Reversal of Fortune

Mountaineer starter Derek Clark had one of his worst outings of the season, giving up seven runs in five innings, all earned. Three home runs accounted for much of the damage, but Clark never found a groove, allowing at least two baserunners in all but one of the innings he pitched. His ERA jumped from 2.72 to 3.48 and he hit two batters after plunking just four all season.

Trailing 7-0, WVU declined to go with any of its front-line relievers, instead employing Chase Meyer, who wore No. 8 instead of his usual 10, and Robby Porco. The Bearcats (26-21 12-11) added three runs against that duo over the final three innings, finishing with 14 hits.

UC starter Tommy Boba was excellent over 6 1/3 innings, giving up the first of Reed Chumley's home runs, but otherwise stymying WVU with nine strikeouts. More importantly, he did not walk nor hit a batter in moving to 4-5 on the season. Clark took the loss, his second of the year, in falling to 5-2.

The Mountaineers (28-16, 15-7) finally got on the board in the seventh when  Chumley drove a two-run homer over the rightfield wall, but they missed a chance to add more when Skylar King grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out. The doubling up of King was very close, and reviewed by the umpiring crew, and although it appeared the ball hit the glove at the same time King's foot hit the bag, he was ruled out to keep UC's advantage at 7-2.

Chumley went back-to-back on his next at-bat, adding another two-run tater, but that was pretty much all the offense for the Mountaineers on the day. Chumley also had a double, finishing 3-4 with two runs scored and four RBI.

The series concludes with  1 p.m. matchup on Sunday. West Virginia's Aidan Major (4-3, 5.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) will be first on the hill for the Mountaineers, while UC freshman Nathan Taylor (6-1, 5.68 ERA, 1.59 WHIP), who was originally scheduled to start on Saturday, is expected to get the ball for the Bearcats.

SEAMS AND BARRELS

Five UC batters had multiple hits, and seven scored at least one run.

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Film references were prevalent on the diamond. In addition to UC starter Tommy Boba taking the hill on Star Wars Day, first base umpire Kyle Reese was keeping an eye out for the Terminator.

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Cincinnati continued to excel at getting leadoff batters on, going 5-8 in that stat on Saturday after getting six aboard in Friday's leadoff situations.