TicketsMarch 29, 2006
OXFORD, Ohio---Eric Radley's bunt hit in the bottom of the 11th inning scored Jason Brown with the winning run as Miami (Ohio) squeaked out a 4-3 extra-inning win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night before a crowd of 1,748 at McKie Field in Oxford.
The defeat was the Bearcats' fourth straight and the squad's sixth consecutive setback against Miami. UC falls to 13-10 with the defeat, while Miami is now 9-11. The game marked the first night game ever played at Miami's McKie Field.
As the final score would indicate, the contest was a tightly-played affair that came down to the last inning. Both teams had ample opportunities to pull away, but some solid pitching on both sides prevailed. A pair of contributing factors in the Bearcats' demise was 13 runners left on base, including eight in scoring position, and a season-high 16 strikeouts at the plate.
UC, which drew nine walks in the defeat, was limited to just six hits. Brian Szarmach was the only Bearcat with multiple hits, recording a pair of singles.
In the deciding inning, Brown led off with a single to right and was then off and running on a perfectly executed hit and run with Chris Niro at the plate. Brown tried to go to third on the hit and Adam Calez's throw from right appeared to beat Brown to the bag, but the Miami runner was ruled safe, paving the way for Radley's game-winning bunt hit.
The Bearcats came dangerously close to losing the game in the 10th, if not for an alert play by Jack Nelson. After entering the game on the mound with one out and runners on the corners, Nelson struck out reigning MAC Player of the Week Jordan Petraitis. With two outs, Miami head coach Dan Simonds called for a double steal, sending John Franzese from first and Brandon Hillier from third. An alert Nelson quickly stepped off the rubber, throwing to catcher Nick Maragas who chased Hillier back to third, but missed the tag. Maragas then turned and flipped to Nelson who tagged Hillier for the final out.
UC had great chances in the ninth and again in the 11th against the RedHawk bullpen only to have hard throwing Matt Long extinguish the flames in each inning. In the ninth, Long entered with one out and two men on base and responded by striking out Mark Muscenti and Maragas. In the 11th, Logan Parker drew a two-out walk and went to second when Long uncorked a wild pitch. Nelson had the chance to play hero, but his screaming line drive was stabbed by a leaping Petraitis at third.
Miami got on the scoreboard first jumping to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and third against UC starter Nick Buscemi. Niro drove home Petraitis with an RBI groundout for the first run and Ryne Robinson scored on a bases loaded double play in the third.
Cincinnati would finally break through against Miami starter Connor Graham in the fifth, taking the lead with all three of its runs. Szarmach and Adam Yeager started the inning off with singles and LaFringe Hayes drew a walk to load the bases. Josh Harrison then looped a single to right for the first run and two more would score on consecutive sacrifice flies by Parker and Nelson. Graham would proceed to walk Muscenti and Maragas to reload the bases, but he then got Calez to pop up to first to end the threat.
The RedHawks would score their third run and retie the score in the sixth when Will Reynolds drew a one out walk and later scored on a Niro RBI single.
Nelson (1-1) took the tough loss on the mound for UC, allowing three hits and the game-winning run in two-thirds of an inning. Long (1-1) picked up the win after striking out five and walking one in 2.2 hitless innings. Miami starter Graham struggled with his control, walking six, but struck out a career-high eight in seven innings of three-run work. Buscemi lasted 5.1 innings for UC, surrendering three runs on nine hits.
Hillier paced Miami at the plate with a 4 for 4 day, while Niro had three hits and a pair of RBI.
Cincinnati will look to get back on the winning track when former Conference USA rival and current BIG EAST foe South Florida visits the UC Baseball Stadium for a three-game weekend series, beginning on Friday.