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CINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team recorded 12 hits on Thursday evening but could not come up with the win, falling 7-3 to East Carolina at Marge Schott Stadium.
Junior Ian Happ (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) collected two hits, including his 14th homerun of the season to lead the team with two RBIs and a run scored. Junior Woody Wallace (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) and freshmen Kyle Mottice (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) and Treg Haberkorn (Leo, Ind./Leo) also recorded two hits in the ballgame.
// NOTABLES
- With the loss, Cincinnati drops to 15-37 on the year and 6-16 in the American while East Carolina improves to 34-20 and 12-9.
- Starting pitcher Ryan Atkinson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) (4-6) took the loss after tossing 8.1 innings and striking out four batters. ECU's Reid Love (7-3) earned the win.
- Atkinson pitched in his final game at Marge Schott Stadium. The team will honor him on Friday night in a senior day ceremony.
- Mottice extended his on-base streak to 12 straight games with his two hits on the night.
- Head coach Ty Neal penciled five freshmen into the starting lineup and has started at least four youngsters in each game this season. Freshman Ryan Noda (Volo, Ill./Grant) has started every game for UC.
- The Bearcats recorded more hits than their opponent in a loss for just the third time this season.
- Happ's homerun was his 14th of the year to move him into a ninth place tie in the UC record book for homeruns in a season. It also marks the most for a UC player since Mike Spina set the school record with 23 in 2009.
- Happ collected his team-high 18th multi-hit game of the season while Mottice (10), Wallace (8) and Haberkorn (8) all added to their multi-hit totals.
- Atkinson faced a career-high 40 batters in the game.
// KEY INNINGS
Top of the Second
East Carolina scored first in the top of the second inning. Kirk Morgan was walked and moved to third when a ball took a difficult bounce on a single by Eric Tyler. Morgan then scored on a single that ricocheted off Atkinson to give the Pirates a 1-0 advantage.
Bottom of the Third
The Bearcats evened the score at 1-1 in the third after freshman Manny Rodriguez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Calvert Hall) led off the frame with a double off the wall in left field. He moved to third on a groundout by Mottice and scored on a single by Haberkorn.
Top of the Fifth
The Pirates jumped back in the lead with three runs in the fifth inning. A leadoff triple off the wall put Bryce Harman in position to score on a single down the left field line by Travis Watkins. A double by Garrett Brooks scored another run and a UC fielding error gave the Pirates their third run of the frame for a 4-1 ECU lead.
Bottom of the Eighth
Happ hit his team-leading 14th homerun to score Haberkorn and cut the ECU lead to 7-3.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati and East Carolina will continue the series on Friday, May 15, with a 6 p.m. first pitch at Marge Schott Stadium. The Bearcats will honor Atkinson, the team's only senior, in a pregame senior day ceremony.
// 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.
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