Look who leads the American Athletic Conference baseball standings.

Yes, the Cincinnati Bearcats.

After a 1-11 start to the regular season, the Bearcats since have gone 20-11-1. After being voted to finish last in the AAC by league coaches, UC leads the conference with a 9-5-1 record.

“I was embarrassed that we were 1-11, as a competitor,” third-year UC coach Ty Neal said Monday. “I knew this was a good baseball team.”

The Bearcats’ overall 21-22-1 record clearly is not spectacular, but at UC it marks substantial progress. The Bearcats last year finished 15-41 and 6-18 in the AAC, their second consecutive last-place finish.

UC opened the 2016 season with three losses at No. 5 LSU. Neal deliberately has beefed up the non-league schedule.

“It’s part of the plan,” Neal said. “You get better by playing good competition, by facing adversity. We need to handle it. I’m sure some people probably said, well, this jokester doesn’t know what he’s doing. They’re 1-11 and he’s in his third year.”

UC baseball has not made the NCAA Tournament since 1974. The Bearcats last had a winning season in 2011.

Neal has undertaken a total rebuild. Last year’s team was the youngest in the country, with 21 freshmen. This year’s club is not much older, with only three seniors and three juniors.

“I can’t worry what other people think,” Neal said. “I know what we’re doing is right.”

Third baseman Connor McVey, a sophomore from Mason High School, leads the Bearcats with a .304 batting average, .396 on-base percentage and 23 steals.

Junior right-hander Andrew Zellner (Farmerstown, Ohio/Valley View) is the pitching ace, with a 6-2 record and 1.64 ERA.

Neal also singled out senior catcher Woody Wallace (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy), who leads UC with six homers this season.

“Those three guys are kind of the backbone of this program,” Neal said.

Local regulars also include freshman outfielder Cam Alldred (Cincinnati Country Day), freshman designated hitter Cole Murphy (Walnut Hills) and junior outfielder R.J. Thompson (Mason).

UC this year owns two wins over No. 22 Tulane, and victories over No. 17 East Carolina and No. 18 Coastal Carolina.

Neal said pitching and defense are the strengths of his team. The Bearcats have only one .300 hitter in McVey, but the pitchers have a 3.56 ERA. The defense ranks among the top 30 nationally in several categories.

Up next: At No. 6 Louisville on Tuesday (6 p.m.).

“The mark I want to have on this program is that I want us to have good players in this program, like they always have had,” Neal said. “But I always want to compete for championships along the way.”

HAPP UPDATE: Former UC standout Ian Happ is batting .313/.427/.550 this year at High-A Myrtle Beach, a Chicago Cubs affiliate. Happ, the No. 9 overall MLB draftee last June, mostly has been playing second base.

In 22 games, Happ has four homers and 18 RBI. His OPS is .977.