TicketsNine Run Seventh Sinks UC At Duke
Sunday's finale changed to noon first pitch
Contact: Shawn Sell
2/14/2004
Drew Saylor went 2 for 5 with a double in Saturday's loss at Duke. |
DURHAM, N.C.---Duke exploded for nine runs in the seventh inning against three Cincinnati relievers, turning a close game into a rout, as the Blue Devils topped the Bearcats 12-3 on Saturday afternoon at Jack Coombs Stadium.
The seventh inning collapse ruined a brilliant UC debut for Greg Russell, who allowed just one hit and two walks in six innings of work, leaving with a 3-1 lead. Russell also picked up four strikeouts in the outing for the Bearcats (1-1).
Duke (3-2) sent 12 batters to the plate in the deciding inning, scoring the nine runs on the benefit of just four hits, as UC walked four hitters and hit another in the frame. Jonathan Anderson started the scoring with a two-run double off of Jack Nelson, while Bryan Smith blew the game wide open with a bases loaded triple against Bryan Wood. Brian Hernandez put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run homer to left off of Wood.
?I think this was a much tighter game than the scoreboard indicates,? said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. ?We just had a disastrous seventh inning and the walks really haunted us. I think we missed some opportunities early, but we swung the bats better today than yesterday. I thought (Greg) Russell really competed well and gave us a chance to win, but the bullpen just didn?t do the job.?
Brad Hunt (0-1) was saddled with the defeat, after walking two batters and hitting a third in just 1/3 of an inning, before giving way to Nelson. Blake Walker (1-0) picked up the win for Duke allowing just three hits in four shutout innings of work.
UC jumped into an early lead when Drew Saylor doubled home Erik Eitel, after the latter opened the contest with a single to left and moved to second on a Brian Beltz sacrifice. Duke wasted little time in tying the score when Mike Miello doubled home Anderson who started the game with a walk and moved to third on a Bearcat throwing error.
Over the next three innings, the Bearcats left a total of four runners on base, before breaking through for a pair of runs in the fifth. Beltz started the frame with a single to left and moved to second when the ball went through the legs of left fielder Corey Whiting. Two outs later Nelson ripped a double down the left field line to plate Beltz. Eliot Salcedo was next at the dish and he kept the hitting going with a single to left center that brought Nelson around to score.
In the seventh, the Bearcats again left two runners on base, bringing their total to nine for the game. With one out, Saylor and Steve Pickerell singled, but Walker got Nelson to fly out and Salcedo to strike out to end the threat, setting the stage for the Blue Devils? big inning. Duke added two more in the eighth off of Mike Foley on a two-run single by Tim Layden.
The Bearcats, who outhit Duke by a 9-8 tally, got two hits each from Saylor and Nelson. Anderson was the only Blue Devil with two hits, while Layden and Smith each knocked in three runs.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game series tomorrow beginning at 12 p.m., a change from the origanlly scheduled 1 p.m. start. Tony Maynard will make his first appearance in nearly two years for the Bearcats, while Greg Burke will get the ball for Duke.