CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Niagara Purple Eagles opened their series against the Cincinnati Bearcats with a 5-1 loss on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Purple Eagles (0-5) got on the board in the top of the first. Thomas Rodrigues opened his 2-for-3 afternoon with a one-out double to right field. He advanced to third in the next at bat before Michael Fuhrman brought him home on a line-out to left.
 
"We played much better today," said head coach Rob McCoy. "Our defense was solid and we avoided mental mistakes that come early in the season."
 
Three singles and a sac-fly to left from the Bearcats (2-9) tied the game in the bottom of the frame tied the game at 1-1. Zachary Kolodziejski kept the bearcats off of the board in the second. He collected another pair of strikeouts in third, but Cincinnati was able to scratch two runs across on two hits in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Kolodziejski went five complete innings giving up the three runs on six hits while racking up seven strikeouts with only one walk.
 
"We pitched much better today," McCoy said. "Zack had a good start, but our relievers need to get more aggressive out of the pen. That will improve with experience."
 
Cincinnati scored two runs on one hit in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead late in the game. Michael Bucci threw two scoreless innings in relief, but the Bearcats kept NU off the board through the final two innings to come away with the four-run win.
 
These teams take the field for the second game of the series tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.