TicketsMarch 12, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---In a game that began four hours after its original start time, Cincinnati clinched its fourth straight series victory with a 7-5 win over Cleveland State on Saturday night at the soggy UC Baseball Stadium. The win gives the Bearcats a 9-6 record on the year and marks UC's 10th straight win over the Vikings.
Sean Munninghoff keyed the Cincinnati victory with four nearly flawless innings of relief that featured five strikeouts as the sophomore improved to 2-0 on the year. Logan Parker and Adam Yeager each had two of Cincinnati's 11 hits, while freshman Cory Hodskins added his first career home run.
Marc Sikora had a big day at the plate for Cleveland State (1-5) as he homered twice and drove in a total of four runs. Michael Babin added three hits for CSU, while Steve Chinn had two. Starter Pat McKitrick took the loss on the mound after allowing four runs and eight hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Cleveland State got the scoring started in the top of the first as Josh Geric and Chinn connected on back-to-back doubles against UC starter Steve Blevins. UC matched the marker and added another in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Josh Harrison, making his first start at catcher in place of the injured Nick Maragas, ripped his team-leading fifth double with one out. Parker then got a second chance after Viking third baseman Rich Ranells dropped a foul ball and he made good with an RBI single to right that plated Harrison. Parker would later score the second run of the inning when McKitrick was called for a balk.
The Bearcats extended their lead to 3-1 in the second when Hodskins hit his homer off a light pole beyond the left field wall.
The Vikings retook the lead in the fifth, taking advantage of a pair of walks issued by Blevins. Sikora then belted a waist high Blevins fastball off the video board in right center field for a three-run blast and a 4-3 CSU lead.
Cincinnati would retie the score just one half inning later when Mark Muscenti raced home on a Hodskins groundout. UC went ahead just one inning later with a pair of runs, the first coming when LaFringe Hayes raced home as Jack Nelson hit into a double play. Muscenti then greeted reliever Jeremy Hartman rudely as he punched an RBI single to center to plate Harrison.
The Cincinnati lead shrunk to just 6-5 in the seventh as Sikora blasted his second homer to deep right field against Munninghoff, one of only two hits surrendered by the UC hurler. The Bearcats opened the final 7-5 cushion in the last of the eighth when Parker lofted a single to left to score Hayes.
"I thought we did a pretty good job after waiting around all day to play," said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. "We came out and played hard and even though we didn't swing the bats as well as I would have liked, I was pleased with our effort. Once again, we pitched well and played good defense and battled at the plate to score runs to win the game."
The Bearcats will go for their first series sweep of the 2006 season tomorrow in a game that has been changed to a Noon start. UC is expected to start junior Nick Buscemi on the hill against CSU's Josh Hungerman.