The Cincinnati Bearcats (37-19, 17-13) took on the Arizona State Sun Devils (35-18, 18-11) in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday at 11:00 p.m. in Tempe, Arizona. Both teams finished in the top 6 of the conference, earning a two-round bye and not playing their first game until the tournament's third day. Cincinnati finished sixth in the Big 12 and is ranked No. 22 in the NCBWA poll. Arizona State finished third in the Big 12 and is ranked No. 21. The Sun Devils would go on to win 10-2 in nine innings. For all of you who couldn't watch or didn't watch, game recap below:
The Bearcats got to work early in the top of the first, with starting pitcher Kole Klecher throwing 34 pitches through 7 batters. Derrick Pitts' grounder to third base was enough for Cincinnati's Quentin Coats to score, but an out for Pitts. Nathan Taylor would get the start for Cincinnati and Arizona State's Dominic Smaldino would hit a two-run homer for the lead. The Bearcats would get out of the inning, just giving up two.
The Bearcats would force 26 more pitches out of Klecher, but wouldn't score. However, Landon Hariston would reach first on a fielding error by Cincinnati's Charlie Niehaus, letting Matt Polk score. Arizona State would go into the third inning with a 3-1 lead. Cincinnati would leave 3 more runners on base this game, making seven runners stranded through the first three innings. The Sun Devils would score two more runs through Garrett Michel and Matt Polk once again, making the score 5-1 going into the fourth.
The Bearcats would once again go three straight batters and head back to defense. Adam Brouwer would come in to pitch for the Bearcats, and give up a double, a homerun, and then hit a batter with a pitch. The score became 7-1 with zero outs in the fourth inning. The Bearcats would get a quick three outs and send their offense into the fifth inning with a little momentum.
Taylor Penn, the right-handed pitcher from Versailles, Kentucky, would check in for Arizona State and get a strikeout on Quentin Coats. Derrick Pitts would then strike out, but Jack Natili would get hit by a pitch. Enzo Infelise would then pop out at third base on the first pitch. The Bearcats then retired 2 of 4 Sun Devil batters before calling in Adam Buczkowski to finish the inning. Cal Sefcik would lead off the sixth inning, pinch-hitting, and a 7-pitch battle would end in a strikeout. The next two batters would ground out and fly out. Buczkowski was back out there and forced two groundouts and a strikeout in that order.
Cincinnati would start to take advantage of the momentum, Ryan Tryanski reaching first base. Coats was up to bat, and during the at-bat, they tried to throw Tryanski out at first four times. Coats would climb to a 3-2 count before being struck out. Pitts would strike out as well. Matt Polk would homer with two out to extend the lead to 8-1, Polk finished the game with 2 RBI's.
Sefrik was back up to hit, doubling to deep center, sending Christian Michelle home from first, making the score 8-2. Dean Toigo would even it back up for the Sun Devils with a double to left center that brought in two, making it 10-2 at the end of the eighth inning. Eli Buxton would put away the Bearcats in the ninth.
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