TicketsMarch 24, 2007
PITTSBURGH, Pa.---A nine-run first inning explosion and a school record eight RBI from Josh Harrison provided the winning formula as Cincinnati hammered Pittsburgh 19-5 in the Bearcats' BIG EAST opener on Saturday at Trees Field. The win improves the Bearcats record to 12-9 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST.
Harrison turned in the biggest day of his collegiate career, homering twice and becoming just the fifth UC player ever to record eight RBI in a single game. His three-run homer capped UC's nine-run first, while his second blast, a grand slam, came in the seventh inning.
Cincinnati roughed up Pittsburgh pitching for a season-high 17 hits with seven Bearcats tallying multiple hits. Neall French and Cameron Satterwhite both added homers in the victory.
The pitching was ably manned by Steve Blevins and Jake Geglein. Blevins won his fourth straight start with seven quality innings that featured four runs allowed and three strikeouts. Geglein pitched the final two frames, picking up a career-high four strikeouts along the way.
A costly Pittsburgh (7-11, 1-3 BIG EAST) error in the first paved the way for the Bearcats' nine-run outburst. With one out, Michael Earley reached when Panthers' second baseman Mike Lepor dropped a soft liner. French and Michael Obyc sandwiched a pair of RBI singles around a fly out sending UC to a 2-0 lead. Brian Szarmach then plated both runners when he drilled a two-run single through the left side. After a double by Adam Yeager, Ryan Baker drilled a double off the right field wall to up the UC lead to 6-0. Tony Campana followed with an infield single and he, along with Baker scored when Harrison ripped a three-run shot to right.
Pittsburgh cut into the Cincinnati lead in the bottom of the first as Gary Bucuren ripped a Blevins' offering over the left field wall with a man on. The long ball represented the first surrendered by Blevins this season, a span covering nearly 40 innings.
Over the next two innings, the teams would trade runs with French leading the second inning off with a massive shot to deep center for his fifth home run of the season. Pitt got its third run in the last of the third when Sean Conley darted home on a wild pitch.
Cincinnati would score once in the sixth on a Pitt wild pitch, before the floodgates broke up again in innings seven and eight. Harrison's grand slam produced the four runs in the seventh, while four more crossed an inning later. Satterwhite got in the homerun act, leading off the inning with a solo blast, while run number two scored on a Yeager sacrifice fly. Later, Harrison tied the game RBI record with a sac fly to deep right that nearly carried for his second grand slam. Jamel Scott rounded out the UC scoring with an RBI single through the left side.
Pittsburgh added a run in the sixth on a Brian Muldowney run-scoring single and tacked on the day's last run on a double in the ninth off the bat of Dan Williams.
Williams and Bucuren led the Panther offense with two hits apiece. Rob Brant (1-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing 11 runs in 5.2 innings of work. After getting knocked around in the first, Brant settled into a groove, retiring 14 batters in a row in innings two through six.
The two teams will wrap up the series with a doubleheader beginning at noon on Sunday. The first game will be a seven-inning contest, while the nightcap will be nine innings in length.