Despite the overwhelming reasons USF baseball should sweep Cincinnati this weekend at Red McEwen Field, USF coach Eddie Cardieri and his team remain skeptical.

“I am not worried about the sweep,” Cardieri said. “I am worried about (today’s) game. We have a 50-50 chance of beating (UC). Anybody can beat anybody, especially in this league.”

In the conference statistics, the Bearcats and the Bulls are at opposite ends of the spectrum. UC is second to last in the Conference USA standings, only edging out Saint Louis by one game, but these numbers are not building up junior shortstop Myron Leslie’s confidence too much.

“If we play our game, we should beat them,” Leslie said.

The Bearcats have the second-worst ERA in the league with 5.86. They also have the worst strikeout total in the conference, striking out only 193 batters in 35 games. Those numbers should help the Bulls, who lead the conference in doubles (108), triples (16) and hits (425).

Another reason for a USF victory this weekend is that the Bearcats have the lowest runs scored (159) and the second-worst batting average in the league (.250).

USF has struck out the third-most batters (289) and has the fifth-best ERA in C-USA with 4.00.

Not only does Cincinnati have one of the worst conference records, it has the most losses with 25, one more loss than USF has victories.

“Teams like that are dangerous teams,” Leslie said. “They are going to come ready to play and ready to win.”

Cardieri said he feels the same way. He doesn’t believe that another team’s record should affect a player’s confidence.

“If you’re confident, you’re confident,” Cardieri said. “It doesn’t matter what (the other team’s) record is.” The conference action starts at 7 tonight at Red McEwen Field.