Harting and Sponseller's Homers Lead UC in Sweep Over Northwestern

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team swept Northwestern in Saturday's doubleheader, taking the series, 3-1. Sophomore outfielder Cole Harting launched a two-run walk-off home run to right in game one, and JP Sponseller hit three homers in game two to lead the Bearcats to victory. The sweep improves UC's record to 6-4 while Northwestern fell to 2-10.

Opens in a new window Game 1 Box Score Opens in a new window Game 2 Box Score
Harting and Sponseller's Homers Lead UC in Sweep Over NorthwesternHarting and Sponseller's Homers Lead UC in Sweep Over Northwestern
  • Game 1
  • Game 2
Box Score

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The University of Cincinnati baseball team swept Northwestern in Saturday's doubleheader, taking the series, 3-1. Sophomore outfielder Cole Harting launched a two-run walk-off home run to right in game one, and redshirt sophomore JP Sponseller hit three homers in game two to lead the Bearcats to victory.

The sweep improves UC's record to 6-4 while Northwestern falls to 2-10.

GAME 1 | Cincinnati 4, Northwestern 2
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Cincinnati Bearcats secured a win in walk-off fashion, rallying to score two in the bottom of the seventh after Northwestern tied it up in the top half, sealing the victory on Harting's two-run home run off of senior Michael Farinelli to take down the Wildcats, 4-2, Saturday.

Graduate transfer pitcher Ryan Steckline (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Cincinnati (5-4). The left-hander went 0.1 shutout innings without giving up a hit, allowing no walks and striking out one. It was freshman pitcher Garrett Harker who impressed on the mound all game though, starting the ballgame and throwing 6.2 innings, giving up two runs, all earned, on six hits, with two walks and five strikeouts. This was his second career start.

Harting's homer was his only hit of the game, going 1-for-4 in the ballgame with a home run and two RBIs. Redshirt sophomore infielder Ryan Nicholson put together a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Redshirt senior Dondrae Bremner also contributed, going 2-for-3 with a double.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearcats got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Cincinnati got an RBI single from Nicholson, scoring Sponseller from second base.

After the Wildcats rallied to tie the ballgame at one, the Bearcats came back to retake the lead in the sixth inning. Cincinnati scored once on an RBI single off the bat of redshirt freshman infielder Kerrington Cross, which brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Bearcats.

Northwestern then rallied to tie the ballgame at 2-2 before Cincinnati walked it off in the bottom of the seventh on Harting's one-out two-run home run off of Farinelli.

GAME NOTES
» Harker struck out five Wildcats hitters, which is a season and career high. He was one out short of a seven-inning complete game.
» Harting's walk-off homer was UC's second in four games, as redshirt sophomore catcher Cam Scheler launched one just three nights ago against Ohio State.
» Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» This win marked head coach Scott Googins' 100th career win in a Bearcat uniform. 
» Harting led the Bearcats at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
» Steckline earned his first win of the season and first as a member of the Bearcats.

GAME 2 | Cincinnati 16, Northwestern 5
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- JP Sponseller put together an outstanding showing at the plate Saturday, hitting three homers to help power the Cincinnati Bearcats past the Northwestern Wildcats, 16-5.

In his first career start, sophomore pitcher Conner Linn (1-0) picked up the win for Cincinnati (6-4). The left-hander went 6.1 innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on six hits, allowing three walks while striking out two.

Sponseller went 3-for-5 at the plate, supplementing his three home runs with seven RBIs. Redshirt junior Griffin Merritt added to Sponseller's amazing power-hitting performance by going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs along with one walk. Scheler also helped out for the Bearcats, going 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and two RBIs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 1-0, the Bearcats first put runs on the board in the first inning. Cincinnati scored two runs on solo shots from Sponseller and Merritt.

After the Wildcats rallied to tie the ballgame at two, the Bearcats came back to retake the lead in the second inning. Cincinnati brought home a pair, with one run driven in by Harting's single, which brought the Bearcats lead to 4-2.

Cincinnati held Northwestern without a run before building their lead to 6-2 in the fifth inning. The Bearcats scored twice, with one run coming across on Merritt's single.

Cincinnati kept the Wildcats without a run before their offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The inning resulted in three runs for the Bearcats, all of them scoring on a three-run homer off the bat of Sponseller to right, bringing the Cincinnati advantage to 9-2.

Northwestern got within five runs until the Bearcats scored again in the eighth inning to stretch its lead to 16-4. The Cincinnati offense piled up seven runs, highlighted by a another three-run home run off the bat of Sponseller and a two-run double from Scheler. Northwestern put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Bearcats still coasted to the 16-5 win.

GAME NOTES
» Sponseller hit three homers, tying the all-time UC record. That has been done 10 times, most recently by Cameron Satterwhite vs. Ohio in 2007.
» Sponseller also drove in seven runs for Cincinnati, one shy of the all-time record of eight, which has been done four times in UC history.
» Steckline struck out five Wildcats hitters, which is a season high. He now has 102 strikeouts in his collegiate career.
» Cincinnati hitters hit four home runs in the ballgame, the most in a game this year by the Bearcats.
» The Bearcats had a total of 15 hits, the second-most in a game this year.
» Merritt hit his AAC-leading fifth homer of the year, breaking a tie with teammate Ryan Nicholson for first place in the conference.
» Cincinnati went 7-for-15 (.467) with runners in scoring position.
» Linn earned a quality start in his first career start, going 6.1 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out two.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets for the 2022 season are now on sale! To purchase season tickets, visit cpaw.me/SeasonTickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX (1-877-228-7849).
 
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