TicketsBearcats Stun No. 11 Tulane, 12-4
UC snaps 11-game losing streak with win
Contact: Shawn Sell
4/4/2004
Aaron Moll earned the first win of his career, while going 2 for 4 with two RBI in Sunday's win over No. 11 Tulane. |
AMELIA, Ohio---The Cincinnati Bearcats snapped an 11-game losing streak in a big way as they toppled No. 11 Tulane, 12-4 on Sunday afternoon at Midland Field in Conference USA baseball action.
The win over the ranked Green Wave came just a day short of one year since UC?s last win over a nationally-ranked team, a 7-3 victory over Southern Miss last season. The Bearcats improve to 4-22 on the year with the win and 1-8 in C-USA, while Tulane is now 22-8 and 7-2 in league play.
UC pounded out 14 hits on the day, after jumping to a 4-0 lead after the first inning of play. Steve Pickerell and Jack Nelson paced the offense with three hits apiece, with Pickerell picking up his fourth home run of the year along the way. Erik Eitel?s fifth inning double stretched the junior?s hitting streak to 10 games, matching his career-best string.
?I felt like our pitching staff really took a step forward this weekend,? said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. ?We got three quality starting pitching performances and we haven?t had that for awhile. I thought today for the first time in awhile, we got good pitching, good defense, good hitting and some timely hitting. If we put all three of those things together, we have a chance to win. Today was a good win over a nationally ranked program and hopefully we will start playing better from here. I am proud of our guys effort, they really came ready to play.?
The Bearcats jumped all over Tulane starter Cory Hahn in the first, plating four runs on five hits. With one out, Brian Beltz and Nelson singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Pickerell came up with the first big hit of the day, lining a run-scoring double to left. Jon DeLuca followed with an RBI groundout, just before Drew Saylor?s RBI single up the middle. Aaron Moll, also UC?s starting pitcher for the day, helped himself with a double up the right center field gap to plate the final run of the inning.
Tulane started its climb back in the second inning, getting two runs on a Cincinnati throwing error. But the two runs would prove to be the Green Wave?s final threat until the seventh inning. Moll was in the midst of the best pitching performance of his career, as after the second inning, the senior retired 12 of the next 14 batters he faced through the sixth inning.
The Bearcat bats continued to shine in innings three through five, as the UC attack plated eight more runs. Pickerell got the run going, blasting his fourth homer to left field in the third inning with a man on base. UC got three more in the fourth, with Beltz and Pickerell picking up RBI singles in the frame. The final three Bearcat tallies came in the fifth inning, when Moll again helped himself with an RBI single and Mark Muscenti plated two more with a single.
With the scoreboard showing a 12-2 UC lead heading into the seventh inning and C-USA?s Sunday 10-run rule in affect, the Bearcats were looking to end the game early. But Tulane?s Scott Madden had other ideas as he ripped Moll?s first pitch of the inning over the centerfield wall for his first homer of the year. The Wave added another run in the eight when Tommy Manzella doubled off the right field wall to score Greg Dini.
UC?s Moll (1-2) left after seven outstanding innings on the mound, earning the first win of his collegiate career. Moll, who doubles as the Bearcats starting centerfielder, allowed just three runs, two earned, on four hits, with five walks and three strikeouts. Brian St. Jean went the final two innings on the mound for UC.
The Bearcats rocked Hahn for 11 runs (seven earned) and 12 hits in four-plus innings, as the senior falls to 5-2 on the year. Dini led Tulane, which was limited to six hits, with two.
UC will now gear up for a trip to TCU next weekend with a pair of midweek non-conference games this week. The Bearcats will travel to Dayton on Tuesday at 3 p.m., with a trip to Kentucky set for Wednesday.