Previewing the New Big 12 Baseball Teams: Now Batting – Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Bearcats are the next Big 12 team due for an introduction, and just like UCF, the Bearcats have a new head coach with the goal of turning things around for the program. Jordan Bischel was hired as the new head coach of Cincinnati's baseball program on June 18, 2023. On top of a new head coach, Cincinnati also found it necessary to hire two new directors of player development, Lee Sponseller and Kyle Schroeder, and a new director of pitching development, Taylor Sheriff.
2022-23 Season for the Bearcats
In the 2022-23 season, Cincinnati ended with a 24-33 record and a 10-14 conference record. Their best series wins were against Tulane and USF. One can suspect that the main reason for all the new hiring around the baseball program is their record against ranked opponents. The Bearcats were 0-11 against teams ranked in the Top 25 last year, contributing largely to the record they ended with. Some of these ranked opponents included, at the time, No. 7 Florida, No. 14 East Carolina University, and No. 11 Louisville (1 exhibition game).
Cincinnati had five players listed on D1 Baseball's Top Prospect List. Two names that stand out on the 2024 Prospect List are Tommy O'Connor and Josh Kross. O'Conner took only 76 at-bats in the 2023 season but certainly made his presence known, hitting .303 with eight home runs. Kross was one of the biggest transfer portal acquisitions for the Bearcats, and for good reason. The 1B/C was named MAC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-MAC selection, and was named Freshman All-American by College Baseball Newspaper. At Eastern Michigan, Kross hit a whopping .376 with 15 home runs, while also leading the conference in almost every offensive category.
Cincinnati at a Glance
Location: Cincinnati, OH
- # of Students: 24,125
- First D1 Season Record:
- First Documented: 2-0 (1893)
- First Season over 20 Games Played: 11-9-1 (1930)
- Current Head Coach: Jordan Bischel
- Stadium: UC Baseball Stadium
- Stadium Capacity: 3,085
- Notable MLB Players: Sandy Koufax, Tony Campana, Josh Harrison, Ian Happ, Kevin Youkilis
Conference and Tournament Career
When it comes to moving conferences, Cincinnati is a program that has seen almost every baseball conference, it seems. The list of the conferences they've joined in the past is as follows: Ohio Athletic Conference (1911–1925), Buckeye Athletic Association (1926–1938), Mid-American Conference (1947–1953), Missouri Valley Conference (1958–1970), Metro Conference (1976–1991), Great Midwest Conference (1992–1995), Conference USA (1996–2005), Big East Conference (2006–2013), American Athletic Conference (2014–2023), and now their current conference the Big 12. In all these years, Cincinnati has accumulated a 1,751–1,906–21 record.
As for their conference wins and NCAA Tournament record, Cincinnati hasn't had a lot of success in recent memory. In 2019, the Bearcats won the AAC Tournament with a 4-0 record but would end their season in the NCAA Tournament going 1-2.
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