TicketsST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team tied its program record with eight home runs and Josh Kross tied the single-game school record with three homers, but UC wound up on the losing end of a 14-12 decision at Saint Louis on Friday.
The single-game school record for home runs was set in 2002 when the Bearcats mashed eight dingers against USF, and they matched that mark against SLU. Kross hit three of them, the 12th time in program history a player has hit three home runs in a game. The last to do it was JP Sponseller against Northwestern in 2022.
Cincinnati's eight home runs are tied for second-most in a game by any Division I team this season.
Despite the prolific power displayed on Friday, UC was undone by a pair of big offensive innings for the Billikens. SLU scored nine runs in the third and five more in the fourth to open up a sizable lead. Cincinnati spent the rest of the game chipping away at the deficit. Kross nearly jump-started a rally in the top of the ninth with his third home run of the day, but UC was not able to push any more runs across.
In addition to Kross, four other Bearcats homered on Friday: Tommy O'Connor, Kerrington Cross, Landyn Vidourek, and Christian Mitchelle. The home run by Mitchelle was his first in a Cincinnati uniform.
In addition to hitting a home run, Mitchelle also had a good day on the mound. He entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the sixth and proceeded to throw three shutout innings, doing his best to keep UC in the game.
Game two is set for Saturday afternoon at 3 PM ET.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
SLU struck first in a big way, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the third to take a 9-0 lead. The Billikens pounded out seven straight two-out hits, the last two of which were back-to-back home runs, to build their lead.
Cincinnati got on the board in the top of the fourth with its own back-to-back homers as Josh Kross and Hunter Jessee both went yard. Kross homered first, blasting a solo shot to right field, and Jessee followed with a home run to right field as well.
Saint Louis continued to pile it on, scoring five more runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 14-2 lead. A three-run home run led off the scoring before SLU plated runs on a sac fly and fielding error to build upon its lead.
The Bearcats continued to use the long ball to chip away at the deficit. Kerrington Cross slugged a two-run home run in the top of the fifth, and Christian Mitchelle added a two-run blast in the top of the sixth to make it a 14-6 ballgame. Three batters later, Tommy O'Connor's two-run home run slimmed the deficit to 14-8.
Mitchelle made the move from shortstop to pitcher in the bottom of the sixth and shut down the SLU hitters for the next three innings. He allowed just one hit, a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth, but retired every other hitter he faced.
With Mitchelle dealing on the mound, the Bearcats continued to crush at the plate. Kross led off the top of the seventh with his second home run and Landyn Vidourek hit one out to right field, a two-run shot that made the score 14-11.
Kross led off the top of the ninth with a homer, his third leadoff home run of the game, to cut the deficit to just two runs, 14-12. Unfortunately, UC was unable to score again before the end of the game.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For up-to-the-minute updates, follow @GoBearcatsBASE on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
NOTE: All dates and times are subject to change due to weather. All schedule changes will be announced on Twitter at @GoBearcatsBASE.
The single-game school record for home runs was set in 2002 when the Bearcats mashed eight dingers against USF, and they matched that mark against SLU. Kross hit three of them, the 12th time in program history a player has hit three home runs in a game. The last to do it was JP Sponseller against Northwestern in 2022.
Cincinnati's eight home runs are tied for second-most in a game by any Division I team this season.
Despite the prolific power displayed on Friday, UC was undone by a pair of big offensive innings for the Billikens. SLU scored nine runs in the third and five more in the fourth to open up a sizable lead. Cincinnati spent the rest of the game chipping away at the deficit. Kross nearly jump-started a rally in the top of the ninth with his third home run of the day, but UC was not able to push any more runs across.
In addition to Kross, four other Bearcats homered on Friday: Tommy O'Connor, Kerrington Cross, Landyn Vidourek, and Christian Mitchelle. The home run by Mitchelle was his first in a Cincinnati uniform.
In addition to hitting a home run, Mitchelle also had a good day on the mound. He entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the sixth and proceeded to throw three shutout innings, doing his best to keep UC in the game.
Game two is set for Saturday afternoon at 3 PM ET.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
SLU struck first in a big way, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the third to take a 9-0 lead. The Billikens pounded out seven straight two-out hits, the last two of which were back-to-back home runs, to build their lead.
Cincinnati got on the board in the top of the fourth with its own back-to-back homers as Josh Kross and Hunter Jessee both went yard. Kross homered first, blasting a solo shot to right field, and Jessee followed with a home run to right field as well.
Saint Louis continued to pile it on, scoring five more runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 14-2 lead. A three-run home run led off the scoring before SLU plated runs on a sac fly and fielding error to build upon its lead.
The Bearcats continued to use the long ball to chip away at the deficit. Kerrington Cross slugged a two-run home run in the top of the fifth, and Christian Mitchelle added a two-run blast in the top of the sixth to make it a 14-6 ballgame. Three batters later, Tommy O'Connor's two-run home run slimmed the deficit to 14-8.
Mitchelle made the move from shortstop to pitcher in the bottom of the sixth and shut down the SLU hitters for the next three innings. He allowed just one hit, a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth, but retired every other hitter he faced.
With Mitchelle dealing on the mound, the Bearcats continued to crush at the plate. Kross led off the top of the seventh with his second home run and Landyn Vidourek hit one out to right field, a two-run shot that made the score 14-11.
Kross led off the top of the ninth with a homer, his third leadoff home run of the game, to cut the deficit to just two runs, 14-12. Unfortunately, UC was unable to score again before the end of the game.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For up-to-the-minute updates, follow @GoBearcatsBASE on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
NOTE: All dates and times are subject to change due to weather. All schedule changes will be announced on Twitter at @GoBearcatsBASE.