Cincinnati Baseball: Live coverage of Bearcats AAC Tournament run
By Charles Post
Cincinnati Baseball: Live coverage of AAC Tournament first round vs Tulane
Tweets from Bearcats 8-1 win over Tulane behind Griffin Merritt, Beau Keathley: Wyatt Stapp with a nice catch at second base for the first put out of the game. Keathley in command early. Cole Harting picks up the first hit for the Bearcats with a single to center field to bring to up Merritt.
Merritt’s ’s RBI double scores Harting from first base to put the Bearcats up 1-0 in the first inning. Guidry and Stapp connect on a double play to help end the third inning as the Bearcats look to build on lead. Cincinnati loads the bases as Paul Komistek comes to the plate looking to extend 1-0 lead. Ryan Nicholson drives a sacrifice fly to right field as the Bearcats take a 2-0 lead with Harting coming up.
Cole Harting hit a two-run RBI double to left field which was immediately followed by Merritt blasting a home run to put the Bearcats up 6-0 in the sixth inning. Tulane gets on the board with a RBI single to left field but Guidry makes a diving play to end the inning and keep the lead at 6-1. Merritt jumps on the first pitch and knocks out his second home run of the day to put the Bearcats up 8-1 as he certainly looks like the player of the year today.
Keathley with an impressive complete game to help push the Bearcats past Tulane 8-1 and advance to the second round on Thursday afternoon. “I think just trusting my teammates is the biggest thing,” Keathley said in the postgame interview. “I know we’re going to need everyone to bring it this week and I just gave it everything I had.”
Cincinnati Baseball: Live coverage of AAC Tournament second round vs East Carolina
Tweets from Bearcats matchup against top seeded Pirates: Ryan Nicholson gets thrown out stealing at second base to end top of the first inning. Tristan Weaver starting on the mound for the Bearcats. East Carolina jumps out to an early 3-0 lead as Weaver has allowed four straight base runners since getting hit on the arm by a single up the middle. Freshman Garrett Harker comes out of the bullpen to replace Weaver with one out.
Harker had two relief appearances against East Carolina. Pirates add one more run to go up 4-0 in the first inning as Griffin Merritt strikes out to start the second. Wyatt Stapp singles to center for the Bearcats first hit. Kameron Guidry looks to take advantage with two outs. Nicholson and Cole Harting pick up a pair of singles to bring Griffin Merritt to the plate with two outs.
Kerrington Cross jumps on fastball to get the Bearcats on the scoreboard, trailing 5-1 in the fourth inning. East Carolina adds three more runs in the fourth to go up 8-1. Josh Grosz coming out after leadoff walk. Jake Hansen scores on wild pitch as Bearcats look to make a comeback. Griffin Merritt coming up to bat. Merritt’s infield single is enough to bring home Nicholson as Bearcats cut deficit to 8-3 with one out.
Cross and Stapp drive in two more runs as Bearcats cut lead to 8-5 with Harker still on the mound. Merritt makes a diving play to save a hit in left field but the Pirates add another run to go up 9-5. Pirates push lead to 15-5 in the seventh inning as Bearcats are forced to go to the bullpen again. Following the loss to East Carolina in the second round, the Bearcats will face elimination on Friday evening.
Cincinnati Baseball: Live coverage of AAC Tournament elimination round vs Tulane
With the season on the line, the Bearcats trail 7-0 against Tulane in the bottom of the third inning. Cincinnati on the verge of elimination today. “Have to put then away with two strikes. We’re getting ahead but not putting them away,” Bearcats head coach Scott Googins told ESPN during the break. “Lets put up a goose egg right here and get the bats going to get back into it.”
Tulane hits another home run to go up 9-0 in the fourth inning after Teo Banks led off with a double. Banks came into today as one of the hottest hitters in the AAC Tournament. We said the Bearcats needed to keep him under control but the freshman has three hits as Cincinnati needs a miracle to have a chance.
Ryan Nicholson gets the Bearcats on the board with a deep 2-run shot to right field to cut deficit to 9-2. Paul Komistek grounds into fielder’s choice to end the Bearcats scoring threat in fifth inning, trailing 9-2. Dondrae Bremner with a pinch hit 2-run homer to right to get the Bearcats within 9-4 in the bottom sixth! Cincinnati threatening in the sixth inning with two runners on as the team attempts a comeback.
Bearcats up to bat, trailing 9-4 in the seventh inning, nearing elimination against Tulane. Cole Harting with a leadoff single. Griffin Merritt coming to the plate. Andrew Neff came out of the #Bearcats bullpen in the eighth inning but gives up a homer in his first at bat. Bearcats fall to Tulane 13-4 and are eliminated from the AAC Tournament as the season comes to an end. Cincinnati showed some fight this week with an 8-1 win over Tulane on Tuesday morning before back to back losses to end the season today.