TicketsBearcats End Doubleheader With Split
St. Jean earns first win of UC career in opener
Contact: Shawn Sell
3/14/2004
Brian St. Jean earned his first win at UC in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. |
LOUISVILLE, Ky.---The Cincinnati Bearcats wrapped up their final non-conference tune-up with a doubleheader split on Sunday at Cardinal Stadium. UC opened the day with an 8-4 win over Ball State to snap a five-game losing streak, before dropping an 8-6 decision to Louisville in the nightcap. The Bearcats wrap up the non-conference weekend portion of the schedule with a record of 3-12.
The opening game of the day was chalk full of highlights for UC, led by the first win in a Bearcat uniform for junior righthander Brian St. Jean. The former Tennessee transfer tossed six shutout innings, allowing Ball State just four hits on the day. Drew Saylor also came up big in the game as one of four UC players with two hits, including his first home run of the season in the eighth inning.
On a side note, the Bearcats return to the Queen City on Sunday evening was delayed nearly four and a half hours after a multiple, semi-truck accident and subsequent fire deadlocked Interstate 71 between Louisville and Cincinnati.
The Bearcats jumped on Ball State starter Andrew Anderson (1-1) for seven runs in the first two innings, including a six run outburst in the second. Matt Ogden got the ball rolling for UC as he led off the first inning by banging a triple off the right field wall. Brian Beltz, in a return to his hometown of Louisville, quickly put Cincinnati up 1-0 with an RBI groundout.
UC sent 11 batters to the plate in the second inning, getting six runs on four hits. The Bearcats loaded the bases with one out, bringing Aaron Moll to the plate. The senior outfielder ground a ball down the left field line that was barely fair to plate the first two runs of the inning. With the bases again loaded two batters later, Beltz beat out an infield single for his second RBI of the day, scoring Jim Olds from third. Jack Nelson made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly and another run came around on a throwing error by BSU third basemen Marc Franz. Pat LeMasters rounded out the inning?s scoring with a single up the middle.
On the mound, St. Jean worked into and out of trouble, leaving after six innings without yielding a run to improve his record to 1-1 on the year. The Bearcat defense was solid behind St. Jean as they turned key double plays to end the fourth (two men on) and sixth (bases loaded) innings. St. Jean picked up four strikeouts in the outing, while walking five and allowing four hits.
The Cardinals broke through for a run in the seventh when Mike Sullivan doubled home Kiel Holman, but the Bearcats matched the marker on Saylor?s eighth inning homer. Ball State tried to make a comeback in the ninth against Eric Eckman, scoring three runs. Franz got a bases loaded walk to plate the first run, while Brad Miller followed with a two-run single to round out the scoring.
Four UC players finished game one with two hits each, including LeMasters who ripped his third double of the series and Ogden, Saylor and Moll with two each. Sullivan and Franz picked up a pair of hits apiece for the Cardinals, who fall to 5-6 on the year.
Louisville (7-7) struck first in the second game of the day, getting a first inning run courtesy of a Mark Jurich RBI on a fielder?s choice. The Bearcats didn?t stay behind long as an Ogden RBI single and a Beltz run-scoring groundout in the third pushed UC ahead 2-1. The Cardinals had an answer in the bottom of the frame in the form of Ron Braun?s second home run of the season to right center.
But Cincinnati again had a response to the U of L runs, plating two in each of the fourth and fifth innings. Moll did the damage in the fourth with a two-run single, while Saylor picked up two more RBI with his double in the fifth. Louisville did get one run in the span, though as Ryan McKinnon hit his second homer of the year in the fourth.
Saylor?s two-run double would prove to Cincinnati?s last score of the day, as the Cardinals scored five unanswered runs to pull away. Louisville got within 6-5 in the sixth on a two-run blast by Luis Pardo. U of L had a chance to do more damage in the inning with Josh Kay on the mound in place of starter Tony Maynard. With runners on first and third and one out, Chris Cates hit a fly ball to right that Beltz caught, before coming up with a strike to the plate that nailed Boomer Whiting for an inning ending double play.
The Cardinals pushed the winning three runs across in the seventh, ultimately handing the loss to Kay (1-2). Jurich homered to start the inning and Braun and Isaiah Howes followed with a double and a triple, respectively that spelled the end of the day for Kay. Greg Russell replaced Kay on the mound and promptly hit the first two batters he faced to load the bases. But the senior settled down, getting a double play that scored a run, but then inducing Whiting to pop out to end the threat.
The Bearcats put the potential tying runs on base in the bottom of the eighth as Saylor reached on a hit by pitch and Erik Eitel singled him to third. But Olds struck out trying to bunt and Cardinal reliever Brian Halford followed that with two fly ball outs to get out of the inning.
Skylar Meade (2-0) was credited with the win for the Cardinals after pitching a perfect seventh inning. Halford went the final two innings for his second save of the year. Nelson picked up two of Cincinnati?s eight hits, while Saylor and Moll had two RBI each. Louisville got two hits each from Jurich, Braun and Pardo, with six of the Cards 12 hits going for extra bases.
The Bearcats will now open their ninth season of Conference USA play, next weekend at USF. The Bearcats and Bulls open play on Friday night (March 19) at 7 p.m. Play continues on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.