TicketsApril 5, 2007
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Steve Blevins gave Cincinnati a gutsy performance on the mound and Neall French delivered a huge bases loaded triple, spurring the Bearcats to a 4-3 win over Notre Dame on Thursday night at frosty Marge Schott Stadium. The win was an important win in UC's chase for a BIG EAST Tournament berth, improving the squad's record to 16-13 overall and 3-4 in league play.
Blevins' numbers were far from sexy-he yielded 10 hits and four walks, along with three first inning runs-but the sophomore star hung in for eight innings, picking up his fifth win of the year along the way. Billy Welsh slammed the door in the ninth to pick up his fourth save of the campaign.
French was the offensive hero as he had three hits and three RBI; with all the RBI coming on a fifth inning bases clearing triple. Tony Campana continued his assault of the base paths, grabbing three stolen bases to push his season total to 39.
It looked like it might be a long, cold night for the Bearcats and the team's brave fans in the stands as Notre Dame strung together four singles in the first inning to take a quick 3-0 lead. The Fighting Irish (13-15, 1-5 BIG EAST) utilized the hit and run and some smart base running to take the early cushion. A Tony Langford RBI groundout got the scoring started and Danny Dressman and Jeremy Barnes followed with consecutive run scoring singles to push the Irish in front.
On the mound, Notre Dame starter Dan Kapala was making short work of the UC line-up, allowing just a walk and a single through three innings. Michael Earley and French led the fourth inning off with singles and an Adam Yeager sacrifice paved the way for a Brian Szarmach run-scoring ground ball that made it 3-1.
The Bearcats' go-ahead fifth inning scoring run should have never happened as with two outs, Kapala made a wild throw to first on a Campana bunt attempt that would have ended the inning. Kapala went on to walk Josh Harrison and Earley to load the bases and bring up French. UC's first baseman sent a low line drive into right field that Brayden Ashdown made a diving attempt for, but he ball bounced in front of him and rolled all the way to the wall, clearing the bases much to the delight of the UC fans and dugout.
That scoring would prove to be enough for Blevins as he made the new found lead stand up. Blevins had a pair of scary encounters in the late innings, but showed true grit in escaping with no runs allowed. A pair of seventh inning errors loaded the bases with two outs for pinch-hitter Eddy Mendiola. Mendiola, a .471 hitter entering the contest, couldn't come through as he was Blevins' fifth strikeout victim of the night. One inning later, Notre Dame put runners on first and second with one out, but an alert Blevins went to third on a comebacker by A.J. Pollock for a force out, then got another ground out to turn away the Irish threat.
Brett Lilley led a Notre Dame offense which left 13 men on base with three hits, while Ross Brezovsky and Dressman contributed two apiece. Kapala (0-3) took the loss, after allowing four runs and five hits in six innings.
The Bearcats and Irish will get back at it for game two tomorrow with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. The pitching match-up is a good one with a pair of four-game winners in UC's Dan Osterbrock and Notre Dame's David Phelps clashing.