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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Cincinnati baseball team dropped a 5-3 decision to Memphis on Friday night in the penultimate regular season game of 2016. The loss evens the series vs. the Tigers after a UC win on Thursday night.
The loss locks the Bearcats into either fourth or fifth place in the final American Athletic Conference standings. The Houston Cougars, who split a doubleheader with Tulane on Saturday, also will finish either fourth or fifth with the official seeding being decided by games on Saturday. The Bearcats will finish fourth with a win or a Houston loss. The teams will meet in the first round of The American Championship on Tuesday, May 24, in Clearwater, Florida.
// Notables
- With the loss, Cincinnati falls to 25-28-1 on the year and 12-10-1 in the American Athletic Conference while Memphis improves to 19-36 and 9-14.
- Sophomore J.T. Perez (Orrville, Ohio/Orrville) (6-5) took the loss while Memphis' Nolan Blackwood (2-3) picked up the victory.
- Senior catcher Woody Wallace (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) totaled a career-high four hits and knocked in a pair of runs to pace the UC offense.
- Sophomore Kyle Mottice (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) finished with one hit and has recorded a hit in all but three games since April 13.
- For the second consecutive game, Memphis' Darien Tubbs led off the game with a single but the Bearcats turned a double play during the next at bat to erase the base runner. The teams finished with four double plays in the game, two by each team.
// Key Innings
Top of the Third
With one out, freshman Vince Augustine (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) tripled with a blooper that skipped past the Memphis right fielder. Mottice then hit his first sacrifice fly of the season to bring in the game's first run and put the Bearcats ahead 1-0.
Top of the Fourth
Another UC run came home in the fourth inning for a 2-0 advantage. Junior R.J. Thompson (Mason, Ohio/Mason) doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch before a single by Wallace scored him.
Bottom of the Fourth
Two singles and two strikeouts for Perez put runners on first and second with two outs. Chris Carrier stepped to the plate and doubled into the left field corner to score both runners and tie the score at 2-2.
Top of the Sixth
Redshirt sophomore Connor McVey (Mason, Ohio/Mason) reached second base on an error and moved to third on a groundout by freshman A.J. Bumpass (Rougemont, N.C./Northern). Wallace again came through for Cincinnati, singling to the second baseman to bring home McVey for a 3-2 UC lead.
Bottom of the Eighth
After a solo homerun tied the score in the seventh inning, Memphis took its first lead of the game in the eighth. With one out a runner on first, a single by Brandon Grudzielanek moved the runner over but a UC throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate. One batter later, Trent Turner sent a shot over the fielder's head in deep center field to score an insurance run and give Memphis the 5-3 lead.
// Up Next
Cincinnati will play its final regular season game of the 2016 season on Saturday, May 21, with the finale of the series vs. Memphis. The game will be played at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT at FedEx Park in Memphis, Tennessee.
// 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.