TicketsFeb. 26, 2006
, -- Brian Szarmach drove in six runs to lead the of baseball team to a 16-6 win in the series finale against at George Erath Field on Sunday afternoon.
improves to 4-5 with the win, while drops to 6-8. The Bearcats tallied 14 hits and also benefited from four errors and 11 walks. The game also saw the two teams combine for five homers on the day.
The Panthers grabbed the lead early scoring a run in each of the first three innings. Chris Norwood put HPU on the board in the first, snapping an 0-for-11 slump with a homerun to left off starter Glen Simon. Freshman catcher Billy Aguiar drilled a shot just inside the leftfield foul pole in the next inning for the Panthers second straight inning with a homer. In the third, Jeff Cowan singled to lead off moved to second after was hit by a pitch and then stole third. Randy Schwartz then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Cowan and put HPU in front, 3-0.
finally got something going against starter Matt Christie in the fourth. UC loaded the bases with one out but Christie induced a foul out and then recorded a strikeout to quelch the threat.
The Bearcats finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth a LaFringe Hayes singled to center and advanced to second on a fielding error. One batter later Parker belted his second homer of the weekend trimming the lead to one at 3-2. Mark Muscenti then doubled and scored on a single by Kyle Rapp to tie the score.
answered with a run in the bottom of the frame as Schwartz doubled and then scored on a two-out double by Chris Marks.
In the sixth inning, Hayes drew a walk followed by a single from Josh Harrison. Following an HPU pitching change, Parker walked then Szarmach cleared the bases with a grand slam to push UC back in front, 7-4. The shot snapped an 0-for-13 skid including nine strikeouts for Szarmach, who finished the day with two hits and six RBIs.
added two more runs in the seventh to go ahead 9-4. got a run back in the bottom of the seventh as J. Williams singled to lead off the frame then moved to third as Marks and Aguiar both reached base on infield errors. Dustin Holtzman drove in the run with a double-play groundout making the score 9-5.
After a scoreless eighth inning, the Bearcats exploded for seven runs in the top of the ninth on three hits and one HPU error. UC was aided by three walks by a pair of Panther pitchers. concluded the scoring in their final at-bat as Mark smacked a homer to left centerfield for the Panthers third long ball of the day.
Six players finished with multi-hit performances led by Muscenti's 3-for-3 day. Hayes and Parker both scored four times for the Bearcats. Relief pitcher Jack Nelson (1-0) earned the win for UC.
Cowan, Marks and Alfie Wheeler all finished with two hits on the day to pace the Panther offense. Marks led the way with two RBIs and HPU doubled their season homerun total with their trio of blasts on Sunday. Christie pitched 4.2 innings but earned a no-decision for the second time this week. Marks (2-2) suffered the loss after allowing two runs in 0.2 innings of work.
closes its season-opening 10-game road stretch with a game at on Wednesday.