TicketsCINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team 10-run ruled the South Florida Bulls on Saturday, winning by a final score of 13-2 in seven innings at UC Baseball Stadium.
Sophomore pitcher Conner Linn (4-1) got the win for Cincinnati (17-20, 7-4). The southpaw went five innings, giving up one run on three hits, allowing two walks and striking out four. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Zach Segal also pitched well, going two innings, surrendering one run on one hit.
Redshirt junior outfielder Griffin Merritt led the way offensively for the Bearcats, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame with a home run, a walk and three RBIs. Redshirt senior infielder Jake Hansen stayed hot at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a home run, a walk and three RBIs. Redshirt junior outfielder Paul Komistek also contributed, going 2-for-4 for Cincinnati with a home run and two RBIs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearcats got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Redshirt freshman infielder Kerrington Cross put Cincinnati on the board with a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw off senior Joseph Sanchez.
After the Bulls rallied to tie the ballgame at one, the Bearcats came back to retake the lead in the fourth inning. Cincinnati hit two home runs in the inning on the way to pushing four runs across, which brought the score to 5-1 in favor of the Bearcats.
South Florida narrowed Cincinnati's lead to 5-2 before the Bearcats stretched the advantage to 13-2 with a huge eight-run sixth inning. The Bearcats bats heated up in the inning, which including a two-run home run off the bat of Komistek and a two-run single from Merritt. The score remained 13-2 for the rest of the game, as Cincinnati coasted to the win.
GAME NOTES
- Cross hit a home run on the first pitch he saw today, giving him four long balls on the year and also homers in back-to-back games. He has now scored a run in 12-straight games.
- Merritt hit another moon shot to left center today, extending his lead in the AAC home run race. The outfielder now has 15 on the year, which leads the conference and ranks sixth in the entire country.
- Jake Hansen is on fire at the plate and hit his first homer of the season today. The only other home run of his career came off of current teammate Beau Keathley on March 3, 2020, when Keathley was a pitcher for the Oakland Bears. Hansen is now hitting .563 (9-16) in his last five games.
- Komistek drove a homer out to right field in the sixth, extending the Bearcats' lead to 11. It's the outfielder's seventh homer of the year, which is the third most on the team.
- Linn had another good start today, throwing five innings, giving up just one earned run and three hits while striking out four. His ERA is now 3.19.
- Redshirt senior infielder Wyatt Stapp went 2-for-3 today and has seven RBIs in his past seven games.
- This is UC's second 10-run rule win of the season. The other came on April 9 in a 13-3 win over Houston.
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