TicketsMarch 19, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---The runs continued to come in bunches as Cincinnati finished a three-game sweep of Oakland with a 23-10 victory on Sunday afternoon at the UC Baseball Stadium. The victory improves the Bearcats' record to 13-6 this year, giving UC its best start since the 2001 season. UC also improved its winning streak to seven in a row.
With its second offensive outburst in as many days, the Bearcats finished the weekend having scored 49 runs in three games. UC also saw its team batting average jump from .304 to .315 in the three games. The Bearcats pounded out 15 hits in the finale, including three each by Josh Harrison and Nick Maragas. The duo also combined for nearly half of UC's RBI on the day, tallying six and four respectively.
Freshman Steve Blevins worked 5.2 innings on the mound for the Bearcats, improving his season record to 3-2 on the year with the win. Blevins also matched his career-high with five strikeouts, while allowing five runs on nine hits.
"We are obviously excited to get our second straight sweep and I am pleased we have been able to string together some wins," said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. "I think we swung the bats well towards the end of the game, but we need to continue to improve in some areas."
The game was tight in the early stages, as the scoreboard showed a two-all tie after three innings of play. Oakland (1-12) scored on a first inning wild pitch by Blevins for the afternoon's first run, but trailed 2-1 after a Maragas run-scoring double and an Adam Calez RBI groundout in the second. The Grizzlies wouldn't trail long though as Drew Jenison ripped his first of two doubles in the third, scoring Ryan Heath. Oakland added a third run in the fourth on Tim Doig's RBI single, but UC matched it on Calez's bases loaded single in its half of the stanza.
The whole complexion of the game changed in the bottom of the fifth as Cincinnati started a stretch of 19 runs in two innings with a nine-run outburst. Oakland starter John Toth and three Grizzlies' relievers were decimated by six walks and a hit batsman in the frame, with Harrison doing further damage with his first career grand slam. After Harrison cleared the bases, Logan Parker singled and stole second, then came home on Jack Nelson's double off the left field wall, scoring the ninth run of the frame, all with two out.
After Oakland scored twice on Justin Wilson's two-run homer in the top of the sixth, Cincinnati sent an incredible 16 batters to the plate in a 10-run sixth inning explosion. Wildness continued to plague the OU hurlers, as they issued six more free passes and hit a batter. Maragas contributed his second big hit of the day with a two-run single, while Adam Yeager also drove in a run with a single. Parker added his third home run of the series with a man on, a towering blast to right field that hit off the side of Fifth Third Arena beyond the wall. UC scored its final run of the day in the eighth on Parker's sacrifice fly.
As was the case in Saturday's opening game, Oakland continued to fight until the end, scoring five runs in its last two at-bats. Rob Merkle and Kyle Crepeau each recorded RBI in the eighth, before the Grizzlies batted around for three more runs in the ninth.
Harrison finished the day with a career-high six RBI, while Maragas had four. LaFringe Hayes knocked in three runs, despite going 0 for 4 and Parker and Yeager each had three RBI.
Cincinnati will continue its 11-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Xavier for the first time this season. Due to UC's men's basketball NIT game, the start of the crosstown battle has been moved up to 3 p.m.