TicketsRuns Galore In 32-14 UC Defeat
Pirates tally 34 hits against Bearcats
Contact: Shawn Sell
4/17/2004
Jack Nelson had a double, a homer and four RBI on Saturday against East Carolina. |
AMELIA, Ohio---Cincinnati scored the game?s first six runs, but then the East Carolina scoring machine started as they scored the next 15 runs of the game, as the 14th-ranked Pirates went on for a wild 32-14 win over the Bearcats on Saturday at Midland Field.
East Carolina banged out 34 hits and scored at least two runs in all but the first inning as they tallied the second most runs ever scored against a Brian Cleary-coached Bearcat team. The 32 Pirate runs trailed only a school record 37 allowed to Rice in Cleary?s first game as head coach in 1997 as the most against the eighth-year UC mentor.
Despite the pounding the Bearcat pitching staff took, the Bearcat offense did manage a season-high 14 runs. Jack Nelson once again had a huge day at the plate as he went 3-for-6, including a double and a home run, along with four RBI. Pat LeMasters added four hits for the Bearcats. Nelson?s performance allowed his to take over the team lead in batting average with a .391 mark.
Jamie Paige was the leader of many East Carolina hitting stars, as the Pirates? lead-off hitter went 7-for-8 with four doubles and five RBI. Billy Richardson added a 6-for-7 day with his first home run and six RBI. Ryan Jones also drove in six runs, including a pair of home runs, while Mark Minicozzi and John Poppert each added four hits.
?From a positive standpoint, for the last two days we have pounded the best pitching staff in the league,? said Cleary. ?But with that said, East Carolina is an extremely talented team and we just got pounded pretty good. But I did think we swung the bats really well once again.?
The Bearcats looked as if they would they would run away with the game in the first as they jumped to an early 6-0 lead. After Mark Muscenti and Nelson singled, Jon DeLuca plated the first run with a single up the middle. Drew Saylor followed DeLuca by crushing his fifth home run of the season to left field to put the Bearcats up 4-0. One out after a LeMasters? bunt single, Moll blasted his fourth long ball of the year for the last two runs of the inning.
But after the Bearcats put six on the board, East Carolina exploded for five in the second and eight more in the third to put themselves in a comfortable lead. By game?s end, Pirate reliever Kevin Rhodes had earned the win to go to 2-1 after 3.2 innings in which he allowed five runs on seven hits. UC starter Eric Eckman (0-4) took the loss after giving up 11 runs on 12 hits in 2.1 innings.
East Carolina picked up its 30th win of the year against six losses and are 11-3 in Conference USA. The Bearcats fall to 7-27 overall and 2-12 in C-USA.
The series between the Bearcats and Pirates will wrap up on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Midland Field. Moll will get the start on the mound for UC, taking on East Carolina hurler Shane Mathews.