It wasn’t the best week in Cincy, with the Reds going on a losing skid and all of our colleges have paused games for the summer. However, Xavier did have a promising STH event. We also have an article on a new topic for us, an AFC North breakdown, also below. Let’s dive in!
Before we start, just a quick note from Hunter:
This week has been nothing short of amazing for Sansom Sports Media. We brought on 7 different writers to help cover Xavier, UC, Miami (OH), UK, Louisville, Wright State, Dayton, Ohio State and more national coverage. We also launched the World Cup Central from @egelandparker! First and foremost, thank you to every single one of you. Your interactions, questions, and insights have been invaluable in the growth from a Twitter brand to a functioning sports media brand!
Make sure you read through and like/subscribe for all of the amazing content coming up!
Pro Sports
Bengals: As I said above, we recently produced a position by position breakdown of the AFC North. All of our Cincy fans will love our prediction for the Bengals.
Read here: https://sansomsportsmedia.com/2026/06/03/afc-north-breakdown/
We will have a schedule breakdown for the Bengals coming out this week.
FCC: Cincinnati remains on break due to the World Cup. Miles Robinson remains on the USA’s roster. A friendly with Burnley FC was announced for July today.
Check out our World Cup page here: https://sansomsportsmedia.com/world-cup-2026/
Reds: The Reds went 1-5 this week, yikes. Recap of each game below.
6/1 | Royals beat Reds 9-2 | Great American Ballpark
Rough game, only positives were a JJ Bleday home run and a Matt McLain RBI double.
6/2 | Reds beat Royals 4-3 | Great American Ballpark
This was the lone game that gave Cincy fans some joy this week. Kansas City took a 3-0 lead early, but the Reds scored the last four. Spencer Steer hit two solo shots. Soon after, Will Benson hit a homer to send it to extras. Blake Dunn had a walk-off single to win it.
6/3 | Royals beat Reds 5-2 | Great American Ballpark
This was another rough night for the Reds, as their only offensive positive was a two-run home run by Blake Dunn. The Royals put up three runs in the ninth to win.
6/5 | Cardinals beat Reds 10-3 | Busch Stadium
The Reds started this game out hot, putting up three runs in the first. Sal Stewart had a two RBI double and Eugenio Suarez had an RBI single. St. Louis then put up ten runs unanswered.
6/6 | Cardinals beat Reds 6-5 | Busch Stadium
This game started out the opposite way, with St. Louis putting up three runs on Nick Lodolo early. The Redlegs then responded with a three run-third. McLain and Marte scored off an error, and Spencer Steer hit a sac-fly. McLain hit a two-run shot an inning later. St. Louis smacked two home runs later on to take a 6-5 lead and hang on.
6/7 | Cardinals beat Reds 5-3 | Busch Stadium
This was a terrible end to quite the week for Cincinnati. Matt McLain and Tyler Stephenson started off the game with solo shots. McLain hit another in the seventh to tie it 3-3. Cincy wouldn’t score again, while St. Louis stole the lead and ran with it.
Moving to this week, the Reds play the Padres and Diamondbacks.
6/8-6/10 | Reds @ Padres | Petco Park
The Padres are in a similar spot to the Reds at 33-31 (Third in NL West). The Padres don’t have any specific strengths, just a well-balanced squad. San Diego is tied for third in the league in saves (21). This is mainly due to closer Mason Miller, who is second in the MLB with 18 saves. The Padres still have an extremely talented group that consists of Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackson Merrill.
6/12-6/14 | Diamondbacks @ Reds | Great American Ballpark
The Diamondbacks are actually half a game ahead of San Diego right now. Arizona is not top five in any team stats. Individually, they have Michael Soroka (third in MLB with eight wins) and Paul Sewald (tied fifth in MLB with 15 saves). Other than those two, they have a very talented crew that consists of Corbin Carroll, Nolan Arenado, and Ketel Marte.
College Sports
This week, the Cincinnati area teams kicked off workouts. Xavier and NKU both started their summer live period that consists of 8 hours per week (4 on court and 4 off court). This means that all of the players are on the same court for the first time and we’re starting to see how the teams are going to look.
Sansom Sports Media also added a schedule tracker! Find it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DYwYUb9A2p8qa1ezQ93qyLisyavI-YMoAbbBHw6jQGI/edit?usp=sharing
For Xavier, I’ve heard nothing but great things about how the team is looking and how the length, explosiveness and overall athleticism is clearly upgraded from last year.
The meet the team event occurred on Friday, and was a first of its kind for Xavier. It was, by all accounts a raving success.
A full Roster Preview here: https://sansomsportsmedia.com/2026/06/04/meet-the-team-2026-2027-xavier-musketeers/
Read about the event here: https://sansomsportsmedia.com/2026/06/07/an-eventful-night-first-look-at-xaviers-squad/
For Kentucky, Milan Momcilovic has committed and all players are on campus. Kentucky, Louisville, UC and most other local programs are getting started this week.
Read about Kentucky’s full roster here: https://sansomsportsmedia.com/2026/06/06/kentucky-basketball-2026-27-roster-breakdown-projected-starters-rotation-and-key-takeaways/
Ryan Hampton, a highly regarded class of 2027 recruit, was on campus this week. Kentucky was able to secure his commitment, starting the 2027 cycle off with a BANG! https://sansomsportsmedia.com/2026/06/07/kentucky-lands-five-star-2027-prospect-ryan-hampton-during-official-visit/
Kentucky baseball’s season ended on Monday with a loss to WVU in the Regionals.
For Cincinnati, they got started on Sunday with their first team meeting. We’ll have a roster breakdown this week to help familiarize yourselves! New writers Noah and Michael are working to fine tune it now!
Regarding more coverage of teams:
- Louisville’s roster is complete and I’ll have some insights into practice and further information next week.
- NKU has officially started practice and I’ll have NKU’s roster preview within the next week and hope to add a bit more regarding who stands out as I hear a bit more.
- Miami, Wright State, Ohio State roster previews will follow!
We’re also working on adding more football coverage. If there’s a team that you’re specifically interested in, let us know!
The college section is a bit light this week, but the coming weeks will be filled with content and I have some big plans for things coming up!