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BATON ROUGE, La. - The University of Cincinnati baseball team battled No. 5 LSU through 12 innings at Alex Box Stadium before falling 6-5 on a walk-off bloop single in Baton Rouge. Cincinnati didn't trail in the game until the final at-bat and twice held 2-run leads, but could not grab the victory.
// Notables
- Cincinnati fell to 0-1 on the year while No. 5 LSU opened 1-0.
- Sophomore David Orndorff (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena Polytechnic) took the loss after pitching 2.0 solid innings of relief work with just two hits and one walk against nine batters faced. LSU's Alden Cartwright picked up the win.
- Sophomore Ryan Noda (Volo, Ill./Grant) led the Bearcats with a pair of hits.
- Sophomore Treg Haberkorn (Leo, Ind./Leo) had two RBIs while sophomore Kyle Mottice (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson), senior Woody Wallace (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) and sophomore Manny Rodriguez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Calvert Hall) each chipped in another RBI.
- Junior Andrew Zellner (Farmersville, Ohio/Valley View) started the game on the mound for Cincinnati, going a strong 4.2 innings with three hits, two strikeouts and one walk.
- Sophomore J.T. Perez (Orrville, Ohio/Orrville) contributed from the bullpen, going 4.0 innings with just two hits allowed.
- Freshmen Vince Augustine (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), Cole Murphy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) and A.J. Bumpass (Rougemont, N.C./Northern) made their collegiate debuts in the game.
- It is the first season-opener to go to extra innings since 2014 when Cincinnati lost 6-5 in 10 innings to Elon in head coach Ty Neal's debut. It is the longest season-opening game for UC since 2005 when it lost 7-6 in 13 innings at No. 28 Florida Atlantic.
- The official attendance at Alex Box Stadium was 11,906 and the game lasted three hours and 59 minutes.
// Key Innings
Top of the Second
An error by the first baseman allowed redshirt sophomore Connor McVey (Mason, Ohio/Mason) to reach an a bunt and he advanced to third on a base hit by Noda in his first at-bat of the season. Wallace then delivered a perfect sacrifice bunt to bring McVey home and give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead.
Bottom of the Third
Zellner struck out the first two batters he faced in the inning and added a groundout to preserve the slim lead for the Bearcats.
Bottom of the Fourth
A throwing error allowed the first batter to reach but Zellner responded with a groundout and a lineout. Before the Bearcats could completely escape the damage, Antoine Duplantis singled up the middle to score Jordan Beau in a close play at the play and tie the score at 1-1.
Top of the Seventh
Senior Devin Wenzel (Blandon, Pa./Fleetwood Area) led off the inning with a double before McVey was walked. The Bearcats attempted to score on a single by Noda but Wenzel was thrown out at the plate. With one out, Wallace was intentionally walked to load the bases before sophomore Treg Haberkorn delivered with a double to left center field to score a pair of runs and give UC a 3-1 lead.
Bottom of the Eighth
The Tigers got a run back in the eighth inning when a groundout by Jake Fraley scored Kramer Robertson from third.
Bottom of the Ninth
With two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter Jordan Romero singled in the tying run for LSU. Sophomore Jarod Yoakam (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) then entered to pitch for the Bearcats and got an immediate out with a fielder's choice to Rodriguez to take the game to extra innings.
Top of the 10th
Wallace led off the inning with a single before back-to-back walks to Haberkorn and Murphy loaded the bases with no outs for the Bearcats. Rodriguez gave UC a 4-3 lead after beating out an infield single to bring home Wallace for the score. One batter later, Mottice was walked to push the lead to 5-3.
Bottom of the 10th
With two outs and a runner on third, Brody Wofford singled in a run before a hit by pitch tied the score at 5-5 three batters later. Orndorff entered to pitch for the Bearcats and got Jordan Romero to pop up to the shortstop to keep the Bearcats alive and send the game to the 11th inning.
Bottom of the 12th
The Tigers broke through in the bottom of the 12th inning when a two-out bloop single to no-man's land behind first base fell between three diving Cincinnati fielders to win the game for LSU.
// Up Next
The Bearcats and the Tigers continue the series on Saturday, Feb. 20, with an afternoon first pitch at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on the SEC Network + from Alex Box Stadium.
// 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 (@GoBearcatsBASE) and Coach Neal (@Ty_Neal_UC) on twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook.
// Ticket Information
Season tickets for all 25 home matches can be purchased for as little $15. For more information, visit GoBEARCATS.com/tickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX.