TicketsBearcats Fall Again To Houston, 13-6
DeLuca, Muscenti homer in Bearcats' third straight loss
Contact: Shawn Sell
3/22/2003
Freshman Jon DeLuca went 2 for 4 with his first collegiate home run Saturday against Houston. |
AMEILA, Ohio---Houston scored seven runs in the sixth inning and despite a late comeback, Cincinnati fell for the second time in as many days to the Cougars by a score of 13-6. The setback drops the Bearcats to 6-13 and 1-4 in Conference USA, while Houston improves to 10-13, with a 3-2 league slate.
The Cougars tallied four of the seven runs in the inning off UC starter and losing pitcher B.J. Borsa (2-3), before getting three more off of reliever Rob Reel. Houston sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scored five of the seven runs with two out. Hyung Cho started the frame with a single, followed by a Thanos Papavasiliou single. Borsa then retired the next two hitters and it appeared the damage would be minimal. But Houston strung together five straight hits, culminated by a three-run homer by Gabe Lucas that opened their lead to 10-1.
Cincinnati cut into the lead in the bottom of the frame on Jon DeLuca?s first collegiate home run. It was the second long ball of the day for the Bearcats after Mark Muscenti got UC on the board with a solo shot, also the first of his collegiate career in the third inning.
Trailing by eight after six innings of play, the Bearcats were able to shut Houston out for the next two innings, setting the stage for a three-run eighth inning that cut the Cougar lead to 10-5. With one out, Cincinnati put together six straight hits, starting with a DeLuca single and a Houston error that moved him to second. Brad Schutz followed with a single through the left side, before Brad Dorrmann ripped a Justin Valcavik offering to right center for an RBI double. Justin Niefer came to the rack and came through with a two-run single to plate Schutz and Dorrmann. Jake Smith and Drew Saylor followed with singles that loaded the bases and brought pinch-hitter Erik Eitel to the plate with one out. But Houston countered with righthander Ryan Wagner, who enticed an inning-ending double play.
Houston again widened the gap in the ninth with three more runs, the big hit of the inning coming courtesy of a Sam Mitchell two-run triple. The Bearcats rounded out the scoring in the last of the ninth on an RBI sacrifice fly by Schutz.
Danny Zell (6-1) picked up the win for Houston, tossing six innings of two-run, five-hit baseball. Borsa was tagged with the loss after surrendering seven runs (five earned) and nine hits in 5.2 innings of work.
The contest was an offensive show as the teams combined for 29 hits, including 17 by Houston. The Cougars were led by Stuart Musslewhite and Lucas, each with three hits and three RBI. Schutz had a three-hit day for Cincinnati, while Muscenti, DeLuca and Saylor all had two apiece.
The series concludes tomorrow with a 10 a.m. start at Midland Field. Nate Bouldin gets the start for Cincinnati, against Houston?s Garrett Mock.