TicketsBearcats Open With Loss At Louisville
Moll, Pickerell shine in UC loss
Contact: Shawn Sell
3/26/2004
Aaron Moll homered for the second straight game Friday at Louisville. |
LOUISVILLE, Ky.---Cincinnati scored the first three runs of the game, but Louisville responded with eight unanswered runs, before holding off a late Bearcat rally as the Cardinals opened a Conference USA series with an 11-6 win on Friday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium.
Steve Pickerell highlighted the day for UC with a four-for-five day, but it wasn?t enough as the Bearcats dropped their seventh straight to fall to 3-18 on the year and 0-4 in league play. Louisville got four hits and five RBI from Daniel Burton to improve to 12-9 and 3-1.
The Bearcats got off to a great start as Mark Muscenti put the Bearcats up 3-0 in the second inning with a bases clearing double. The Cardinal comeback started in the bottom half of the inning as Burton picked up his first RBI with a run-scoring single. Louisville pushed ahead in the next inning as all nine Cardinals batted as U of L tallied five runs to chase Brian St. Jean (1-3). Burton had the first big hit of the frame with a two-run single, just before Isaiah Howes ripped a two-run triple to centerfield. Boomer Whiting brought the final run of the inning home with a squeeze play RBI.
The Cardinals tacked on two more to go ahead 8-3 on a two-run single by Nick Haley in the fifth inning. Cincinnati?s comeback started in the sixth when Aaron Moll ripped his second home run in as many games to right field to make it an 8-5 game. The Bearcats had a chance to go ahead in the eighth when Moll led off with a double, Erik Eitel was hit by a pitch and Muscenti reached on a single. But relief pitcher Brian Halford got Brian Beltz to ground into a double play that scored a run, but put two outs on the board. Halford then struck out Jack Nelson to end the threat.
Louisville put the game further out of reach with a three-run eighth inning against Tony Maynard. Burton again came through in a big way with a two-run double to right, just before Howes brought him home with a single to right.
Pickerell led the Bearcat offense with four of UC?s 12 hits, while Moll doubled and homered. The Bearcats again struggled to get base runners home, however, as they left nine on base.
The Cardinals ended the game with 17 hits, including 10 by the U of L freshmen trio of Burton, Howes and Logan Johnson. Justin Valdes got the win, leaving after 6.1 innings to improve to 3-2. Halford went the final 2.2 innings for his third save of the year.
The two teams will contest game two of the three-game series beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Greg Russell gets the start on the mound for UC, being opposed by Louisville?s B.J. Rosenberg.
Game Notes
? Aaron Moll moved into a tie for 18th on UC?s career home run and RBI charts with one long ball and two knocked in. Moll is tied with former teammate Jake Smith and D. Abbott with 18 career home runs and is deadlocked with John Zaksek with 100 RBI.
? The four-hit game for Steve Pickerell was the second of his career.
? Pickerell improved his hitting streak to six games, as did Erik Eitel.