This morning the Bearcats welcomed in the Northern Kentucky Norse for an early morning showdown here at UC Baseball Stadium as the Bearcats were looking to keep their hot streak rolling, after a big weekend in New Orleans, where the Bearcats took 2 of 3 versus Tulane to improve to 19-25 on the season, (9-9 AAC) while the Norse are coming into this one at 15-27 on the season, (8-13 in the Horizon league). This will be the first time these two teams have met since 2019, where the Bearcats won a close one 6-5. The Bearcats hold a 34-15 all-time record versus the Norse, and they look to improve that record here later this afternoon.
The Bearcats come into this one averaging 6.9 runs a game, leading the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats have been powered by senior Griffin Merritt, who leads the American Athletic Conference with 16 Home runs on the season, along with sophomore catcher Joe Powell, who is hitting .355% on the season, good for 4th in the American Athletic Conference. Sophomore outfielder Cole Harting is coming off a hot week as well as he earned a spot on the AAC Honor Roll last week after going 6-14 during the series versus Tulane, hitting .429 in that three-game series for the Bearcats, to raise his average to .305% on the season.
The Bearcats welcomed in a sellout crowd of 3,125 fans for this afternoons showdown with the Norse, which is the largest crowd in program history.
The Bearcats got into a jam early, after Carter Earls struggled to find the zone, going just 0.1IP allowing 2 walks, 2 hits, as the Norse took a 3-0 run lead in the first after a Noah Fisher RBI single, that was followed by a Brennan Gick double in the left-center gap. The Norse added an insurance run on a John Odom groundout to take a 3-0 lead, heading to the bottom of the first, but the Bearcats knew they would have to have the bats going early after a huge first inning for the Norse. The Bearcats did just that However, after a lead off double by Kerrington Cross, Cole Harting continued to swing his hot bat after being named to the AAC Honor Roll a week ago, he followed Cross, with a 2-run home run to Left Field to make this a 3-2 game with 0 outs. The Bearcats would eventually tie the game at 3 after a Kam Guidry RBI single off of Bryson Lonsbury, Wyatt Stapp followed suit to give the Bearcats a 4-3 lead after an RBI single.
