TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati baseball team opened its series vs. Kansas State with a 7-4 win on Thursday night at UC Baseball Stadium.
The start time for game two of the series on Friday was moved up one hour to 5:00 p.m. due to potentially inclement weather in the area on Friday night.
The Bearcats improved to 30-22 overall and 15-13 in Big 12 play. With the win, UC now has back-to-back 30-win seasons, the first time it was won at least 30 games in consecutive seasons since doing it three years in a row from 1999-2001.
Cincinnati is now one game back of fifth-place Kansas State (30-22, 16-12) and Arizona (34-18, 16-12) in the Big 12 standings.
A pair of freshmen stood tall for the Bearcats on Thursday night. Derrick Pitts had a great night, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and a game-saving catch in center field in the top of the eighth. On the mound, Adam Buczkowski earned his fourth win of the season by striking out five in 2.2 scoreless frames.
Senior Tommy O'Connor had a really nice night at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. Redshirt senior Kerrington Cross raised his season batting average to .412 with a 2-for-3 game, tallying two walks and two stolen bases as well.
Redshirt senior Kellen O'Connor earned his first save of the season, striking out two in the top of the ninth.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
Kansas State opened the scoring, using a two-run double and a sacrifice fly in the top of the top of the first to go up 3-0.
Cincinnati responded in the bottom of the third, scoring four to take the lead. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Quinton Coats and Cal Sefcik drove in the first two runs of the inning, then Tommy O'Connor tied the game with an RBI single that found its way through the right side of the K-State infield. Lauden Brooks then scored on a passed ball, giving UC a 4-3 advantage.
The Wildcats tied it up in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI single.
The Bearcats grabbed the lead for good in the sixth on an RBI single from Derrick Pitts, and O'Connor added an insurance run with an RBI base hit in the bottom of the seventh. Kansas State threatened in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with one out. With UC leading 6-4, Adam Buczkowski induced a harmless infield fly for the second out before a two-out fly ball was launched deep to center field. Pitts tracked the ball all the way to the wall and leapt to make an outstanding catch, ending the inning and preserving UC's lead.
Kerrington Cross added the final run of the night on a run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth, then Kellen O'Connor sent the Wildcats down in order in the ninth to shut the door.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For up-to-the-minute updates, follow @GoBearcatsBASE on X/Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The start time for game two of the series on Friday was moved up one hour to 5:00 p.m. due to potentially inclement weather in the area on Friday night.
The Bearcats improved to 30-22 overall and 15-13 in Big 12 play. With the win, UC now has back-to-back 30-win seasons, the first time it was won at least 30 games in consecutive seasons since doing it three years in a row from 1999-2001.
Cincinnati is now one game back of fifth-place Kansas State (30-22, 16-12) and Arizona (34-18, 16-12) in the Big 12 standings.
A pair of freshmen stood tall for the Bearcats on Thursday night. Derrick Pitts had a great night, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and a game-saving catch in center field in the top of the eighth. On the mound, Adam Buczkowski earned his fourth win of the season by striking out five in 2.2 scoreless frames.
Senior Tommy O'Connor had a really nice night at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. Redshirt senior Kerrington Cross raised his season batting average to .412 with a 2-for-3 game, tallying two walks and two stolen bases as well.
Redshirt senior Kellen O'Connor earned his first save of the season, striking out two in the top of the ninth.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
Kansas State opened the scoring, using a two-run double and a sacrifice fly in the top of the top of the first to go up 3-0.
Cincinnati responded in the bottom of the third, scoring four to take the lead. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Quinton Coats and Cal Sefcik drove in the first two runs of the inning, then Tommy O'Connor tied the game with an RBI single that found its way through the right side of the K-State infield. Lauden Brooks then scored on a passed ball, giving UC a 4-3 advantage.
The Wildcats tied it up in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI single.
The Bearcats grabbed the lead for good in the sixth on an RBI single from Derrick Pitts, and O'Connor added an insurance run with an RBI base hit in the bottom of the seventh. Kansas State threatened in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with one out. With UC leading 6-4, Adam Buczkowski induced a harmless infield fly for the second out before a two-out fly ball was launched deep to center field. Pitts tracked the ball all the way to the wall and leapt to make an outstanding catch, ending the inning and preserving UC's lead.
Kerrington Cross added the final run of the night on a run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth, then Kellen O'Connor sent the Wildcats down in order in the ninth to shut the door.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For up-to-the-minute updates, follow @GoBearcatsBASE on X/Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.