May 13, 2025 • 16 mins
As part of our #513Day broadcast from the Lindner Center at the University of Cincinnati, we were joined by the Head Coach of the UC Baseball program, Jordan Bischel.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
For the ESPN fifteen thirty. Hey, Joran Window, Orange and
Black Schedule Breakdown show Live at Smoke Justice, the biggest
sports brains, breaking down the schedule tomorrow night, beginning at
six on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Twenty seven away from four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty on Mooegger. It's five one three day. Around this
time yesterday, you may have heard me talking about how
I was so stoked for this afternoon because we were
going to be broadcasting from the concourse at the UC
Baseball Stadium before the Bearcats played Indiana last week of
the regular season. And that's something that I've always wanted
(00:39):
to do, and we found a way to make it happen,
and we were going to have a slew a guess,
and it was going to be awesome. And then right
before we got off there, we found out, well, you're
still coming to UC to do your show, but we're
not going to play a baseball game. So I was disappointed.
I don't know how disappointed. Jordan Bishall was the head
baseball coach at UC. Are you it's been a you
guys just came off a grueling road trip. So do
you view it as a restpite? Do you view it
(01:01):
as we want to keep playing. We've got a big
series this weekend, Like what's yeah, look disappointed?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah, we like to play. Yeah, we are allowed fifty
six games, and we schedule fifty six. We try to
get them in. And Indiana is a great opponent. They've
played in a couple of regionals in a row, and
we were excited for it. But you know, there's pretty
good chance of storms yet this afternoon, and the last
thing anybody needs fifty plus games in the year sit
and watch it rain or you know, lightning completely cripples
(01:28):
games because you get thirty minutes where you have to
be down. And so we had that a couple of
weeks ago against Oklahoma State, and we're a little worried.
We'll play three innings and sit for an hour and play,
And we just didn't want to run into that late
a year. But would have been great to just have
a nice sunny get a great crowd out here. But
if there is a silver lining, we get to regroup
a little bit for a big weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Here, who makes the call to cancel the game? Uh?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You know, there's everybody works together ultimately. You know, I'm
a meteorologist, probably more than a baseball coach obviously, and
I saw the forecast was pretty if he had a
conversation with their coaching staff and they agreed with it,
and obviously our staff understood, and so it's kind of
a collaborative decision. But I'm kind of the bad guy
if nobody likes a decision.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Okay, all right, so we'll put it on you. Yeah,
you're why we're inside today.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I get blamed for most things. I deserve it.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I got you. There is college baseball bracketology, and I
know you don't want to hear this, but I look
at these things and there you guys are right there
going into the last weekend of the regular season with
a chance for an at large bid. Are these the
sort of things you pay attention to? Or are you
annoyed with me for even bringing it up? No?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I mean, listen, if I thought our guys were naive
to what was out there, I'd be a fool. So
I have to talk about it to our guys a
little bit and make sure they're aware of, you know,
what everything means, because they're going to come up with
their own answers and solutions either way, and ultimately like,
we like this problem, right. I think when we joined
the Big twelve two years ago, the idea that we'd
(02:52):
be coming up in conversations about at large bids two
years in a row to start out our tenure in
the league was probably a little far fetched to some people.
So we're excited about it. And really, you know, if
season ending now we know we'd be in that field,
which is exciting. We also know the season didn't end,
and so we got to go and play good baseball.
And I joke a lot with our guys. I tell them,
you know, I've got a master's degree, and as part
of my big project to wrap up, I did a
(03:13):
big study and it showed that when you win, you
generally go up in these metrics, and when we lose,
you generally go down. And wow, this was year twenty
of my study and it's amazing. It's still coming to fruition.
So we joke about it. We know all we need
to do, we need to go play good baseball. But
it's pretty cool to be a part of that mix.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I felt like Sunday was big because I know how
hard Saturday was.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, it really was. You know, it was an eleven
day road trip. Some people may not realize we stayed
on the road. So we won three games at Kansas,
who came into that weekend really really in the hunt
to host a regional as a top twenty five team,
and I got three wins there, which was pretty incredible.
We went to Oral Roberts, who's played in like twenty
of the last twenty three NCAA tournaments. They were in
the World Series two years ago. We picked up a
(03:52):
nice road win there, so four and o to start
the trip, and then we lose kind of a slug
fest on Friday, and then really a heartbreaker on Saturday.
Tight game all the way to the end and end
of a long trip, playing a team that's again probably
in a pretty good position to host a regionally. It
would have been pretty easy to kind of pack up
the bags and just get home. And it was a
great We fell behind four to one short on the
(04:13):
mound and we just kept going and kind of a
credit to our guys, it's not that we're happy to
lose two out of three, but flip side, we go
five and two against some pretty tang good competition on
the road. And that made a huge difference and kind
of the outlook down the stretch here. So it makes
us week really exciting. But that Sunday win was huge
in terms of the way our guys competed and didn't
quit and kept going.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
What is it like taking a college baseball team on
an eleven day road trip when you're playing for a lot?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, yeah, you know it's funny because we did it
to start the year and week two to three as well,
and I'm glad we did. We struggled on that trip,
and I don't think I did a good enough job
of helping our guys recognize that it will be really challenging.
We went to Vegas and San Diego. I'll shoot out
of you excited, but it is. It's a lot of baseball.
We played eight games and ten days, and that that
can be a little gro and I think our guys
(05:01):
got a little warned down by it, and more mentally
than physically. They just they were ready to get home.
And so we really treated this trip as talked about
it being just eleven individual days, eleven one day trips,
and let's try to have eleven great days. And they
really bought into it, believed in it, stayed with it,
but it's tough. You know, they're ready to be home.
But flip side, you know, we make it sound like
(05:22):
their lives are so hard.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
School's over.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
We're playing at Kansas in front of a couple thousand fans,
TCU in front of four thousand fans, playing against guys
that are going to be top draft picks and one
of the best leagues in the country. You're playing with
your best friends in great weather. I mean, how cool
is this? Yeah, you know, and I think they change
that mentality into realizing, man, this is an awesome opportunity.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
And so that was fun, and you have an awesome opportunity.
Three games a weekend series a Thursday through Saturday, two
six o'clock games, and a one o'clock game on Saturday,
and then you're done. And then it's the Big twelve tournament.
Described from my audience, the stakes this weekend for this
three game set with Kansas State.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, I mean we spend all year really talking about
the next game is always the biggest game. But certainly
when you get to a point where there's you know whatever,
fifteen to twenty teams gunning for ten twelve, fourteen spots.
Every game can be a big swing, so so ultimately
it'll play a pretty big part. But the last fifty
(06:18):
one played a big part too. But we know we're
in a great position right now. It's pretty darn exciting
that we're going to be on our home field, knowing
if we play a good weekend that it's a virtual
lock we'll get to play into the NCAA tournament. That's awesome.
Even if it doesn't go great, we're going to be
in an okay spot, but we can really help ourselves.
In Kansas State, it's in a similar position. Two teams
that are top forty in the RPI. That's that's a
(06:39):
big thing for people to know. Like you come out
to the ballpark, you see the top two of the
top forty teams in the country square and off with
a lot at steak. It's pretty exciting.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Carrot's and Cross make the case Big twelve Player of
the Year.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yeah, I've said this to a lot of people that
there are I'm sure there are other coaches in the
league that can stunt for their guys and talk about
their guys. But if I had to make the case,
if if the league came to me right now and said,
you can take any player in the league, you just
have to give up Carrington Cross. We wouldn't even have
a conversation. It's just a no brainer to me. I
don't know other guys value to their teams, but I
(07:12):
know I can't imagine having a player more valuable than Carrington.
The stats obviously take care of themselves. You don't hit
four hundred at this level if you're not pretty amazing
player in the stolen bases and the home rounds and
the defense. But the leadership, the work ethic, the baseball acumen,
the buy in ability to support teammates when they're struggling,
but get on teammates when they're having success. I mean,
(07:34):
it was funny because he didn't have very good game
on Sunday and we won. And at the end of
the game he said, thank god we won because I
wouldn't have slept until and he's probably wasn't lying. And
I said, well, here's the deal, Carrington. Next year, we're
going to have to learn to win without you. So
I'm glad we had to do it once today and
that'll be a big challenge. He's incredibly valuable.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
What's interesting is we had them on with us five
or six weeks ago, and I want to talk about Brownsburg,
Indiana and him and his journey to U SEE and
the academic part of his profile here, which is impressive
in its own right, And all he wanted to do
was talk about his teammates. Yeah, that's that's how caring
and none in a cliche way either.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, No, he doesn't. You know, he's aware of his
success because he takes a lot of pride in it.
But he would he would legitimately hit one hundred and
sit the bench if it meant a national title, like
he wants do that for you? Yeah, yeah, half of it, right, yeah, yeah,
And I could pay about half of that hundred. But
(08:30):
he he's been here five years. I think it's really
become a second home to him. And he had some
opportunities in professional baseball last year, and some of it
was the academic side, ability to finish his degree in
the classroom, which was going to be tough, But there
is certainly an aspect where he viewed it as an
opportunity to be a part of a changing program and
leaving a legacy, not not his numbers, but as a
(08:52):
team that that was doing things that that were not
believed possible a couple of years prior. And you can
tell that. I mean, if you talk about playing in
the Ends Tournament, we're not going to make it be
bigger than it has to be. Like, ultimately, this has
been a really successful season no matter what. But heck, yeah,
I want him to be a part of playing in
one of those things.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
He deserves it. This is year two, we're coming toward
the end. Hopefully not really close to the end. But
I remember being in your office before the first season
and we were talking about bischel Ball and what you
wanted it to look like, your vision for the program.
Nearly two full seasons in, do you feel like that's
being realized? Do you feel like you're close to where
you want to be? Where are you in that regard?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, you know, last year we talked a lot. I
don't know where this bischel Ball came. Thing came literation, Yeah,
I guess I just thought it was baseball, but that's
a literate too, But at anywhere, at any rate, I
think we talked a lot about identity, and I think
if you went to people in our league and talked
about what it meant to play against us. I think
you'd get a really clear picture of how fast we play,
(09:50):
how much energy we play with, how well we compete
get after the strike zone. It's far from a finished product,
and I think there's still a lot of upside there.
I think we can still grow a lot. I think
our guys have really bought into it, and I think
that's why you've seen us be pretty consistently successful. I'm
really proud of the time our guys have put into
making this happen.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
And it feels like you have fit in nicely from
almost day one of the Big Twelve, which is not easy.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
No, it's not, and you can see it. You know,
our entire department. We're in our infancy right it's year two.
And that's not a critique of anybody. It's really hard
to jump into this league and be successful, and we've
seen that across the board and it's been really hard
for us. But the other thing is we look at
some programs, you know, Central Florida, Houston BYU jumped in
(10:34):
with baseball with us, and you know, you pull up
the standings and they look a little different for those schools.
And that's again, it's not a criticism. It's just it's
a hard thing to do, and we've had some good fortune.
We've had good support. John and Joe and their teams
have given us some tools and resources to be successful.
And then we just have players that just get after
it every day, our coaching staff and some under the
(10:56):
radar people that are hanging out right now. Everybody that's
pouring into this thing is where the success is coming out.
And that's what makes it fun to show up every
day is I just see so many people around us
that want so badly to push this thing forward, and
it's been fun. I mean, we were now at thirty
one big twelve wins in two years, which means we'll
be over five hundred our first two years in the league,
(11:16):
and that's an accomplishment. I'm proud of a lot of
people for what they put into it all.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Right, before I let you go, one technical question. Yeah,
it's based on a call. No, it's based on a
phone call we got yesterday. So gentlemen called the show
and said, came to a game and saw the double
bag at first base. Now, I did what I could
to explain it because I understand it, but from your
perspective in the sport explain to my caller yesterday the
purpose behind the double bag.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Yeah, it's funny you bring that up. I actually am
on the NCAA rules committee, and I know that American
Baseball Coaches Association director pretty well, Craig Kylitzh went to
Central Michigan. His dad was former coach there who's kind
of a mentor to me. So I know Craig really well.
And about five years ago, actually called Craig and I said,
(12:02):
you know, we should really consider this. I call it
a softball base because you see it, or youth base,
but I said, we should really consider this softball base.
And I kind of laughed about it because it looked
really hokey and looked really weird. And then a year
or two later, we have a bunt play in our
first basement, has a collision and actually tears his ucl
in one of his elbows and miss is almost a
full season. And so this goes on and I keep thinking,
(12:22):
you know, why wouldn't we do this? And traditionally in
baseball it's pretty old school. Nobody wants to do anything
that's right.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
For years.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
You should have played a shift and it just started
playing fifteen minutes ago or fifteen years ago. You know,
everybody doesn't want to be embarrassed by something dumb. And
so I'm on this rules committee and I'm sitting in
a room and this is, you know, my first year
on the job here, and I'm sitting in a room
with Tim KORbin and Jim Schlasnagel just not wanted to
look like a dumb butt. I don't know what I
can say on the air, look like an idiot. But
(12:49):
finally I kind of raised my hand. I'm like, guys,
if you want to laugh me out of the room,
it's fine. But you know, if we had two bases there,
we'd probably run into each other a lot less and
save some injuries. And sure enough, like four their coaches
in the room go, I lost my first basement, you know,
And so we all had these horror stories. So we
all were kind of like And so last year, thankfully,
the SEC who kind of leads the way in baseball,
(13:10):
they threw it out there. They used it in some games,
they use it in their tournament, and they realized it
was incredibly simple. It was easier for umpires. They now
a base runner doesn't have to run in that bunt lane.
He has to go to the outside because that's where
the base is. But I mean most of these first
basement in this in this sport, at this level, are
two hundred plus pounds in their base. Runners are big
kids flying down the line. That is four hundred pounds
(13:32):
of human that have seventeen inches of base to share.
It's fifteen inches, actually, I think, and I mean that's
a scary proposition. So just by doubling the size and area,
it's just a safety thing and it's been incredibly helpful.
They're probably in our games alone. They're probably been three
or four times this year where you said, man, that
could have been ugly, and it's it's not. So A
(13:52):
handful of years ago, bass coaches started using helmets instead
of hats, and everybody thought they look like idiots. And
now they're out there with them on it for it
to happen exactly, and that was that was kind of
the point, and everybody thought it look weird. Now just
looks normal. And I think this basse I would be
I wouldn't be surprised if you see it in professional
baseball sooner than later, because really it makes a lot
of sense. I have two massive humans moving the fastest
(14:15):
they can sharing this little, tiny square.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well, I always think about the picture covering first base
because he's got to find the ball, find the bag
and then look over his shoulder. And so you're to
me significantly reducing the chance of the batter charging toward
first and the picture getting there at the same time
and something equally Disasters happen.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Exactly, And umpires love it because it's just more space.
You can see more things. And again, all those plays
around home plate. You know, there was a play in
the college World Series a couple of years ago where
the game changed because a guy was running on the
wrong side of the line and the umpire had to
call him out. It would have maybe changed the outcome
in the World Series. Well, now umpires don't have to
worry about that because that runner has to get to
the other side to get to the base.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So it looks weird, but it's great, all right, I
promised I would ask you.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Hopefully it's an acceptable answer. If people want to boom
me for being a part of that process, I can.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Who would be I don't know. It looks it's jarring.
I mean the first time I saw it last year,
I think it was during the SEC tournament. I'm going
because it's one's orange and one's typical white, and I'm going,
what is that? And then you kind of do a
search on the internet. It makes sense.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Well, in the good news is our dugout has so
much energy and we're so involved in the game. We
get compared to a softball team a lot anyway, So
I can just tell them we're just buying into it.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You know my softball team we have beer in the dugout. Yeah,
we do that too.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Oh good only for the guys over turny one part
of the deal.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I can't thank you enough for doing this. I wish
you guys were playing nonetheless, good to have you, good
luck this weekend, and beyond appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Thanks a bunch.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Mount Jordan Bischel, the head baseball coach at the University
of Cincinnati. We are here until six o'clock. Joe Royer
is going to join us, coming up at four oh
five on five to one three day on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Traffic from the u SEE Health Traffic Center. You See
Health as expert trauma tearocusing on prevention treating injuries and
supporting long term recovery and rehabilitation. Learn more at UCHealth
dot com. I seventy five Southbounded is an accident on
the ramp to eastbound two seventy five Cruise responding to
(16:15):
that crash block in the right lane on the freeway proper.
As a result, you'll find a seven minute delay from
Union Center Boulevard and westbound Ronald Reagan Highway and accident
approaching Hamilton on that ezelic with traffic.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
This report is sponsored by
For the ESPN fifteen thirty. Hey, Joran Window, Orange and
Black Schedule Breakdown show Live at Smoke Justice, the biggest
sports brains, breaking down the schedule tomorrow night, beginning at
six on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Twenty seven away from four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty on Mooegger. It's five one three day. Around this
time yesterday, you may have heard me talking about how
I was so stoked for this afternoon because we were
going to be broadcasting from the concourse at the UC
Baseball Stadium before the Bearcats played Indiana last week of
the regular season. And that's something that I've always wanted
(00:39):
to do, and we found a way to make it happen,
and we were going to have a slew a guess,
and it was going to be awesome. And then right
before we got off there, we found out, well, you're
still coming to UC to do your show, but we're
not going to play a baseball game. So I was disappointed.
I don't know how disappointed. Jordan Bishall was the head
baseball coach at UC. Are you it's been a you
guys just came off a grueling road trip. So do
you view it as a restpite? Do you view it
(01:01):
as we want to keep playing. We've got a big
series this weekend, Like what's yeah, look disappointed?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah, we like to play. Yeah, we are allowed fifty
six games, and we schedule fifty six. We try to
get them in. And Indiana is a great opponent. They've
played in a couple of regionals in a row, and
we were excited for it. But you know, there's pretty
good chance of storms yet this afternoon, and the last
thing anybody needs fifty plus games in the year sit
and watch it rain or you know, lightning completely cripples
(01:28):
games because you get thirty minutes where you have to
be down. And so we had that a couple of
weeks ago against Oklahoma State, and we're a little worried.
We'll play three innings and sit for an hour and play,
And we just didn't want to run into that late
a year. But would have been great to just have
a nice sunny get a great crowd out here. But
if there is a silver lining, we get to regroup
a little bit for a big weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Here, who makes the call to cancel the game? Uh?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
You know, there's everybody works together ultimately. You know, I'm
a meteorologist, probably more than a baseball coach obviously, and
I saw the forecast was pretty if he had a
conversation with their coaching staff and they agreed with it,
and obviously our staff understood, and so it's kind of
a collaborative decision. But I'm kind of the bad guy
if nobody likes a decision.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Okay, all right, so we'll put it on you. Yeah,
you're why we're inside today.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I get blamed for most things. I deserve it.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I got you. There is college baseball bracketology, and I
know you don't want to hear this, but I look
at these things and there you guys are right there
going into the last weekend of the regular season with
a chance for an at large bid. Are these the
sort of things you pay attention to? Or are you
annoyed with me for even bringing it up? No?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I mean, listen, if I thought our guys were naive
to what was out there, I'd be a fool. So
I have to talk about it to our guys a
little bit and make sure they're aware of, you know,
what everything means, because they're going to come up with
their own answers and solutions either way, and ultimately like,
we like this problem, right. I think when we joined
the Big twelve two years ago, the idea that we'd
(02:52):
be coming up in conversations about at large bids two
years in a row to start out our tenure in
the league was probably a little far fetched to some people.
So we're excited about it. And really, you know, if
season ending now we know we'd be in that field,
which is exciting. We also know the season didn't end,
and so we got to go and play good baseball.
And I joke a lot with our guys. I tell them,
you know, I've got a master's degree, and as part
of my big project to wrap up, I did a
(03:13):
big study and it showed that when you win, you
generally go up in these metrics, and when we lose,
you generally go down. And wow, this was year twenty
of my study and it's amazing. It's still coming to fruition.
So we joke about it. We know all we need
to do, we need to go play good baseball. But
it's pretty cool to be a part of that mix.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I felt like Sunday was big because I know how
hard Saturday was.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, it really was. You know, it was an eleven
day road trip. Some people may not realize we stayed
on the road. So we won three games at Kansas,
who came into that weekend really really in the hunt
to host a regional as a top twenty five team,
and I got three wins there, which was pretty incredible.
We went to Oral Roberts, who's played in like twenty
of the last twenty three NCAA tournaments. They were in
the World Series two years ago. We picked up a
(03:52):
nice road win there, so four and o to start
the trip, and then we lose kind of a slug
fest on Friday, and then really a heartbreaker on Saturday.
Tight game all the way to the end and end
of a long trip, playing a team that's again probably
in a pretty good position to host a regionally. It
would have been pretty easy to kind of pack up
the bags and just get home. And it was a
great We fell behind four to one short on the
(04:13):
mound and we just kept going and kind of a
credit to our guys, it's not that we're happy to
lose two out of three, but flip side, we go
five and two against some pretty tang good competition on
the road. And that made a huge difference and kind
of the outlook down the stretch here. So it makes
us week really exciting. But that Sunday win was huge
in terms of the way our guys competed and didn't
quit and kept going.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
What is it like taking a college baseball team on
an eleven day road trip when you're playing for a lot?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, yeah, you know it's funny because we did it
to start the year and week two to three as well,
and I'm glad we did. We struggled on that trip,
and I don't think I did a good enough job
of helping our guys recognize that it will be really challenging.
We went to Vegas and San Diego. I'll shoot out
of you excited, but it is. It's a lot of baseball.
We played eight games and ten days, and that that
can be a little gro and I think our guys
(05:01):
got a little warned down by it, and more mentally
than physically. They just they were ready to get home.
And so we really treated this trip as talked about
it being just eleven individual days, eleven one day trips,
and let's try to have eleven great days. And they
really bought into it, believed in it, stayed with it,
but it's tough. You know, they're ready to be home.
But flip side, you know, we make it sound like
(05:22):
their lives are so hard.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
School's over.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
We're playing at Kansas in front of a couple thousand fans,
TCU in front of four thousand fans, playing against guys
that are going to be top draft picks and one
of the best leagues in the country. You're playing with
your best friends in great weather. I mean, how cool
is this? Yeah, you know, and I think they change
that mentality into realizing, man, this is an awesome opportunity.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
And so that was fun, and you have an awesome opportunity.
Three games a weekend series a Thursday through Saturday, two
six o'clock games, and a one o'clock game on Saturday,
and then you're done. And then it's the Big twelve tournament.
Described from my audience, the stakes this weekend for this
three game set with Kansas State.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, I mean we spend all year really talking about
the next game is always the biggest game. But certainly
when you get to a point where there's you know whatever,
fifteen to twenty teams gunning for ten twelve, fourteen spots.
Every game can be a big swing, so so ultimately
it'll play a pretty big part. But the last fifty
(06:18):
one played a big part too. But we know we're
in a great position right now. It's pretty darn exciting
that we're going to be on our home field, knowing
if we play a good weekend that it's a virtual
lock we'll get to play into the NCAA tournament. That's awesome.
Even if it doesn't go great, we're going to be
in an okay spot, but we can really help ourselves.
In Kansas State, it's in a similar position. Two teams
that are top forty in the RPI. That's that's a
(06:39):
big thing for people to know. Like you come out
to the ballpark, you see the top two of the
top forty teams in the country square and off with
a lot at steak. It's pretty exciting.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Carrot's and Cross make the case Big twelve Player of
the Year.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yeah, I've said this to a lot of people that
there are I'm sure there are other coaches in the
league that can stunt for their guys and talk about
their guys. But if I had to make the case,
if if the league came to me right now and said,
you can take any player in the league, you just
have to give up Carrington Cross. We wouldn't even have
a conversation. It's just a no brainer to me. I
don't know other guys value to their teams, but I
(07:12):
know I can't imagine having a player more valuable than Carrington.
The stats obviously take care of themselves. You don't hit
four hundred at this level if you're not pretty amazing
player in the stolen bases and the home rounds and
the defense. But the leadership, the work ethic, the baseball acumen,
the buy in ability to support teammates when they're struggling,
but get on teammates when they're having success. I mean,
(07:34):
it was funny because he didn't have very good game
on Sunday and we won. And at the end of
the game he said, thank god we won because I
wouldn't have slept until and he's probably wasn't lying. And
I said, well, here's the deal, Carrington. Next year, we're
going to have to learn to win without you. So
I'm glad we had to do it once today and
that'll be a big challenge. He's incredibly valuable.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
What's interesting is we had them on with us five
or six weeks ago, and I want to talk about Brownsburg,
Indiana and him and his journey to U SEE and
the academic part of his profile here, which is impressive
in its own right, And all he wanted to do
was talk about his teammates. Yeah, that's that's how caring
and none in a cliche way either.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, No, he doesn't. You know, he's aware of his
success because he takes a lot of pride in it.
But he would he would legitimately hit one hundred and
sit the bench if it meant a national title, like
he wants do that for you? Yeah, yeah, half of it, right, yeah, yeah,
And I could pay about half of that hundred. But
(08:30):
he he's been here five years. I think it's really
become a second home to him. And he had some
opportunities in professional baseball last year, and some of it
was the academic side, ability to finish his degree in
the classroom, which was going to be tough, But there
is certainly an aspect where he viewed it as an
opportunity to be a part of a changing program and
leaving a legacy, not not his numbers, but as a
(08:52):
team that that was doing things that that were not
believed possible a couple of years prior. And you can
tell that. I mean, if you talk about playing in
the Ends Tournament, we're not going to make it be
bigger than it has to be. Like, ultimately, this has
been a really successful season no matter what. But heck, yeah,
I want him to be a part of playing in
one of those things.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
He deserves it. This is year two, we're coming toward
the end. Hopefully not really close to the end. But
I remember being in your office before the first season
and we were talking about bischel Ball and what you
wanted it to look like, your vision for the program.
Nearly two full seasons in, do you feel like that's
being realized? Do you feel like you're close to where
you want to be? Where are you in that regard?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, you know, last year we talked a lot. I
don't know where this bischel Ball came. Thing came literation, Yeah,
I guess I just thought it was baseball, but that's
a literate too, But at anywhere, at any rate, I
think we talked a lot about identity, and I think
if you went to people in our league and talked
about what it meant to play against us. I think
you'd get a really clear picture of how fast we play,
(09:50):
how much energy we play with, how well we compete
get after the strike zone. It's far from a finished product,
and I think there's still a lot of upside there.
I think we can still grow a lot. I think
our guys have really bought into it, and I think
that's why you've seen us be pretty consistently successful. I'm
really proud of the time our guys have put into
making this happen.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
And it feels like you have fit in nicely from
almost day one of the Big Twelve, which is not easy.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
No, it's not, and you can see it. You know,
our entire department. We're in our infancy right it's year two.
And that's not a critique of anybody. It's really hard
to jump into this league and be successful, and we've
seen that across the board and it's been really hard
for us. But the other thing is we look at
some programs, you know, Central Florida, Houston BYU jumped in
(10:34):
with baseball with us, and you know, you pull up
the standings and they look a little different for those schools.
And that's again, it's not a criticism. It's just it's
a hard thing to do, and we've had some good fortune.
We've had good support. John and Joe and their teams
have given us some tools and resources to be successful.
And then we just have players that just get after
it every day, our coaching staff and some under the
(10:56):
radar people that are hanging out right now. Everybody that's
pouring into this thing is where the success is coming out.
And that's what makes it fun to show up every
day is I just see so many people around us
that want so badly to push this thing forward, and
it's been fun. I mean, we were now at thirty
one big twelve wins in two years, which means we'll
be over five hundred our first two years in the league,
(11:16):
and that's an accomplishment. I'm proud of a lot of
people for what they put into it all.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Right, before I let you go, one technical question. Yeah,
it's based on a call. No, it's based on a
phone call we got yesterday. So gentlemen called the show
and said, came to a game and saw the double
bag at first base. Now, I did what I could
to explain it because I understand it, but from your
perspective in the sport explain to my caller yesterday the
purpose behind the double bag.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Yeah, it's funny you bring that up. I actually am
on the NCAA rules committee, and I know that American
Baseball Coaches Association director pretty well, Craig Kylitzh went to
Central Michigan. His dad was former coach there who's kind
of a mentor to me. So I know Craig really well.
And about five years ago, actually called Craig and I said,
(12:02):
you know, we should really consider this. I call it
a softball base because you see it, or youth base,
but I said, we should really consider this softball base.
And I kind of laughed about it because it looked
really hokey and looked really weird. And then a year
or two later, we have a bunt play in our
first basement, has a collision and actually tears his ucl
in one of his elbows and miss is almost a
full season. And so this goes on and I keep thinking,
(12:22):
you know, why wouldn't we do this? And traditionally in
baseball it's pretty old school. Nobody wants to do anything
that's right.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
For years.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
You should have played a shift and it just started
playing fifteen minutes ago or fifteen years ago. You know,
everybody doesn't want to be embarrassed by something dumb. And
so I'm on this rules committee and I'm sitting in
a room and this is, you know, my first year
on the job here, and I'm sitting in a room
with Tim KORbin and Jim Schlasnagel just not wanted to
look like a dumb butt. I don't know what I
can say on the air, look like an idiot. But
(12:49):
finally I kind of raised my hand. I'm like, guys,
if you want to laugh me out of the room,
it's fine. But you know, if we had two bases there,
we'd probably run into each other a lot less and
save some injuries. And sure enough, like four their coaches
in the room go, I lost my first basement, you know,
And so we all had these horror stories. So we
all were kind of like And so last year, thankfully,
the SEC who kind of leads the way in baseball,
(13:10):
they threw it out there. They used it in some games,
they use it in their tournament, and they realized it
was incredibly simple. It was easier for umpires. They now
a base runner doesn't have to run in that bunt lane.
He has to go to the outside because that's where
the base is. But I mean most of these first
basement in this in this sport, at this level, are
two hundred plus pounds in their base. Runners are big
kids flying down the line. That is four hundred pounds
(13:32):
of human that have seventeen inches of base to share.
It's fifteen inches, actually, I think, and I mean that's
a scary proposition. So just by doubling the size and area,
it's just a safety thing and it's been incredibly helpful.
They're probably in our games alone. They're probably been three
or four times this year where you said, man, that
could have been ugly, and it's it's not. So A
(13:52):
handful of years ago, bass coaches started using helmets instead
of hats, and everybody thought they look like idiots. And
now they're out there with them on it for it
to happen exactly, and that was that was kind of
the point, and everybody thought it look weird. Now just
looks normal. And I think this basse I would be
I wouldn't be surprised if you see it in professional
baseball sooner than later, because really it makes a lot
of sense. I have two massive humans moving the fastest
(14:15):
they can sharing this little, tiny square.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well, I always think about the picture covering first base
because he's got to find the ball, find the bag
and then look over his shoulder. And so you're to
me significantly reducing the chance of the batter charging toward
first and the picture getting there at the same time
and something equally Disasters happen.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Exactly, And umpires love it because it's just more space.
You can see more things. And again, all those plays
around home plate. You know, there was a play in
the college World Series a couple of years ago where
the game changed because a guy was running on the
wrong side of the line and the umpire had to
call him out. It would have maybe changed the outcome
in the World Series. Well, now umpires don't have to
worry about that because that runner has to get to
the other side to get to the base.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So it looks weird, but it's great, all right, I
promised I would ask you.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Hopefully it's an acceptable answer. If people want to boom
me for being a part of that process, I can.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Who would be I don't know. It looks it's jarring.
I mean the first time I saw it last year,
I think it was during the SEC tournament. I'm going
because it's one's orange and one's typical white, and I'm going,
what is that? And then you kind of do a
search on the internet. It makes sense.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Well, in the good news is our dugout has so
much energy and we're so involved in the game. We
get compared to a softball team a lot anyway, So
I can just tell them we're just buying into it.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You know my softball team we have beer in the dugout. Yeah,
we do that too.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Oh good only for the guys over turny one part
of the deal.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I can't thank you enough for doing this. I wish
you guys were playing nonetheless, good to have you, good
luck this weekend, and beyond appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Thanks a bunch.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Mount Jordan Bischel, the head baseball coach at the University
of Cincinnati. We are here until six o'clock. Joe Royer
is going to join us, coming up at four oh
five on five to one three day on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Traffic from the u SEE Health Traffic Center. You See
Health as expert trauma tearocusing on prevention treating injuries and
supporting long term recovery and rehabilitation. Learn more at UCHealth
dot com. I seventy five Southbounded is an accident on
the ramp to eastbound two seventy five Cruise responding to
(16:15):
that crash block in the right lane on the freeway proper.
As a result, you'll find a seven minute delay from
Union Center Boulevard and westbound Ronald Reagan Highway and accident
approaching Hamilton on that ezelic with traffic.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
This report is sponsored by
Mo Egger News
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com