Bats go silent in series-opening 5-1 loss for Wichita State baseball at Cincinnati

Wichita State’s bats were silenced in a series-opening 5-1 loss at Cincinnati on Friday.

The Shockers produced nine base runners, but grounded into three double plays to end potential rallies, including one in the top of the ninth inning that ended the game with two runners on base.

After staying above .500 for the last month, the loss dropped WSU’s overall record to 20-21, the first time the Shockers have had a losing record since March 24. The Shockers also fell to 5-8 in American Athletic Conference play, while Cincinnati improved to 20-22 and 9-7 in conference.

WSU starter Liam Eddy was rocky early, allowing all five of his earned runs in the first four innings. But Eddy weathered the storm and ate up seven innings for the Shockers, ultimately allowing 11 hits and one walk and throwing 114 pitches.

The trouble began in the second inning when Cincinnati led off the inning with a single and a double, then scored twice on a sacrifice fly and a RBI single. The Bearcats tacked on another run on a solo home run by Wyatt Stapp for a 3-0 lead, then scored the final two runs in the fourth inning after Eddy gave up four straight hits to fall in a 5-0 hole.

Meanwhile, WSU’s offense struggled to come up with timely hits. The Shockers put a runner on first base in the first three innings, but failed to advance any to second base.

The only offensive punch of the night came from Hunter Gibson, who blasted his second home run of the week and fifth on the season for a solo shot in the seventh inning to trim Cincinnati’s lead to 5-1. Jacob Katzfey and Paxton Wallace followed with back-to-back two-out singles, but a potential rally was ended when Mason O’Brien popped up for the final out.

In the eighth inning, Alex Jackson singled with one out but Jordan Boyer grounded into a double play to end the inning. In the ninth, Jack Sigrist led off with a walk and moved to second on a one-out single by Gibson, but the game ended on a double play by Noah Croft.

WSU freshman Cal Marley threw one inning of relief, walking a batter and allowing a hit but getting out of the eighth inning unscathed.

Gibson, Wallace and Jackson each finished with two hits, while the other six spots in the lineup combined for one hit in 20 at-bats.

Game 2 will start at 3 p.m. Saturday between the Shockers and Bearcats.

WP: Orndoff (3-1). LP: Eddy (4-5). E: WSU, Sigrist. LOB: WSU 5, UC 8. 2B: UC, Bumpass. HR: WSU, Gibson; UC, Stapp. SB: UC, Mercer. CS: None. HBP: None. Umpires: Grady Smith, home; Pete Pedersen, first; Michael Duffy, second; Daniel Cricks, third. T: 2:30.