Cincinnati Baseball: Bearcats clinch 4-seed with back to back wins at UCF

The Bearcats finished the regular season on a high note with back to back wins on the road against UCF to clinch the 4-seed in the upcoming AAC Tournament. Following a 15-10 loss in the series opener on Thursday, Cincinnati responded with two straight wins behind a pair of high-powered hitting performances.

Cincinnati Baseball: Bearcats clinch 4-seed with back to back wins at UCF

Conner Linn allowed three runs in the first inning before getting pulled but the Bearcats immediately answered with three runs of their own in the second inning. Tristan Weaver gave up two runs over seven innings pitched and Jackson Murphy secured the victory with two scoreless frames and two strikeouts.

Junior outfielders Paul Komistek and Griffin Merritt combined with four hits, three runs, and two walks over eight plate appearances. JP Sponseller hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Komistek in the ninth inning and take a 6-5 lead. Murphy put the final touches on the series-clinching win with a clean bottom ninth.

Komistek ended the season with a team-high .332 batting average.

The day before, Cincinnati split a double header with 25 runs scored in two games. UCF won the early matchup 15-10 as senior pitcher Beau Keathley fell to 4-3 with the loss. Sophomore outfielder Cole Harting led the way with four hits, a home run and three RBI. Kerrington Cross, Ryan Nicholson and Sponseller added home runs as well. Despite coming up short, the Bearcats hit three straight home runs for the first time since 1999.

In the night cap, Cincinnati exploded for 13 hits in a 15-5 win. After three scoreless innings, the Bearcats scored six runs in the fourth frame. Garrett Harker threw five innings and gave up two runs, while Murphy and Zach Segal split time out of the bullpen. Dondrae Bremner, Cole Harting, and Cam Scheler went deep in the win.

Harting went 7/15 in the 3-game series.

Cincinnati finished conference play in fourth place with a 12-12 record and will look to keep the momentum going in the AAC Tournament on Tuesday morning. The Bearcats are expected to meet Memphis or Tulane in the opening round with a chance to take on top seeded East Carolina.