Baseball: UC picks up transfer portal addition

by Ryan Roberts

Cincinnati baseball concluded their season on June 1st, losing to Wake Forest 10-3 in the Knoxville Regional. The day prior, UC was dropped to the loser's bracket after falling to the 1-seed Tennessee Volunteers, 10-6.

 

During the tournament it was clear that Cincinnati had an ace, but after that, pitching depth would have to be improved this offseason if they wanted to improve on their 33-26 record in year three under Jordan Bischel.

 

The Bearcats opened the regional with an 11-6 win over Wake Forest but struggled to find consistency from the mound over the next two games.

 

That depth was addressed Saturday morning with the addition of Miami (OH) transfer Charlie Dieruf.

 

Dieruf appeared in 16 games during his freshman season, striking out 17 batters in 24.1 innings. 

 

A local product out of Covington Catholic High School, Dieruf has a fastball that consistently hits 92-94 mph, while also being able to keep hitters off balance with a slider in the 78-81 range and changeup that hits 82-85.

 

 

 

 

During his senior season at Covcath, Dieruf batted .367 with 3 homeruns, three triples, eight doubles, and 29 runs batted in. He joins incoming freshman Jackson Reardon as Covcath products to end up in Clifton. 

 

With the loss of Big 12 player of the year Kerrington Cross as well as No. 2 pitcher, Kellen O'Connor, Jordan Bischel will search for immediate impact type guys to round out the roster for the 2026 season. With the roster limit being decreased from 40 to 34, Bischel will have to be more selective about who he brings in this offseason.

 

The bright side? Bischell has a great core to build around with the return of Jack Natili, Quinton Coats, Luke Sefcik, Charlie Niehaus, Cal Sefcik, Derrick Pitts, Christian Mitchelle, and starting pitcher Nate Taylor. As the roster is currently constructed, third base and right field seem to be the only two positions of need outside of pitching depth. Landyn Vidourek returning would also be a huge boost to what the Bearcats already have returning. 

 

Cincinnati is coming off a season in which they won 33 games, fifth most in program history, while also setting single season program records for both strikeouts and stolen bases. 

 

 

 

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