Cincinnati Baseball: Looking back at the Bearcats underwhelming season

Despite finishing with a disappointing 24-31 record, there were a lot of positive takeaways from the Bearcats season that came to an end with a 13-5 loss to Tulane in the AAC Tournament last week. Griffin Merritt and Paul Komistek earned All-AAC honors and a trio of underclassmen hitters emerged as potential breakout players for 2023.

Cincinnati Baseball: Looking back at the Bearcats underwhelming season

Even though Cincinnati went cold at the plate for stretches, it was the pitching rotation that caused a majority of the losses this season. Conner Linn, Beau Keathley and Jackson Murphy were relatively consistent on the mound but Keathley will be moving on and the depth remains a concern. Tommy O’Connor could be a starter to step in for a bigger role.

Merritt and Komistek are expected to return for their senior seasons, while fellow outfielder Cole Harting should see an uptick in production as a junior as well. Ryan Nicholson and Kameron Guidry should have even more of an impact going forward, while Merritt will have heightened expectations for 2023 after winning AAC Player of the Year.

Cincinnati started last season 6-6 but an ensuing losing streak and four consecutive losses to rival Xavier in late March put them into a hole. The Bearcats won back to back games to end the regular season at UCF to clinch fourth place with a 12-12 conference record. That set up a first round matchup against Tulane in Orlando.

Keathley threw a complete game and Merritt hit two home runs in the 8-1 win but the momentum was short lived with two straight losses to get eliminated. Tristan Weaver and Alex Shea struggled against East Carolina and Tulane as the Bearcats were outscored 28-10. It’s clear the rotation needs to drastically improve in order to compete at a high level in 2023.