TicketsNelson Leads Red Team To Series Tying Win
Decisive game Sunday
Contact: Shawn Sell
11/20/2004
Jack Nelson homered during Friday's Red/Black World Series game. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Jack Nelson had three hits, including his first home run of the series to lead his team to a 6-5 victory and even the Red/Black World Series at two games apiece. The winning Red team had 11 hits on the day and Jim Olds picked up the pitching victory.
Facing a two games to one deficit entering the day?s contest, the Red team scored five unanswered runs in the first three innings to run to an early advantage. Errors proved costly for the Black team and starting pitcher Tony Maynard, as five miscues hurt the squad. The Red team used one of the errors, a Mark Muscenti throwing miscue to put lead off batter LaFringe Hayes on second to start the game. Hayes then moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on Nelson?s first hit, an RBI single down the left field line.
The Red team didn?t stop there as they plated two more markers in the top of the second inning to hold a 3-0 lead. Andrew Jarzabek brought Pat LeMasters home with a double up the left center field gap, before an infield single by David Oberly brought home Jarzabek.
In the third inning, Nelson led off with a homer to right, just prior to back-to-back singles by Neall French and Olds. Both runners moved up on a Maynard balk and French trotted home when LeMasters singled to left.
The Black team finally got on the scoreboard with a single run in the top of the fourth inning. Two outs after a lead off single by Kevin Schrader, Muscenti ripped a double to left to score the freshman.
Team Red got the run back in the top of the sixth as Jon DeLuca has hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The bottom of the sixth brought plenty more action as the Black team clawed back to a 6-4 deficit with a three-run inning. Black took advantage of control problems by Nick Prater as the junior walked five batters and surrendered a single, before leaving without retiring a batter. Erik Eitel put the first run on the board with a single through the left side, just prior to bases loaded walks to Mark Haske and Logan Parker that ultimately chased Prater. A.J. Upton replaced Prater and retired three straight batters, including the last two on strikeouts to put out the fire.
The Black team made one final push in the last of the eighth inning cutting the deficit to a single run on a Brian Szarmach solo home run. But that would prove to be as close as the team could get, as Upton retired the final two batters to earn a save and preserve the win for Olds.
Nelson led the winning Red team with three hits and two RBI, while LeMasters and Jarzabek each added two hits. Parker was the lone member of the Black team with more than one hit as he went 2-for-4. Olds got the win after allowing just one run on five hits in five innings of work. Upton got the save with three innings of one run, one hit baseball. Black team starter Maynard got the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings on the mound.
The Bearcats? fall practice will wrap up with game five of the Red/Black World Series on Sunday at the UC Baseball Stadium. The deciding game will kick off with a 2:30 p.m. first pitch and admission to all fans is free.