TicketsORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team dropped game two of its series at UCF on Saturday night by a score of 5-2.
The Bearcats (24-19, 10-10 Big 12) struck first with two runs in the top of the third and led for much of the game, but a four-run bottom of the seventh for the Knights (26-14, 9-11 Big 12) flipped the script. A three-run homer proved to be the decisive blow, and UC couldn't mount a late-inning comeback.
Nathan Taylor got the start on the mound and struck out four in 6.1 innings, his second-longest outing of the season.
Dalton Pearson had a hand in both Cincinnati runs on Saturday, driving in the first run of the night and scoring the second. Alec Jones had a two-hit performance while Josh Hegemann and Luke Sefcik found the hit column as well.
First pitch for the finale on Sunday is set for 1 PM.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
The first runs of the game were scored by the Bearcats in the top of the third. Dalton Pearson's RBI triple that rattled around in the left field corner allowed Alec Jones to score to bring home the first run of the night. Pearson then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0, using a swim move to evade the slide at home plate. He was initially called out, but after video review was deemed safe by the umpiring crew.
On the mound, Nathan Taylor was able to keep the Knights' offense at bay for much of his start. UCF put runners on base in each of the first six innings, but Taylor stranded all but one to keep UC out in front. The lone UCF run to score in the first six innings came home on a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth that made it 2-1.
Trouble arose for UC in the bottom of the seventh. After an inning-opening groundout, the Knights put their next two runners on base and Jack Zyska brought everyone home with a three-run home run. That gave UCF its first lead of the night, and later in the inning another two-out RBI single pushed its lead to 5-2.
Cincinnati wasn't able to overcome the three-run deficit over the final two innings, keeping the score at 5-2 when the game ended.
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