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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Freshman starting pitcher Dalton Lehnen (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) had a career day on the mound in a 2-1 loss to No. 6 UCF on Saturday afternoon at Marge Schott Stadium. The southpaw tossed his first-career complete game, going 9.0 innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts and no walks for the Bearcats.
// NOTABLES
- Cincinnati falls to 8-21 on the year and 2-4 in the American Athletic Conference with the loss while UCF improves to 23-10 and 3-3.
- Lehnen took the loss to drop to 1-5 this year. UCF starting pitcher Zach Rodgers also tossed a complete game, picking up the victory to improve to 5-0.
- Head coach Ty Neal penciled five freshmen into the starting lineup and has started at least four youngsters in each game this season. Freshmen Ryan Noda (Volo, Ill./Grant) and Manny Rodriguez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Calvert Hall) have started every game for UC.
- Freshman Dalton Lehnen (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) set a new career high with 11 strikeouts on the day.
- Junior Ian Happ (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) singled in the fourth inning to continue his on base streak to 27 consecutive games.
- Sophomore R.J. Thompson (Mason, Ohio/Mason) went 1-for-2 on the day with a pair of walks and finished the series 5-for-9 with two runs and two RBIs.
- UCF is ranked in the top-11 of all five major polls, checking in at No. 11 in the NCBWA poll, No. 10 in the D1Baseball.com poll, No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches' poll, No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 6 in the Baseball America poll.
- The Knights' offense ranks among the top-5 in the NCAA in batting average, hits, homeruns, on base percentage, runs and slugging percentage.
// KEY INNINGS
Top of the Second
After a scoreless first inning, UCF's James Vasquez hit a solo homerun off Lehnen in the second to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Top of the Fourth
A single and a double put two UCF runners in scoring position before a groundout by Vasquez scored the second run for UCF.
Top of the Eighth
The Knights threatened more runs in the top of the eighth inning when Dylan Moore doubled off the wall in right field to land in scoring position with just one out. Lehnen didn't seemed fazed, getting a groundout from Derrick Salberg and then striking out the powerful Erik Barber to escape the jam.
Bottom of the Eighth
The Bearcats finally broke through in the eighth inning after Thompson was walked with two outs. Noda doubled down the left field line to score Thompson but the Bearcats could not manage any more offense in the inning, leaving the tying run at second base.
// UP NEXT
It will be a homecoming for Coach Neal when the Bearcats travel to Bloomington, Indiana, for a midweek matchup against the Indiana University Hoosiers on Wednesday, April 8. Neal served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at IU for eight years before taking over the Bearcats staff. Volunteer assistant Dustin Coffman and director of operations Ted Tom also have ties to Indiana. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all of the latest information on Cincinnati baseball, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up to the minute updates, follow Cincinnati baseball (@UCincyBaseball) and Coach Neal (@Ty_Neal_UC) on twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook.
// TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets for all 23 home matches can be purchased for as little $10. For more information, visit GoBEARCATS.com/tickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX.
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