TicketsApril 22, 2007
CINCINNATI, Ohio---John Baird twirled his first career complete game, helping Cincinnati clinch its BIG EAST series against Connecticut with a 6-2 win on Sunday afternoon at sunny Marge Schott Stadium. The UC win, coupled with Notre Dame's loss to West Virginia puts the Bearcats in sole possession of sixth place in the BIG EAST standings.
Baird (2-0), whose previous career-long outing was 6.1 innings, held the Huskies to two runs and six hits, while striking out a career-high six. He was aided by some fine defense behind him, including a pair of double plays. The Bearcats improve to 21-17 overall and 7-7 in BIG EAST play with the victory.
After Connecticut got a first inning run on a Dennis Donovan RBI groundout, the Bearcats sped to a 3-1 lead in their half of the first. Tony Campana led off with a walk and took third on a single by Michael Earley. One out later, Neall French tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Later in the inning, back-to-back RBI singles by Cameron Satterwhite and Adam Yeager staked the Bearcats to a two-run advantage.
The Huskies (18-20, 5-10 BIG EAST) would shave their deficit to one in the third, courtesy of a Donovan RBI single that plated Harold Brantley. UC promptly got the run back in its half of the third on French's 10th home run of the season.
UC extended its lead to the final margin with a Brian Szarmach RBI single in the fifth and a run on a Connecticut error in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Baird was keeping the Huskies in check, allowing just two hits in the final six innings of action. A Yeager to French double play ended the sixth inning before UC really started flashing the leather in the eighth. Leading off the inning, Jamel Scott robbed Donovan of a single with a brilliant diving stop to his left and later Campana did the same to Matt Untiet when he dove for a low liner to center. With the bases loaded and the count full with two outs, Dale Brannon drove a fly to right that Satterwhite made a nice running catch on to help Baird escape the inning. UC ended the game in the ninth on a smooth 4-6-3 double play.
Earley and Scott led the UC offense with two hits apiece, while French drove in two. Connecticut got two hits each from Peter Fatse and Larry Day.
UConn freshman Greg Nappo took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings. He falls to 2-3 with the defeat.
Cincinnati has a full week of games upcoming, starting with a make-up game with Xavier on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. UC hosts Butler on Wednesday night and Villanova for a weekend series.