TicketsBearcats Win Wild Finale At East Carolina
Contact: Shawn Sell
3/29/2003
Nate Bouldin earned his fourth win of the year working 8.2 innings in Saturday's finale at East Carolina. |
GREENVILLE, N.C.---A change in look equaled a change in result as the Cincinnati Bearcats topped East Carolina, 4-3 in a wild finale to the Conference USA series Saturday night at Harrington Field.
The Bearcats broke out their special occasion red jerseys for the first time this season in hopes of picking up a win and getting the result they were looking for, withstanding a ninth inning East Carolina rally to avoid a series sweep and improve to 8-17 on the season and 2-7 in C-USA. The Pirates fall to 18-10-1 and 6-3 in league play.
Cincinnati starter Nate Bouldin (4-2) was outstanding, coming within one out of a complete game, before the wildness ensued in the bottom of the ninth. Bouldin retired the first two batters of the frame, but Ryan Norwood hit his seventh home run of the year to pull the Pirates to within a run. ECU?s Jake Smith came to the plate next and hit a come backer that ricocheted off Bouldin?s glove. In the midst of scrambling to pick up the ball, Bouldin rushed his throw to first, throwing wild and allowing Smith to go all the way to third.
The next hitter, Mark Minicozzi walked and that prompted the Bearcats to bring Rob Reel on in relief of Bouldin. With a 1-1 count, pinch hitter John Poppert roped a shot down the left field line. Drew Saylor made a valiant diving effort for the ball, coming up just short in foul territory. On the next pitch, Reel stuck out Poppert to earn his first career save.
As was the case all weekend, East Carolina scored first, pushing two runs across in the fourth on a Norwood sacrifice fly and a Smith home run.
Cincinnati went ahead with a three-run sixth that began with back-to-back singles by Justin Niefer and Jon DeLuca, with a wild pitch moving both runners up. After ECU starter Will Brinson (1-1) struck out Brad Dorrmann and Steve Pickerell, Saylor ripped a base hit to left that scored both runs. Brad Schutz was next at the rack and he drove Saylor home with a double to right center.
Saylor added the Bearcats fourth run in the eighth inning with his team-best fourth home run of the year.
After earning a save on Wednesday at Virginia Commonwealth, Bouldin went 8.2 innings against the Pirates, striking out four and yielding just one earned run. Brinson was also solid in the defeat, striking out eight in 5.2 innings, walking two and allowing six hits.
Saylor led the offensive charge for Cincinnati, going 2 for 4, with two runs scored and three RBI. Schutz and Niefer also had a pair of hits, with Niefer?s knocks extending his hit streak to a team-best nine games.
Cincinnati pounded out 11 hits, including three extra-base hits, but the Bearcats left nine runners on base, including five in scoring position, in falling to East Carolina 8-4 Saturday in the first half of the doubleheader.
Cincinnati had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the ninth inning as the first three batters of the inning reached base. Pickerell started off with his third walk of the game, followed by singles by pinch-hitter Jack Nelson and Mark Muscenti. But ECU?s Glenn Tucker worked out of the jam, inducing foul outs by Niefer and Schutz. Dorrmann came to the plate and came within five feet of tying the game when Jamie Paige hauled in a long fly just short of the wall.
The Pirates got on the scoreboard, chasing Bearcat starter Kyle Markle (0-7) with three runs in the first. Darryl Lawhorn and Minicozzi scored RBI singles and Adam Witter added a run-scoring groundout.
With Markle chased early, the Bearcats turned to Brian St. Jean, a University of Tennessee transfer making his first appearance of the season after sitting out Winter Quarter to concentrate on academics. St. Jean tossed 7.1 innings, allowing just home runs to Lawhorn in the third and Paige and in the fifth, before trouble hit in the eighth, bringing in Rob Reel in the midst of a three-run frame.
The Cincinnati offense finally broke through in the fourth, when DeLuca ripped his team-best sixth double of the year up the left center field ally to score Dorrmann. The Bearcats tacked on three more in the sixth, beginning with a Saylor run-scoring double and followed by Pickerell?s second home run of the season to right.
But it turned into a game of missed opportunities for the Bearcats, as they left runners on first and second in the third and again in the fifth. Dorrmann and Saylor each had a pair of hits for Cincinnati, while Pickerell reached base in all four plate appearances with three walks and his longball.
Neal Sears got the win for East Carolina, tossing six innings and allowing eight hits, while striking out four. Tucker took over from there, throwing the last three innings to earn his second save.
The Bearcats return to action this week with a pair of non-conference tilts on Tuesday and Wednesday. UC travels to Dayton for a 2 p.m. Tuesday contest, before heading to Kentucky for a 6 p.m. Wednesday game.