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The University of Cincinnati men’s baseball team didn’t start its 2012 season the way it planned.

The Bearcats left Clifton this past week en route to St. Petersburg, Fla., to take part in the annual
Big East vs. Big Ten Challenge; but unfortunately for head coach Brian Cleary and theteam, the Florida sun did not provide as warm a welcome as they would have liked.

The Cats struggled to find their groove at the plate and dropped all three of their games in the competition.

Cincinnati faced off against Indiana University in its season opener with right-hander Justin Strenge taking the mound for the start.

Following a scoreless first inning for both teams, UC could not escape the top of the second unscathed, as a pair of walks with two outs in the inning set the stage for Indiana infielder Chris Sujka to send a three-run homerun just over the left center field wall.

The game remained quiet until the seventh inning, when the Hoosiers added a fourth run to their tally on a Trace Knoblauch RBI single.

In the bottom half of the inning, UC finally found the scoreboard when freshman third baseman

Joey Bielek walked and made it to second after senior Sam Vandenheuvel reached first on an error to set up Matt Williams, who drove in UC’s first run with an RBI groundout to the second baseman.

Jake Proctor then scored Vandenheuvel with an RBI single to right field, and sophomore standout
Justin Glass drove in Proctor with a two-out RBI double to left-center field, making the score 4-3 Indiana.

Unfortunately for the Bearcats, their rally would end there, as Indiana capitalized on three UC errors in the top of the ninth to pad its lead by three more runs.

Proctor added another hit and RBI in the bottom of the ninth to finish 2-of-4 with two RBIs. Strenge took the loss for UC.

Just a few hours following the game against Indiana, the Cats were dealt their second setback of the day, as they were shut out 6-0 by Purdue.

Sophomore pitcher Matt Ring made his first collegiate start for UC and lasted nearly six innings, allowing five runs to take the loss.

Purdue righty Lance Breedlove frustrated the UC batters for the majority of the game, striking out 11 and allowing only three hits — one each for Justin Glass, Joey Bielek and sophomore second baseman Ryan Quinn.

Purdue was paced by senior outfielder Andrew Dixon, who finished 4-4 with two RBI’s and a run scored.

In their final game of the tournament, the Bearcats dropped a 5-3 decision to Penn State.

After building a 3-2 lead — made possible with an impressive 4-of-5 performance from infielder Branden Kline and single RBIs from Nic Spence, Jake Saylor, and Ron Cotton — UC could not seal the victory.

After allowing three runs in the bottom of the eight, UC could not rally in its final inning.

The Bearcats will look to get back on track this Friday when they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to participate in the Wake Forest Tournament.