In a game that didn’t start until 11:40 p.m. Cincinnati time, the biggest surprise at Surprise Stadium was a lethargic night at the plate and sloppy game in the field as Arizona State eliminated the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Big 12 tournament 10-2.
UC had an uncharacteristic four errors in the game and struck out 15 times. Arizona State starter Kole Klecker whiffed five in four innings and Taylor Penn went to 6-0 with the win, pitching innings 5-6-7 with five strikeouts.
“That’s an anomaly for us,” UC head coach Jordan Bischel said of the fielding during his in-game interview on ESPNU.
Matt Polk was 3-for-4 for the Sun Devils with a home run. Big 12 Player of the Year Landon Hairston had a two-run homer, as did Dominic Smaldino. Reliever Dominic Mauro was the only UC pitcher not touched for a hit or run as he threw a perfect eighth.
UC drops to 37-20, while Arizona State goes to 37-18 and moves to the semifinals against West Virginia.
Long, late night, lousy loss for UC Bearcats
Surprise is the spring training home of the Rangers and Royals and sits 48 minutes from the Sun Devils campus. The temperature had been in the 90s all day and was still 81 at game time, but UC’s recent momentum went cold.
UC had won 16 of their last 22 and got the early lead when Ryan Tyranski doubled in the first, stole second, then scored on a Derrick Pitts ground ball. But, they would leave the bases loaded in that frame and again in the third inning. The Bearcats didn’t plate another run until the eighth when Cal Sefcik doubled in Christian Mitchelle.
“We were right there on the doorstep a couple of times,” Bischel said.
Arizona State scored seven of its runs in the first four innings, with UC head coach Jordan Bischel pulling starter Nathan Taylor after the third. Taylor gave up four hits and five runs, but just two were earned. He threw 67 pitches and was likely pulled to save him for next week’s NCAA appearance.
The eight-run defeat equals an 11-3 April 4 loss in Stillwater to Oklahoma State as UC’s worst loss of 2026.
The game was just three minutes shy of three hours and announced attendance was 2,119, though there were many empty seats visible to insomniacs that stayed up to watch.
1st game vs. Arizona State this season
The Bearcats didn’t play Arizona State during the regular season. Last season, the Sun Devils came to UC Baseball Stadium and UC won two of three. The Sun Devils came into the game No. 21 in the DI Baseball Top 25 with the Bearcats at No. 22.
Arizona State will now play West Virginia on Friday night May 22, after Oklahoma State and Kansas battle earlier in the evening. The winners meet Saturday, May 23, for the Big 12 tournament crown.
NCAA tournament projections for Cincinnati Bearcats
DI Baseball had them as a No. 2 seed in Gainesville, behind the top-seeded Florida Gators, before their Big 12 tournament game. North Carolina State is the No. 3 seed in that region, with Rider as the No. 4 seed.
A USA Today projection earlier this week had the Bearcats a No. 2 seed in College Station behind top seed Texas A&M. Louisiana-Lafayette is the No. 3 seed with St. John’s the No. 4.
NCAA Division I baseball tournament selection show
On Monday, May 25, at 12 p.m. (Eastern), the Bearcats will find out where they’ll be heading in this year’s NCAA tournament. The selection show is on ESPN2. UC has never been in back-to-back NCAA regionals. Their previous appearances were in 1958 under Ed Jucker, 1961, 1967, 1971 and 1974 under Glenn Sample, 2019 under Scott Googins and 2025 under Jordan Bischel.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Bearcats baseball eliminated in Big 12 tourney by Arizona State
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
