TicketsCINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati baseball struck early and held on late to beat Kansas 4-3 in the opening game of the series Friday night.
The Bearcats scored three in the second then added on one in the eighth to lead the whole way through. Things got interesting in the ninth as the Jayhawks had runners on second and third with one out. A single up the middle made it a one-run game, but Treg Haberkorn fielded the ball and sent it home to get the tying runner at the plate.
// NOTABLES
• Cincinnati jumps back up over .500 to 20-19 on the season
• Kansas drops to 19-22
• J.T. Perez pitched well in the start. He threw 5.1 innings with two runs, eight hits, three walks and two strikeouts for the win
• A.J. Kullman followed in relief and was superb. The righty went 3.0 frames with just one hit, one run, one walk and one strikeout
• Jarod Yoakam earned the save by striking out the final batter to preserve the victory
• Eric Santiago had a nice night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI
• Manny Rodriguez also had two hits, with one being a double. His reach base streak has now grown to 41 games
• A.J. Bumpass had the team's other extra-base hit, an RBI triple
// KEY INNINGS
Bottom of the 2nd
• UC loaded the bases after three walks. Santiago singled up the middle to score the first two runs of the game. Haberkorn followed with another base hit up the middle to score one more
Top of the 4th
• A solo homerun got Kansas on the board
Top of the 5th
• A walk, sacrifice bunt and a base hit made it a one-run game
Bottom of the 8th
• The Bearcats added a run to their lead when Rodriguez singled and Bumpass tripled him home
Top of the 9th
• A walk, single, and sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position for the Jayhawks. On a base hit up the middle, one run scored but the trailing runner was thrown out at home. With two outs and a runner on first, the game ended on a full-count strikeout swinging
// UP NEXT
• The two teams meet again on Saturday in a 6 p.m. start
• Bearcats mini bats will be given out to the first 700 fans in attendance courtesy of RotoRooter
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook (GoBearcatsBase), Twitter (@GoBearcatsBase) and Instagram (GoBearcatsBase)
The Bearcats scored three in the second then added on one in the eighth to lead the whole way through. Things got interesting in the ninth as the Jayhawks had runners on second and third with one out. A single up the middle made it a one-run game, but Treg Haberkorn fielded the ball and sent it home to get the tying runner at the plate.
// NOTABLES
• Cincinnati jumps back up over .500 to 20-19 on the season
• Kansas drops to 19-22
• J.T. Perez pitched well in the start. He threw 5.1 innings with two runs, eight hits, three walks and two strikeouts for the win
• A.J. Kullman followed in relief and was superb. The righty went 3.0 frames with just one hit, one run, one walk and one strikeout
• Jarod Yoakam earned the save by striking out the final batter to preserve the victory
• Eric Santiago had a nice night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI
• Manny Rodriguez also had two hits, with one being a double. His reach base streak has now grown to 41 games
• A.J. Bumpass had the team's other extra-base hit, an RBI triple
// KEY INNINGS
Bottom of the 2nd
• UC loaded the bases after three walks. Santiago singled up the middle to score the first two runs of the game. Haberkorn followed with another base hit up the middle to score one more
Top of the 4th
• A solo homerun got Kansas on the board
Top of the 5th
• A walk, sacrifice bunt and a base hit made it a one-run game
Bottom of the 8th
• The Bearcats added a run to their lead when Rodriguez singled and Bumpass tripled him home
Top of the 9th
• A walk, single, and sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position for the Jayhawks. On a base hit up the middle, one run scored but the trailing runner was thrown out at home. With two outs and a runner on first, the game ended on a full-count strikeout swinging
// UP NEXT
• The two teams meet again on Saturday in a 6 p.m. start
• Bearcats mini bats will be given out to the first 700 fans in attendance courtesy of RotoRooter
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
Stay connected with Bearcats Baseball on Facebook (GoBearcatsBase), Twitter (@GoBearcatsBase) and Instagram (GoBearcatsBase)