TicketsMarch 3, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Glen Simon pitched eight strong innings and Jack Nelson's two-run double put Cincinnati ahead to stay, leading the Bearcats to their third straight win, a 7-1 decision over Niagara on Friday afternoon at the UC Baseball Stadium. The victory, UC's sixth in its last seven games, improves the squad's record to 6-5 on the year.
Simon gave the Bearcats a bulldog effort on the mound, carrying the team through eighth innings after surrendering an unearned run in the first. The junior yielded five hits and four walks in eight innings, while striking out six. He improves to 2-1 on the year with the victory.
"I think the key to today's win really falls to Glen Simon," UC head coach Brian Cleary said. "He kept us in the game until we could get our offense going. The two things that were really key for us were Glen pitching as well as he did and Jack getting that clutch hit."
Niagara starter Josh Sawatzky (0-3) stymied the Bearcats for the first five innings before the wheels fell off in the sixth. After a lead-off single by Brian Szarmach, a pair of Purple Eagles' errors loaded the bases for Nelson. The senior delivered his second double of the game scoring both Szarmach and Mark Muscenti to put the Bearcats in the lead for the first time all day. Sawatzky retired the next two hitters, but LaFringe Hayes beat out an infield single on a close play at first to drive in Jon DeLuca for a 3-1 UC lead.
At that point, Sawatzky melted down, hitting Josh Harrison and Logan Parker on back-to-back at-bats to force in one run and being called for a balk to plate the fifth run of the inning. The Bearcats would go on to tack on single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to produce the final 7-1 margin. Nick Maragas' sacrifice fly in the seventh scored Muscenti while Szarmach tallied a run-scoring ground out on the heels of Parker's eighth inning triple to close out the scoring.
In the opening inning of the day, Andrew Macdonald singled and promptly stole second and third base. One out later, Mike Alati, the reigning MAAC Hitter of the Week, grounded a shot to Muscenti's left that the senior gloved but fumbled, allowing Macdonald to score for the first run of the day. From there, Simon avoided serious trouble, forcing Niagara to leave eight runners on in his eight frames, before turning the mound over to Nelson. Despite two Cincinnati errors in the ninth, Nelson was able to strike out the side to close the afternoon.
Szarmach and Nelson each tallied two hits on the afternoon as UC finished with a total of seven. No Niagara player had more than one hit, as the team finished with five.
Cincinnati and Niagara will contest game two of a three-game series on Saturday with a 4 p.m. first pitch. Kyle Rapp will take to the hill for UC, taking on Niagara's Mike Radanovic.