TicketsCINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team swept Saturday's double header against Saint Joseph's (PA) at UC Baseball Stadium. The Bearcats won game one, 7-6, on a walk-off wild pitch and dominated the second game, winning 12-1, behind senior pitcher Beau Keathley's big day on the mound.
UC's record now stands at 8-10 after the two wins, while Saint Joseph's is 10-6.
GAME 1 | Cincinnati 7, Saint Joseph's (PA) 6
The Bearcats rallied to score one in the seventh inning and walked it off with at the plate to pick up the 7-6 victory over the Saint Joseph's Hawks Saturday.
Graduate pitcher Ryan Steckline (2-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Cincinnati. The southpaw went 2.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit, allowing one walk and striking out three.
At the plate, the Bearcats were paced by redshirt junior outfielder Griffin Merritt, who went 2-for-2 on the day with a pinch-hit grand slam and four RBIs. Redshirt sophomore outfielder JP Sponseller went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and two RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Cole Harting also contributed for Cincinnati, putting together three hits in three trips to the plate while adding a walk.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 2-0, the Bearcats first put runs on the board in the fourth inning. Cincinnati's offense started clicking and put up six runs, including a pinch-hit grand slam off the bat of Merritt and a two-run double from Sponseller.
Saint Joseph's then rallied to tie the ballgame at 6-6 before Cincinnati walked it off in the bottom of the seventh when sophomore Josh Hegemann came across to score on a wild pitch.
GAME NOTES
» Harting picked up three base knocks in the game for Cincinnati, making today his second three-hit game of the season.
» Merritt drove in four runs for Cincinnati on his pinch-hit grand slam, which is a season high. The homer was his seventh of the season, which leads the AAC.
» The grand slam was also the second pinch-hit home run for the Bearcats this season. The other came off the bat of redshirt sophomore catcher Cam Scheler's bat against Ohio State on March 2, 2022.
» Sponseller drove in two runs with his double in the fourth inning, bringing his season-RBI total to 14, the second-most on the team.
GAME 2 | Cincinnati 12, Saint Joseph's (PA) 1
Keathley was mowing people down on Saturday, punching out 12 Saint Joseph's hitters over six innings of work to help lead the Cincinnati Bearcats past the Hawks, 12-1.
In addition to his 12 strikeouts, Keathley (2-0) tossed six innings, giving up one run on three hits and walking none for Cincinnati.
In the batter's box, the Bearcats were led by redshirt freshman infielder Kerrington Cross, who went 3-for-3 on the day with two triples, a walk and three RBIs. Redshirt sophomore catcher Joe Powell went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and three RBIs. Redshirt senior infielder Wyatt Stapp put together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a double and three RBIs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearcats got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Cincinnati's offense started clicking with a two-run single off the bat of Stapp and a two-run triple from Cross, with the help of a few errors by the Saint Joseph's defense.
The Hawks failed to push any runs across before the Bearcats offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Redshirt sophomore infielder Ryan Nicholson came across to score the lone run of the inning for Cincinnati, which brought the score to 6-0 in favor of the Bearcats.
Cincinnati held Saint Joseph's without a run before building its lead to 8-0 the following inning. The Bearcats recorded two runs in the frame, punctuated with an another RBI triple from Cross.
The Hawks fought back, closing the gap to 8-1 until Cincinnati added some insurance in the fifth. The Bearcats scored a run on Powell's two-out RBI double off the fence in left, bringing the Cincinnati advantage to 9-1.
The Bearcats kept Saint Joseph's off the scoreboard before building their lead to 12-1 the following inning. The score remained 12-1 for the rest of the game, as the Bearcats coasted to the win.
GAME NOTES
» Cross led the Bearcats at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two triples and three RBIs. The triples were the first two of his career. This was the first time a Bearcat recorded two triples in a game since AJ Bumpass did it on April 10, 2019, against Miami (OH).
» Keathley struck out 12 Hawks in his first start of the season, which is the most he has had in a game at UC. He ended up one strikeout short of his career high of 13 strikeouts, which he recorded when he pitched for Oakland. The 12 strikeouts are also the most by a Cincinnati pitcher since Evan Shawver struck out 12 Eastern Michigan hitters on March, 7, 2020.
» This is the first time this season that three different Bearcats drove in three runs (Stapp, Cross, Powell).
» Every Cincinnati starter reached base safely in the win.
» Stapp had his best game of the season, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a double.
» Head coach Scott Googins is now tied with Jim Schmitz for the third-most wins by a UC coach with 103. Schmitz coached at UC from 1986-1990.
» Cincinnati pitchers limited Saint Joseph's (PA) to just 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position.
TICKET INFORMATION
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