TicketsApril 7, 2012
CINCINNATI - Sophomore outfielder Justin Glass (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) batted 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, but it was not enough as the University of Cincinnati baseball team fell to University of South Florida 8-5 Saturday afternoon at Marge Schott Stadium.
Just as four UC defensive mishaps led to three unearned runs and a USF 3-2 victory in 12 innings on Friday; the Bearcats committed four errors on Saturday, leading to four unearned runs for the Bulls.
Trailing 8-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Cincinnati (11-19, 1-8 BIG EAST) rallied for two runs. Senior Kiley Jones (Louisville, Ky./Easton) led off with a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, junior J.P. Jackson (Bowling Green, Ky./Bowling Green/Western Kentucky) singled to right-center, scoring Jones. Glass drove in Jackson with a double left-center.
Freshman right-hander Grant Walker (Brookeville, Ohio/Northmont) started the game for UC and surrendered five runs, only two of which were earned, while striking out three in five innings pitched.
South Florida (23-10, 8-1 BIG EAST) scored its fourth unearned run of the ballgame in the top of the seventh to take an 8-3 advantage. With two outs, Bulls third baseman Zac Gilcrease hit a grounder to shortstop that was bobbled that allowed USF right fielder James Ramsey, who led off the frame with a walk, to score from third base.
The Bearcats got two runs back in the bottom half of the sixth inning to decrease USF's lead to 7-3. Glass led off with a single to right field for his second hit of the day. Freshman third baseman Joey Bielek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chapparal) doubled to left-center, giving UC runners on second and third with no outs. Senior designated hitter T.J. Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle) hit an infield single down the third-base line that drove home Glass. Senior Sam Vandenheuvel (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton/Mesa CC) singled two batters later for an RBI, scoring Bielek. With the bases loaded and one out, UC had a chance to do more damage, but pinch hitter Kiley Jones and center fielder Jake Proctor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) both struck out swinging to end the threat.
The Bulls upped their lead to six runs in the top of the sixth inning when USF catcher Andrew Longley belted a two-run longball over the left-center field fence, making the score 7-1 USF.
With the score 2-1 USF in the top of the fifth inning, a pair of two-out fielding errors gave the Bulls bases loaded. Bulls designated hitter Daniel Rockhold cleared the bases with a three-run double that increased USF's lead to 5-1. All three runs were unearned due to the fielding blunders.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Glass crushed a 1-0 pitch off his own headshot on the right-center field video board to the Bulls lead to 2-1. The longball was the second of the season for Glass.
USF opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the second inning. Rockhold led off the frame by clubbing his fifth home run of the season to left field on a full-count pitch from Walker. USF first baseman Buddy Putnam doubled down the left-field line. After consecutive foul-ball outs, shortstop Kyle Teaf singled in Putnam to make the score 2-0.
The Bearcats will look to defend their Joe Nuxhall Classic crown starting with at 3 p.m. Tuesday contest against Wright State University at Miami University's McKie Field in Oxford, Ohio.