Jake Long hit his third home run of the season as the Utah baseball team took an early lead, but Cincinnati scored eight runs in the sixth inning to secure a 13-4 win in the series opener on March 20 at UC Baseball Stadium.
The game marked the first recorded meeting between Utah and Cincinnati. Utah now holds a 12-7 record overall and is 2-2 in Big 12 Conference play.
Long, Bradley Navarro, and Matt Flaharty each had two hits for Utah. Navarro drove in two runs, while Flaharty scored on Long’s home run. Long’s homer extended his hitting streak to 14 games, which is the longest by a Utah player since the 2023 season. Cameron Gurney and Daniel Arambula also extended their hitting streaks with singles in the eighth inning.
Utah took an early lead after Flaharty singled to start the third inning and Long followed with a two-run home run. Cincinnati responded with a run in the fifth before taking control of the game with eight runs in the sixth inning. The Bearcats added another run in the seventh.
Utah rallied for two runs in the eighth when Arambula and Gurney reached base on singles, Cal Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Navarro delivered a single to score both runners. However, Cincinnati answered with three more runs in their half of the eighth to reach the final score.
Starting pitcher Colter McAnelly held Cincinnati hitless into the fifth inning and struck out six batters over six-plus innings but took his third loss of the season.
Utah will try to even up this three-game series on Saturday at UC Baseball Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Mountain Time.
