TicketsCleary Reaches Milestone In Bearcat Win
UC skipper earns 200th career win
Contact: Shawn Sell
4/25/2005
Brian Cleary got career win No. 200 Monday vs. Mount St. Joseph. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Brian Cleary earned the 200th win of his coaching career as Cincinnati picked up a 5-3 win over local foe Mount St. Joseph on Monday night in the UC Baseball Stadium.
Cleary, now in his ninth season at the helm of the Bearcats, joins the legendary Glenn Sample as the only 200-win head coaches in program history. The victory, Cincinnati?s second in two days, edges the squad?s record closer to the elusive .500 mark at 18-19. Mount St. Joe?s slips to 18-13 with the setback.
The Bearcats got a third straight solid start from David Theobald who recorded his third win of the year with five outstanding innings. The redshirt freshman allowed just one run on three hits, while striking out a career-best four hitters and not walking a batter in the start. Josh Kay pitched the final 1.1 innings for his sixth save and second in as many days.
Brian Szarmach was hot out of the clean-up hole for the Bearcats, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. Jon DeLuca added a pair of hits, while LaFringe Hayes and Mark Haske each tallied doubles. Freshman catcher Dustin Alvey also recorded his first career triple in the triumph.
?Tonight was a very well played, scrappy game by both sides,? said Cleary. ?Mount St. Joseph played hard and we are fortunate to come out with a win. Again we played good defense and pitched well and it?s good to win another tight game.?
The bottom of the first inning opened in bizarre fashion when Hayes lifted a ball into right center. MSJ?s center and rightfielder converged on the ball and centerfielder Marc Terwilliger appeared to come up with the catch as he and Michael Mayer collided. But at the last moment, the ball squirted out of the latter?s glove for a two-base error. After a walk to Mark Muscenti, Haske bunted both runners over and two batters later, Logan Parker plated Hayes with an RBI fielder?s choice.
UC added to its lead with a single run in the third as DeLuca picked up his team-best 29th RBI of the year with an infield single that brought home Haske.
The Lions finally got to Theobald for a run in the fourth as Terwilliger led the inning off by banging a double off the right field fence. After a wild pitch, Terwilliger scored on Seth DeBra?s RBI groundout.
The Bearcats increased their lead to 5-1 with a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. In the fifth, Szarmach brought Haske around with an RBI single after the latter led the inning off with a double. The sixth inning opened with Alvey?s triple off the right field wall, just prior to Hayes dropping an RBI double down the left field line that scored the former. Two outs later, Szarmach picked up his second RBI of the day with a run-scoring single.
The Mount charged back into the contest with a two-spot in the eighth against Kyle Markle. After the lead-off batter reached on a hit by pitch, Joel Steinmetz doubled, setting the stage for Neil Gamble?s RBI groundout. Terwilliger then ripped his second two-bagger of the night, scoring Steinmetz. Mayer moved Terwilliger to third with a groundout, prompting Kay to be summoned from the bullpen. The UC closer got DeBra to pop out, then set the Lions down in order in the ninth to seal the win.
The Lions got two hits apiece from Steinmetz and Terwilliger, while DeBra added a double. Starting pitcher Chris Waite took the loss, falling to 4-3 after allowing three runs and five hits in 4.1 innings.
UC continues its week against local rivals when it entertains Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.