 4–6Kruczynski (7–3)Zellner (2–4)Ingle (5)67715–386–17
May 16East CarolinaMarge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OHL 7–8Durazo (4–0)Patishall (0–3)Ingle (6)103615–396–18 :
Post-season :
AAC Tournament
DateOpponentRankSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAACT Record
May 19#23 HoustonBright House Field • Clearwater, FL
TBDTBDBright House Field • Clearwater, FL :
All rankings from Collegiate Baseball. :

## Awards and honors
### Ian Happ

* Louisville Slugger Pre-season Third team All-American
* Perfect Game USA Pre-season First team All-American
* Pre-season AAC Player of the Year
* Pre-season All-AAC
* Baseball America Pre-season First team All-American
* AAC Player of the Year
* First Team All-Conference Unanimous Selection