TicketsMay 18, 2006
| "We wanted to take care of things to get in the tournament ourselves and fortunately we were able to do that." ---UC head coach Brian Cleary |
In the words of UC head coach Brian Cleary, Blevins was "brilliant" as the freshman star limited St. John's, ranked as the nation's 12th-best hitting squad to just three hits. The Louisa, Ky. native tallied his third complete game of the year and second shutout in improving to 9-4 on the year. Blevins showed great command all night, while matching his career-high with six strikeouts. UC now stands at 31-23, 12-13 in the BIG EAST, while St. John's is 36-16, 15-9.
"I thought this was the best game we've played in a couple of weeks," Cleary said. "We did a great job of showing up and really battling. I thought Blevins was brilliant and we really swung the bats well too. Tonight we did a good job against a type of pitcher that has given us trouble. We wanted to take care of things to get in the tournament ourselves and fortunately we were able to do that."
Parker provided the early offensive fireworks, driving a Matt Tosoni curveball deep into right field in the first for his team-best 11th big fly of the year. Fellow senior Jack Nelson provided more breathing room for the Bearcats in the third, slapping a two-run single to left to make it 4-0.
In snapping a six-game losing streak, all nine Bearcat hitters had at least one hit, with Parker and Josh Harrison each picking up two. Parker scored three times, while driving in two and Harrison scored two runs.
The Red Storm, which were hitting at a .328 clip entering the contest, got just three singles on the night and none after the sixth inning. A clearly tiring Blevins hit two batters in the ninth inning, but struck out Bryan Dirr for the second time to seal the contest.
As mentioned, UC struck early, with Harrison becoming the game's first base runner with a double to left center. Parker then waited back on a 3-1 Tosoni curve, taking the St. John's sophomore deep for just the fourth time this year to put the home team in front 2-0.
In the third, Adam Yeager drew a lead-off walk and went to second when Harrison was plunked with a pitch. A Parker fielder's choice erased Harrison, but the latter quickly stole second to put two men in scoring position. Nelson then came through in the clutch, delivering his two-run single to left for a four-run Bearcat advantage.
The Bearcats tacked on two more in the fifth, with both runs scoring with two outs. With two runners on, Brian Szarmach ended Tosoni's evening with an RBI single to right. Nick Maragas then greeted reliever Colin Lynch with a single of his own to stake the home team to a 6-0 lead. UC rounded out the night's scoring when Jon DeLuca trotted home on a sixth inning Red Storm error.
The two teams will reconvene in the UC Baseball Stadium on Friday night for game two of the three-game set. Freshman lefty Dan Osterbrock will draw the start on the hill for UC, taking on St. John's junior right-hander Rob Delaney.