TicketsRedHawk Homers Drop Bearcats
Contact: Shawn Sell
4/15/2003
Steve Pickerell homered twice versus Miami on Tuesday. |
OXFORD, Ohio---Steve Pickerell hit two home runs and Brad Schutz added a third, but Miami?s Zach Schmidt hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, handing the Bearcats a 10-8 loss on Tuesday afternoon and dropping Cincinnati to 10-24 on the year. Miami improves to 16-16-1 with the win.
The fireworks started early as Miami got solo home runs in the bottom of the first from David Cook and John Slone to take a 2-1 lead, following Brad Dorrmann?s sacrifice fly in the top of the inning.
Pickerell tied the game in the third with his first homer, only to have the RedHawks take a 6-2 lead on two-run blasts by Michael Carlin and Brendan Hadley in the top of the stanza.
Cincinnati came back to knot the game at six with a pair of runs in each the fifth and sixth innings. Pickerell did the damage in the fifth, with a two-run blast to deep leftfield. An inning later, the Bearcats chased Miami starter Matt Raguse with a Jake Smith run-scoring single. Adam Keel replaced Raguse and promptly walked Jack Nelson with the bases loaded to force in the game-tying run.
The Bearcats pulled into the lead in the seventh on a Schutz long ball. The lead didn?t last long, though as Hadley singled and Brian Canada walked against Bryan Wood. After Jason Brown fouled out to third on an attempted bunt, Rob Reel replaced Wood on the hill. On just Reel?s second offering, Schmidt drove a deep shot to left that put Miami ahead to stay, 9-7.
After Miami added a run in the eighth, the Bearcats trailed by three heading into the ninth. With one out, Mark Muscenti singled, but Dorrmann went down on strikes for the second out. The Bearcats were able to salvage a run out of the frame though, as Schutz was hit by a pitch, allowing Aaron Moll to line a base hit up the middle for the final score of the day.
Wood (0-3) was dealt the tough loss, allowing just two hits and three walks, along with two of the three runs on Schmidt?s home run, in 3.2 innings of relief. Keel picked up the win out of the RedHawk bullpen yielding two runs and three hits in 3.1 innings of work.
The Bearcats, who recorded double digit hits for the eighth straight game, got a trio of hits from five different players. Pickerell led the way with his two home runs, while Schutz added a homer and a double. Niefer added a double and a single, while Smith and Drew Saylor had two singles apiece.
Cincinnati returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Purdue for a 3 p.m. CST start. Nick Buscemi gets the start on the hill for the Bearcats.