TicketsApril 15, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Rutgers used a nine-run fourth inning to blow open a close game, clinching a BIG EAST series victory over Cincinnati by a 19-3 score on Saturday at the UC Baseball Stadium. Earlier in the day, the Scarlet Knights completed a 9-6 win in the resumption of last night's suspended contest. The two defeats spell the end of UC's 12-game home winning streak.
Leading 4-3 heading into the top of the fourth, Rutgers (16-15-1, 7-5 BIG EAST) sent 14 batters to the plate, taking advantage of six Cincinnati walks to draw out to a 13-3 advantage. That would be all the cushion that starting pitcher Sean Spicer would need as he turned in seven quality innings to beat the Bearcats (20-14, 5-7 BIG EAST). Spicer (5-1) allowed only three runs on seven hits, while striking out three.
Rutgers' 18 hit offensive attack was paced by five hits each by Jeff Grose and Tim Querns. The former also drove in four, while Luis Feliz and Querns tallied three RBI each.
Cincinnati got a 2 for 4 day from Josh Harrison, while Mark Muscenti drove in two of UC's three runs. Kyle Rapp (1-5) was saddled with the defeat after allowing five runs in 3.1 innings of action.
The day got off to a rough start for the Bearcats as a first inning fielding error kept the Rutgers rally going for a pair of runs. The Knights' first run came home on a wild pitch, while Feliz made it 2-0 with an RBI single. Rutgers added a third run in the second on Grose's RBI groundout and were up 4-0 after Frank Meade belted his 10th homer of the year in the third.
Cincinnati would rally to come within a run in the third, as LaFringe Hayes and Harrison connected on back-to-back one-out doubles to make it 4-1. After a walk to Logan Parker and an out, Muscenti dropped a two-run double just inside the right field line to cut the Rutgers' lead to 4-3.
But the wheels then fell off for Cincinnati as Rutgers put together 12 runs over the next two innings to turn the game into a runaway. The Knights put three more on the board in the seventh, before the redshirt freshmen combo of Evan Sanford and Jake Geglein held Rutgers scoreless for the final two frames.
The conclusion of Friday's suspended contest provided some excitement as the Bearcats rallied in the bottom of the ninth, only to come up three runs short. Todd Frazier extended the Rutgers lead to 9-3 in the eighth with an RBI single, but UC came to life against Chris Lillis in the last of the ninth. With one out, Adam Yeager singled and came around to score on a Brian Szarmach rocket off the right field wall that went for a double. Hayes followed with an infield single and one out later Harrison and Parker recorded back-to-back RBI singles. With the tying run at the plate, Lillis got Jack Nelson to pop up to shortstop to end the game.
Matt Pustay (2-3) was the winning pitcher for Rutgers, while Lillis went the final three frames for his second save. Dan Osterbrock took the loss for UC, falling to 0-1.
Parker finished the game with three hits, while Harrison and Yeager had two each for the Bearcats. Five different players had two of Rutgers' 13 hits, highlighted by a double and a homer from Meade.
Cincinnati will need to regroup quickly as it opens a busy week with a home game on Monday night vs. Xavier. First pitch at the UC Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.