TicketsMaynard Pitches UC To Doubleheader Split
Junior earns first win since 2001
Contact: Shawn Sell
2/28/2004
Tony Maynard earned his first win since May 5, 2001 Saturday at Xavier. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Junior Tony Maynard won his first game in nearly three years, helping the University of Cincinnati baseball team to a doubleheader split with Xavier on Saturday afternoon at Hayden Field. The Bearcats won the second game of the twinbill by a 6-2 score after Xavier overcame a five-run deficit to score a 6-5 triumph in game one.
Maynard was sensational on the mound for UC (2-6), needing just 78 pitches to shut down the Musketeers (1-5) in the seven-inning contest. The righthander allowed seven hits, but didn?t walk a batter and struck out one to pick up his first victory since a May 5, 2001 win over Southern Miss.
The UC offense blew up the game in the top of the fourth inning, with its second five-run inning of the day. Jim Olds provided the big hit of the inning when he dropped a two-run double down the left field line with the bases loaded. After Olds? hit, Aaron Moll ripped an RBI single to left center that made it a 4-1 game and the senior moved to second on the throw home. Matt Ogden followed with his first hit as a Bearcat, grounding a single through the right side that plated Olds and Moll.
?I thought Maynard?s pitching was key,? said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. ?He was phenomenal and pitched really aggressively. I liked the way he competed and thought he did a great job. The other thing was we had good at-bats in the second game and made them earn their outs.?
Xavier started the scoring in the nightcap, getting a second inning run off Maynard courtesy of a Steve Sakosits sacrifice fly. The Bearcats answered in the third on a Brian Beltz run-scoring single that brought home Ogden. Ogden started the inning with a walk, then showed off his blazing speed by promptly swiping second. After Erik Eitel moved Ogden to third with a ground out, Beltz ripped a Bill Konecny offering to left to score UC?s first run. Xavier plated the game?s final run when Kevin McKnight singled Brett Smith home after the latter ripped a triple to right.
With the victory, Maynard improves to 1-1 on the young season. Konecny took the loss for Xavier to fall to 0-2. UC who outhit Xavier 8-7, got one hit from eight different players. Jay Johnson and Smith each had two hits for Xavier.
?Tony did a very good job last weekend, especially for a guy who hasn?t been out there for a couple years,? Cleary said. ?I am really proud of him for sticking to his rehab and I think he is starting to regain his form.?
Game one got off to a great start for the Bearcats as they jumped all over Sean Finnegan for five first inning runs. After a walk by Eitel and a single by Beltz, Finnegan got Drew Saylor to strike out for the first out. Jack Nelson walked to load the bases and then Elliot Salcedo got the first run across when his chopper to third resulted in a fielder?s choice. It became a 2-0 game when Beltz scampered home on a passed ball with Steve Pickerell at the plate. UC?s senior catcher wasted no time in putting the Bearcats up 5-0 when he crushed a three-run homer to left. The longball was the 13th of Pickerell?s two-year UC career, with five of them coming at Hayden Field.
The Xavier comeback began in the second when Eric Armstrong picked up an RBI groundout and James Schlosser followed with an RBI single. Schlosser picked up another RBI in the fourth on a groundout that scored Drew Roberts.
The Musketeers took control in the fifth inning with three runs that chased UC starter Justin Minges. After back-to-back singles started the inning, Minges was pulled in favor of Greg Russell. The first batter Russell faced was Matt Waskerwitz and the Xavier freshman popped a bunt up that fell between Russell and Pickerell for a single. One out later, Roberts walked to force in one run and Sakostis followed with a two-run single to right center that put Xavier up by a 6-5 score.
On the mound, Finnegan settled down after the first inning to work into the seventh to even his record at 1-1. After allowing five hits in the first two innings, Finnegan yielded just one more hit in the balance of the game, while striking out seven and walking five. Sakosits came out of right field in the seventh to earn his first save of the season. Russell took the loss for the Bearcats to fall to 0-2 on the season.
The Xavier offense pounded out 13 hits against Bearcat pitching, getting two each from Sean Brewer, Alec Moss, Johnson, Waskerwitz, and Sakosits. Beltz was the only UC player with two hits, while Pickerell knocked in three with his blast. After homering in his first at-bat, Pickerell had a double, a strikeout and five walk in his remaining at-bats.
The teams will wrap up their three-game series beginning at noon tomorrow. Jeff Griffin will get his first career start for Cincinnati, facing Xavier?s Dan Graham.