Bearcats Fall to Cardinals

Bearcats Fall to CardinalsBearcats Fall to Cardinals

April 8, 2011

Box Score

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati baseball team fell to University of Louisville 7-4 Friday night at Marge Schott Stadium.

Cincinnati had 10 hits off of UofL pitching, but seven runners left on base limited the UC offense to four runs.

Both teams wasted little time producing runs. In the second at-bat of the game, Louisville third baseman Ty Young slapped an RBI double to right centerfield to put UofL up 1-0.

Cincinnati (14-13, 3-4 BIG EAST) responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the first. After senior shortstop Chris Peters (Tipp City, Ohio/Tipp City) singled and advanced to second base on a passed ball, senior outfielder Justin Riddell (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) stroked a double to right centerfield with two outs to score Peters and tie the game at 1.

Junior first baseman Nic Spence (Victoria, Australia/St. Joseph's) gave the Bearcats a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning after smacking an RBI double to centerfield to drive in junior OF/C Braden Kline (Warsaw, Ind./Warsaw Community).

The Cardinals tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third when UofL CF Cole Sturgeon scored from second base on an infield error. Louisville then added a run in the fourth and two more in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead.

The Bearcats rallied for two runs in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 5-4. Sophomore outfielder Jake Proctor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) led off the inning with a single and later scored on a Riddell groundout to second base. After junior T.J. Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) hit a pinch-hit double off the left field wall, Kline slapped an RBI single to pull UC to within one run.

The Bearcats could not hold the Cardinals from adding two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, making the score 7-4.

UofL pitcher Tony Zych pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the save and end the game.

Cincinnati and Louisville will play Game 2 of a three-game series at 4 p.m. ET Saturday at Marge Schott Stadium. UC will hand the ball to sophomore RHP Andrew Strenge (Yardley, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) while Louisville will start sophomore RHP Justin Amlung.