TicketsFeb. 24, 2006
HIGH POINT, N.C.---Nick Maragas had four hits and five RBI, leading an 18-hit Cincinnati offensive assault, as the Bearcats rolled to an 11-1 win over High Point on Friday afternoon at George Erath Field. The victory was the Bearcats' third straight, improving the squad's record to 3-4 this year.
Maragas was the leader on an afternoon that saw three Bearcats record four hits and the team hit a trio of home runs. Maragas had the big shot of the day, a third inning, three-run blast that highlighted a five-run outburst.
Josh Harrison had four hits, including his first career homer, while Logan Parker belted his first long ball of the year among his three hits. Jon DeLuca, mired in a 1 for 17 slump to start the season, broke out of it in a big way with his first four-hit outing since May 16, 2003 against Charlotte.
Steve Blevins (1-2) earned the first win of his career, limiting the Panthers (5-7) to one run on five hits in five innings of work. A.J. Upton took over from there, working the last four frames in shutout fashion to tally his first career save.
Cincinnati actually fell behind to start the day, as Blevins walked two of the first three hitters he faced, while also committing a balk. J. Williams made the freshman pay, as he drove a single through the right-side to plate Jeff Cowan. But Williams was later thrown out trying to steal second, ending the inning.
The Bearcats went right to work in the second, as Jack Nelson led off with an infield single and eventually came around to score on Maragas' RBI single. That set the stage for the five-run explosion in the third that started when Harrison was hit by an Eammon Portice pitch. Parker than drilled a Portice offering over the centerfield wall for a 3-1 UC lead. Two outs later, UC had Mark Muscenti on first when DeLuca dropped down a bunt single to bring Maragas to the plate. The junior catcher wasted little time, launching a Portice pitch to deep left for his first career home run.
UC would add a single run in the fourth on a one out Harrison home run and went up 8-1 when Maragas drove home DeLuca with a single in the seventh.
Upton was never really in trouble after entering with runners on first and second and no one out in the sixth. After uncorking a wild pitch on his first offering, Upton struck out Alfie Wheeler than got a pop up and a ground ball to end the High Point scoring threat.
The Bearcats would knock around reliever Zach Scott for three runs in the ninth inning to get to the final 11-1 count. DeLuca and Maragas started the inning with singles and one out later, LaFringe Hayes drove a run-scoring single through the left side. Harrison followed with his fourth hit of the day, an RBI double and Parker's sacrifice fly closed the scoring.
Portice took the loss for High Point, falling to 1-2 on the year. The sophomore allowed seven runs on 10 hits in five innings of work, but did strike out five. Billy Aguiar accounted for two of High Point's six hits. Chris Norwood, the Panthers' top hitter entering the weekend, saw his 10-game hit streak end after a 0 for 5 performance.
Game two of the series is set for Saturday with a 1 p.m. first pitch on tap. Kyle Rapp will get the nod on the mound for UC, taking on High Point's Tom Boleska.