TicketsBaseball Earns Doubleheader Split With Duke
Contact: Shawn Sell
2/8/2003
Nate Bouldin earned his first win of the season Saturday against Duke. |
DURHAM, N.C.---Nate Bouldin and Rob Reel combined on a five-hit shutout as the Cincinnati Bearcats blanked Duke 8-0 in the second game of a season-opening doubleheader to earn a split of the twinbill with the Blue Devils on Saturday.
The Bearcats got all the offense they would need in the fourth inning when they scored four runs, before tacking on three more in the fifth and another in the ninth to earn their first win of the season. Bouldin was sharp in his first start in a Cincinnati uniform, allowing just five hits and fanning five in seven and a third innings on the hill to earn the win. Reel took over for Bouldin in the eighth, retiring all five batters he faced to close out the win. Duke starter Kevin Thompson was hit with the defeat for the Blue Devils.
Cincinnati broke through on Duke due in large part to the ineffectiveness of the Blue Devils? pitchers. UC tallied its four runs in the fourth with only three hits, utilizing instead two walks, two hit batsmen and a two-base error by Duke centerfielder Javier Socorro. Justin Niefer opened with a double, before Drew Saylor was plunked by Thompson. Two outs later, Brad Schutz ripped an RBI single for the game?s first run. Jake Smith followed with a long fly to right center that eluded Socorro, allowing two runs to score. Following an Aaron Brown walk, Mark Muscenti was hit and Erik Eitel walked to force home the innings fourth run.
The fifth frame was more of the same as the Bearcats scored all three runs with no hits. Duke pitchers walked five Cincinnati hitters in the inning, while also uncorking a wild pitch to plate a run.
Cincinnati added its final run in the ninth when Schutz singled home Aaron Moll, for the latter?s second hit and RBI of the game.
?I think one of the positives of today was that we came back after dropping a tight first game,? said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. ?We found a way to win the second and we got to play a lot of innings and a bunch of different players. I thought all four guys that pitched threw well. Anytime you get a shutout, its evidence of good pitching. Shutouts are hard to come by.?
The first game also featured solid Bearcat pitching, this time by starter B.J. Borsa and Kyle Markle out of the bullpen. Things got off to a rocky start for Borsa, who after retiring the first batter, proceeded to hit the second and walk the third. Troy Cardonna made Borsa pay the price with an RBI single and Bryan Smith followed with a double to plate another.
The Blue Devils touched Borsa for a third run in the sixth inning, his last on the mound, when Smith led off with a double and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt by Borsa. One out later, Brian Hernandez plated Smith with an RBI single.
By pitching six innings, Borsa was able to pass Tony Cento for the career lead in innings pitched at Cincinnati with 267.1. For the game, Borsa allowed three runs and six hits, while walking two and striking out eight.
The Bearcat bats came to life in the seventh, as they manufactured three runs on a trio of hits. Muscenti and Niefer walked to bring Schutz to the plate with one out. The senior shortstop responded with an RBI single to left. The next two batters, Smith and Moll followed suit with RBI hits to even the score at three.
Cincinnati then turned the ball over to Markle and the former freshman All-American proved up to the task. Markle limited Duke to just one hit over the next four innings, striking out four along the way.
But in the eleventh, Duke found a way to produce the winning run. Smith led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by John Berger. After Hernandez flied out to center for the second out, Michael Golom came to the plate and grounded a ball to second in the direction of Saylor. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, the grounder eluded the freshman and Smith was able to score the winning run from second.
Blake Walker who tossed four and two thirds innings of two-hit shutout baseball, picked up the win for Duke.
The two teams will wind up the season-opening series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 12:30 p.m.