TicketsSeventh Inning Sinks UC Again Vs. Tulane
Bearcats with 11 hits in loss
Contact: Shawn Sell
4/2/2004
Jon DeLuca was 2-for-4 with two RBI in Friday night's loss to Tulane. |
AMELIA, Ohio?Through the University of Cincinnati baseball team?s first 23 games, the seventh inning has been a source of frustration for the Bearcats and the problems in the inning reared their ugly head again on Friday night as No. 11 Tulane rode a four-run seventh inning to a 10-5 win over Cincinnati at Midland Field.
The Green Wave (21-7, 6-1 Conference USA) got two-run homers in the seventh by both Nathan Southard and Matt Barket to break open a 3-3 game. UC answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Green Wave pulled away with three runs over the final two innings to ice the win. The Bearcats fall to 3-21 on the year and 0-7 in league play.
The Bearcats got a solid starting pitching effort from Chase Lampl (0-1), as the freshman made his first career start. Lampl allowed seven runs in seven innings, but registered a career-best six strikeouts, while walking just one. Billy Mohl got the win for Tulane, allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings to improve to 5-1 on the year. Daniel Lathan pitched the final three innings to nail down his third save of the year.
Cincinnati?s strong hitting as of late continued against the Green Wave as the Bearcats recorded 11 hits. Jack Nelson, Jon DeLuca and Drew Saylor all had two hits apiece, while Erik Eitel?s fourth inning single extended his hitting streak to eight games.
?I think tonight was a step in the right direction for us,? said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. ?Chase did a great job on the mound and gave us a chance to win. We swung the bats well again tonight and had good scoring chances. The big thing for us is just putting it all together. If we play like that, we are going to win our share of games.?
The Bearcats struck first with a second inning RBI single by Elliot Salcedo that brought home DeLuca. Tulane didn?t stay down long, touching Lampl for two runs in the third inning. Joe Holland, who went 4-for-4 on the day, missing the cycle by just a triple, got the Wave on the board with an RBI double. Brian Bogusevic put Tulane up 2-1 with an RBI groundout that scored Holland.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Bearcats reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs of their own. DeLuca?s sacrifice fly scored Nelson with the first run of the inning, while Saylor brought home Steve Pickerell with a run-scoring single. Tulane tied the game in the fourth on a home run by Greg Dini.
The seventh inning proved costly once again for the Bearcats as Tulane?s Southard and Barket went deep against a tiring Lampl. With the four-run Wave outburst, the Bearcats have now allowed 55 seventh-inning runs in 24 games this season.
Down 7-3, the Bearcats started the seventh inning with four straight singles to get within 7-5. Pickerell brought the first run home with a single and DeLuca followed with one of his own. After Aaron Moll bunted both runners over, Latham struck out Saylor and got a line out by pinch hitter Pat LeMasters to end the Cincinnati threat.
Tulane wrapped up the scoring with an RBI groundout by Tommy Manzella and a run-scoring single by Scott Madden in the eighth and Holland?s fifth homer of the year in the ninth.
Holland was the offensive star of the day for Tulane, collecting four hits, scoring three runs and knocking in two. Wes Swackhamer added a pair of doubles, while Southard and Barket added two RBI apiece.
The two teams will contest game two of the series, beginning at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow night at Midland Field. For the second night in a row a UC freshman will get his first career start on the mound as Eric Eckman takes the hill for the Bearcats. He will be opposed by Tulane lefty J.R. Crowel.