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CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team fought back from an early five-run deficit but could not hold the momentum, falling to Memphis 14-9 in an elimination game of the American Athletic Conference Championship in Clearwater, Florida, on Wednesday night.
// NOTABLES
- Relief pitcher Andrew Zellner (Farmersville, Ohio/Valley View) took the loss while Memphis' Matt Ferguson earned the victory from the bullpen.
- The Bearcats finished the season with a record of 15-41.
- Junior Devin Wenzel (Blandon, Pa./Fleetwood Area) hit his fifth homerun of the season to tie the game at 5-5 in the first inning. The mark surpasses his career high of four long balls hit in both 2013 and 2014.
- Freshman Chris Klenk (Portage, Ind./Portage) tied a career high with two hits.
- Sophomore R.J. Thompson (Mason, Ohio/Mason) recorded his 13th multi-hit game of the season with singles in the first and fifth innings.
- Junior Ian Happ (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) was walked twice in the game to end the year with 128 career walks to rank third on the UC all-time list.
- Redshirt junior Bryan Chenoweth (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) entered the game in the sixth inning to make his season debut after coming
back from an injury.
- Head coach Ty Neal penciled five freshmen into the starting lineup and started at least four youngsters in each game this season. Freshman Ryan Noda (Volo, Ill./Grant) started every game for UC.
// KEY INNINGS
Top of the First
Memphis jumped all over Atkinson in the first inning, scoring five runs on four hits, including a two-run homerun by Brandon Montgomery, with only one out recorded. Zellner entered from the bullpen and ended the damage with a groundout and a caught stealing.
Bottom of the First
The Bearcats came storming back, scoring five runs of their own in the first to tie the game at 5-5. Freshmen Kyle Mottice (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) and Treg Haberkorn (Leo, Ind./Leo) singled to lead off the game and both scored on a double to left field by Noda. Thompson then singled to score Noda before a 2-run homerun by Wenzel tied the score at 5-5.
Top of the Second
The Tigers regained the lead in the second inning with a 2-out single by Tucker Tubbs that scored Jake Overbey from second base.
Top of the Fifth
Memphis put the game away in the fifth inning when it extended its lead to 9-5. A throwing error on a bases-loaded squeeze bunt scored the first run of the inning before a single by Jake Little scored two more for the Tigers.
Top of the Sixth
The Tigers scored what would end up being the winning run in the sixth inning when they connected for four runs on two hits. The first run of the inning was walked home before an RBI-double and a sacrifice fly gave Memphis enough runs for the victory.
// 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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