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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati baseball team picked up a 3-0 victory over Western Carolina University on Tuesday night to close out the 2016 home schedule with a win. Sophomore starting pitcher A.J. Olasz (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin Area) earned his second-career victory while redshirt freshman Doug Lowe II (Marysville, Ohio/Triad) and sophomore Jarod Yoakam (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) also contributed strong outings for the Bearcats.
The win finalized an 18-7 record in games played at Marge Schott Stadium this season, marking the best year the Bearcats have had at home since the facility opened in 2004.
// Notables
- With the win, Cincinnati improves to 24-27-1 on the year while Western Carolina drops to 25-26.
- Olasz (2-5) earned the victory after pitching 5.2 innings with four strikeouts and Yoakam picked up his third save of the year. WCU's Dillon Bray (1-4) took the loss for the Catamounts.
- Lowe II was making his first appearance for Cincinnati since March 11 after suffering an injury. He pitched 2.2 innings and tied a career high with three strikeouts.
- Once again, sophomore Kyle Mottice (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) led the offense with a pair of hits, a walk and a run scored. Since April 13, he has recorded a .355 batting average with 27 hits, including a 10-game hitting streak that was snapped in the series finale against Houston on May 15. In the 19 games during that span, he has only failed to record a hit on three occasions.
- Junior R.J. Thompson (Mason, Ohio/Mason) drew a career-high three walks in the game and also added a hit and a run.
- This was just the second meeting between Cincinnati and Western Carolina in program history. The Bearcats won a 7-6 decision in 10 innings over the Catamounts on Feb. 24, 2013, at a neutral site in Greenville, South Carolina.
// Key Innings
Bottom of the Fourth
After leaving several runners on base in the opening frames, the Bearcats finally broke through in the fourth inning for a 2-0 lead. Thompson singled, sophomore Ryan Noda (Volo, Ill./Grant) was hit and senior Woody Wallace (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) reached on a fielder's choice where all runners were safe to load the bases. With one out, senior Devin Wenzel sent a bouncer back up the middle that went as a fielder's choice but was enough to score Thompson and put Cincinnati ahead. The next batter, freshman Vince Augustine (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) doubled into left field to score Noda and double the UC lead.
Bottom of the Fifth
Mottice led off the inning with a bunt single and moved to second on a fielding error. Sophomore Treg Haberkorn (Leo, Ind./Leo) then singled into center field to bring home Mottice and put the home team ahead 3-0.
Top of the Ninth
A pair of hits and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Catamounts before Yoakam got Danny Bermudez swinging for the first out. A sacrifice fly to left field by Andrew Bullock ended the Bearcats' bid for a shutout, but Yoakam responded with a groundout to secure the win for UC.
// Up Next
The Bearcats hit the road to Memphis, Tennessee, for the final American Athletic Conference series of the season May 19-21. Cincinnati is still in the hunt for The American regular season title and the top seed in next week's conference tournament in Clearwater, Florida. UC beat Memphis twice during the team's first meeting of the season April 22-24 at Marge Schott 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.