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CLEARWATER, Florida – The University of Cincinnati baseball team ended their 2021 season on the second day of the American Athletic Conference Tournament with a 13-9 loss to top-seeded East Carolina in a playoff game on Wednesday at the BayCare Ballpark.
The fourth seeded Bearcats (29-26) fought their way back after a deficit of 11: 1 and scored three runs in the last two innings, but stranded 14 runners and left the bases twice.
An impressive group of seniors made their last appearance at Red & Black, including Joey Bellini, Dondrae Bremner, Jake Hansen, Tanner Holen, Dean McCarthy, Jace Mercer, Jake Meyer, Nate Moore, Jake Murray, Eric Santiago, Garrett Schoenle, Wyatt Stapp , Jalen Wade and the student managers Michael DeLong and Jake Swearingen.
It took ECU (39-14) eight pitchers to stop the UC’s comeback in the four-hour, 17-minute marathon and play on Friday. The Pirates’ second baseman, Connor Norby, a season-long UC nemesis, hit two home runs in a row at bats in the first and second innings, finishing 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs that day.
The Pirates led 5-0 after the second and 11-1 after the fifth, with the UC starter touching for seven runs and reliever Dean McCarthy giving up four. Segal took the loss and finished the campaign 5-4.
UC added a five in sixth place against four different ECU pitchers. Mercer’s base-loaded, 2 RBI doubles pushed him over 100 for his career, scoring Griffin Merritt and Stapp who led the way with back-to-back singles between pitching switches. Bellini was next up, pounding the first ball he saw into the bullpen in left field, a three-run shot, his third homer of the season and the result was 11-6.
ECU shortstop Ryder Giles, pitching up the hill, single-handedly finished the no-out rally by taking an incredible catch on Nicholson’s Line Drive, throwing a tagging Komistek in second, and beating Tanner Holen to close the frame break up.
Cincinnati added two more in the eighth on Nicholson’s 2 RBI doubles in the center left, scoring Bellini and Komistek, but ECU ruined it with two runs of their own at the bottom of the frame, leading 13-8.
Jake Murray made his final college at the bat a memorable one by tattooing right field in the ninth pinch hitting and third home run of the year to finish at 13-9.
REMARKABLE
• Bellini finished 3-for-4 with three runs, two walks and two runs scored.
• Nicholson was three to five with one double and two RBIs. He had five hits in two games at Clearwater.
• Komistek ended the season with five goals in UC’s two AAC games, including two homers, two walks, one double, four runs scored and five RBIs.
• UC ended the season with double-digit goals in six straight games, scoring 64 runs in that period.
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