TicketsNEW ORLEANS – University of Cincinnati baseball found itself down early but battled back in the American Athletic Conference opener at Tulane. Despite working their way back in the game, the Bearcats fell 5-3 Friday night in New Orleans.
// NOTABLES
• Cincinnati drops to 9-11 on the season while Tulane now sits at 10-13
• After getting roughed up a bit in the first (five runs, three hits), starter J.T. Perez settled in and did not give up a hit through the next four innings
• In fact, the Bearcats only gave up one hit after the first frame. A.J. Kullman followed Perez and threw 3.0 shutout innings with one hit, no walks and a strikeout
• UC outhit Tulane 5-4. Manny Rodriguez had a homerun while Kyle Mottice, A.J. Bumpass and Joey Thomas all hit doubles, resulting in four of the five team hits being for extra-bases
// KEY INNINGS
Bottom of the 1st
• Tulane singled, walked and moved both runners on a sacrifice bunt. On a ground ball to first, the runner at third raced home and slid in safely on a close play to score the game's first run. Two singles and a double scored three more. A walk with bases loaded gave the home team an early 5-0 lead. A leaping catch by Joey Wiemer up against the wall ended the threat
Top of the 2nd
• Dondrae Bremner earned a one-out walk and scored when Thomas ripped a double to right center
Top of the 5th
• Connor McVey earned a RBI on a base hit on a single through the left side after Mottice walked and stole second
Top of the 7th
• The Bearcats continued to chip away. Rodriguez hit a solo homerun out to right field to make it a 5-3 game
// UP NEXT
• The second game with Tulane is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
• Sunday's series finale will be at noon
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook (GoBearcatsBase), Twitter (@GoBearcatsBase) and Instagram (GoBearcatsBase)
// NOTABLES
• Cincinnati drops to 9-11 on the season while Tulane now sits at 10-13
• After getting roughed up a bit in the first (five runs, three hits), starter J.T. Perez settled in and did not give up a hit through the next four innings
• In fact, the Bearcats only gave up one hit after the first frame. A.J. Kullman followed Perez and threw 3.0 shutout innings with one hit, no walks and a strikeout
• UC outhit Tulane 5-4. Manny Rodriguez had a homerun while Kyle Mottice, A.J. Bumpass and Joey Thomas all hit doubles, resulting in four of the five team hits being for extra-bases
// KEY INNINGS
Bottom of the 1st
• Tulane singled, walked and moved both runners on a sacrifice bunt. On a ground ball to first, the runner at third raced home and slid in safely on a close play to score the game's first run. Two singles and a double scored three more. A walk with bases loaded gave the home team an early 5-0 lead. A leaping catch by Joey Wiemer up against the wall ended the threat
Top of the 2nd
• Dondrae Bremner earned a one-out walk and scored when Thomas ripped a double to right center
Top of the 5th
• Connor McVey earned a RBI on a base hit on a single through the left side after Mottice walked and stole second
Top of the 7th
• The Bearcats continued to chip away. Rodriguez hit a solo homerun out to right field to make it a 5-3 game
// UP NEXT
• The second game with Tulane is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
• Sunday's series finale will be at noon
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook (GoBearcatsBase), Twitter (@GoBearcatsBase) and Instagram (GoBearcatsBase)