Well-executed small ball and a couple of home runs helped propel the Cincinnati baseball team to an 8-3 win at No. 11 Duke on Opening Day on Friday.
Cincinnati had faced a ranked team on Opening Day five times since 2000, but Friday was the first time it came away with a victory. The win was also the Bearcats' first non-conference ranked win since beating No. 5 Louisville on March 30, 2021.
Duke struck first in Friday's game with a home run, and hit another in the second to retake the lead. The Bearcats dominated from that point on, outscoring the Blue Devils 7-1 with a pair of three-run innings.
Senior Kerrington Cross and junior Landyn Vidourek both homered, with Vidourek's two-run shot in the eighth providing the exclamation point. Sophomore Cal Sefcik drove in a pair of runs on sac flies and fellow newcomer sophomore Jack Natili notched his first hit as a Bearcat.
Cal Sefcik and his brother Luke hit back-to-back in UC's order on Friday.
On the mound, redshirt senior Kellen O'Connor made the start, while redshirt junior Joel Pineiro earned the win with four shutout innings. Junior Christian Mitchelle and sophomore Carson Marsh both had scoreless relief outings as well, with Mitchelle recording the final out.
Game two of this weekend series is set for Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
// HOW IT HAPPENED
Duke struck first with a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, but the Bearcats didn't stay down for long. Jack Natili reached on a base hit and Tommy O'Connor's walk put runners at first and second with no outs. Luke Sefcik's sac bunt resulted in a throwing error that allowed Natili to score easily and tie the game at 1-1.
The Blue Devils responded with another solo homer in the bottom of the second to retake the lead, 2-1.
The Bearcats utilized Bischel Ball again in the top of the third to take their first lead of the night. Kerrington Cross led off the inning with a base hit into center field, then Lauden Brooks and Christian Mitchelle reached on back-to-back bunt singles. Natili walked with the bases loaded to bring in a run, then another sac bunt attempt by Luke Sefcik ended with another throwing error that allowed a run to score the go-ahead run. Cal Sefcik followed that up with a sac fly to make it 4-2.
Cross led off the top of the fourth with a home run, blasting the first pitch of the inning over the fence in left-center field. Meanwhile, Joel Pineiro kept the Blue Devils in check with four shutout innings in relief. He entered the game in the second inning and allowed a couple hits but settled down from there, retiring eight straight batters at one point.
The Blue Devils led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a home run to make it a 5-3 ballgame, but the Bearcats got that run back plus two more in the top of the eighth. Cal Sefcik's second sac fly of the game made it 6-3, then Landyn Vidourek blasted a two-run homer to put the score at 8-3.
Carson Marsh induced an inning-ending double play to escape trouble in the bottom of the eighth, then Mitchelle jogged in from left field to take over on the mound in the ninth to cap the win.
