CINCINNATI –
Jake Long helped the Utah baseball team strike first with his third home run of the season, but Cincinnati put up an eight-run sixth inning as the Bearcats took the series opener 13-4 on Friday night at the UC Baseball Stadium.
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Utah is now 12-7 on the season and 2-2 in Big 12 Conference play. It was the first game between the squads in recorded history.
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Long,
Bradley Navarro and
Matt Flaharty each went 2-for-4 with Navarro driving in two runs and Flaharty scoring by way of Long's homer.
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Long's home run extended his team-leading hitting streak to 14 consecutive games, the longest by a Utah Ute since the 2023 season.
Cameron Gurney (12) and
Daniel Arambula (11) both singled in the eighth inning to push their respective streaks as well.
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After a scoreless two innings to open the game, the left-handed hitting
Matt Flaharty poked a single the other way to lead off the top of the third. Three batters later, Long sent the first pitch 378 feet over left field wall for an opposite-field, two-run shot.
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Cincinnati halved the Utes' lead with a run in the fifth inning and took charge of the game with an eight-spot in the sixth. The Bearcats added another run in the bottom of the seventh.
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The Utes put together a two-out rally in the eighth on the way to getting two runs back. Arambula and Gurney reached on infield singles then
Cal Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Navarro then lifted a base hit into shallow center field to score both Arambula and Gurney.
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However, the home squad would answer in the bottom of the eighth with three more tallies as the game reached its final score.
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Starting pitcher
Colter McAnelly (2-3) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and struck out six batters in six-plus innings of work.
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Next Up
Utah will look to even up this three-game series on Saturday in another matchup with the Bearcats. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT inside the UC Baseball Stadium.
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Follow Utah Baseball
Keep up with the Utes by following @utahbaseball and by visitingÂ
www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 appÂ
here.
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