TicketsPROVO, Utah – The University of Cincinnati baseball team clinched a berth in the 2024 Big 12 Tournament on Friday with its 4-2 win at BYU.
The Bearcats, who were picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, secured their trip to Arlington, Texas in their inaugural year in the Big 12. The conference tournament will be held at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, from May 21-25.
Cincinnati's record improved to 29-21 overall and 15-11 in league play. With two straight wins vs. BYU, UC has now won its last four conference series for the first time since 2016 when it won series vs. USF, vs. UConn, at Tulane, and vs. Memphis.
The Bearcats will play for the series sweep on Saturday at 1:30 PM ET.
Tommy Boba provided the Bearcats with a solid start on Friday, striking out seven across 5.1 innings. Brenden Garula, Michael Conte, and Christian Mitchelle finished up the game out of the bullpen, with Mitchelle earning his sixth save of the season.
At the plate, Josh Kross provided the big blast with a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his 16th homer of the year. That ties him with Ryan Nicholson (2023) for seventh all-time on UC's single-season home run list.
Lauden Brooks went 2-for-4 and drove in a big insurance run in the seventh inning. Landyn Vidourek, fresh off his appearance on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays for his home run robbery in Thursday night's game, went 2-for-4 with a couple runs scored and another terrific play in right field, this one a diving catch.
Mitchelle and Josh Hegemann both had multi-hit efforts as well, collecting two hits apiece.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither team found much success offensively in the first three innings, in fact the Bearcats hit into two double plays in their first three trips to the plate. The scoreless drought was broken in the top of the fourth by Josh Kross, whose two-run home run to center field gave UC a 2-0 lead.
The Cougars responded with a run in the bottom half of the fourth, making the score 2-1. Kross tallied another RBI in the top of the fifth to increase the lead to 3-1, then Tommy Boba faced the minimum in the bottom of the fifth. After allowing a walk to open the frame, Boba induced a 4-3 double play and got a punchout to end the inning.
A solo homer for BYU cut the lead to one, 3-2, in the bottom of the sixth, but Brenden Garula did a good job of limiting the damage. After the Cougars loaded the bases with two outs, Garula got a clutch strikeout to end the inning.
Lauden Brooks' RBI single in the top of the seventh upped the lead back to two, 4-2, with an important insurance run. Michael Conte entered the game out of the bullpen and tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning, then Christian Mitchelle shut the Cougars out in the eighth and ninth to earn the save and end 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 Bearcats, who were picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, secured their trip to Arlington, Texas in their inaugural year in the Big 12. The conference tournament will be held at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, from May 21-25.
Cincinnati's record improved to 29-21 overall and 15-11 in league play. With two straight wins vs. BYU, UC has now won its last four conference series for the first time since 2016 when it won series vs. USF, vs. UConn, at Tulane, and vs. Memphis.
The Bearcats will play for the series sweep on Saturday at 1:30 PM ET.
Tommy Boba provided the Bearcats with a solid start on Friday, striking out seven across 5.1 innings. Brenden Garula, Michael Conte, and Christian Mitchelle finished up the game out of the bullpen, with Mitchelle earning his sixth save of the season.
At the plate, Josh Kross provided the big blast with a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his 16th homer of the year. That ties him with Ryan Nicholson (2023) for seventh all-time on UC's single-season home run list.
Lauden Brooks went 2-for-4 and drove in a big insurance run in the seventh inning. Landyn Vidourek, fresh off his appearance on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays for his home run robbery in Thursday night's game, went 2-for-4 with a couple runs scored and another terrific play in right field, this one a diving catch.
Mitchelle and Josh Hegemann both had multi-hit efforts as well, collecting two hits apiece.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither team found much success offensively in the first three innings, in fact the Bearcats hit into two double plays in their first three trips to the plate. The scoreless drought was broken in the top of the fourth by Josh Kross, whose two-run home run to center field gave UC a 2-0 lead.
The Cougars responded with a run in the bottom half of the fourth, making the score 2-1. Kross tallied another RBI in the top of the fifth to increase the lead to 3-1, then Tommy Boba faced the minimum in the bottom of the fifth. After allowing a walk to open the frame, Boba induced a 4-3 double play and got a punchout to end the inning.
A solo homer for BYU cut the lead to one, 3-2, in the bottom of the sixth, but Brenden Garula did a good job of limiting the damage. After the Cougars loaded the bases with two outs, Garula got a clutch strikeout to end the inning.
Lauden Brooks' RBI single in the top of the seventh upped the lead back to two, 4-2, with an important insurance run. Michael Conte entered the game out of the bullpen and tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning, then Christian Mitchelle shut the Cougars out in the eighth and ninth to earn the save and end 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.