TicketsMay 5, 2007
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score | Notes
PISCATAWAY, N.J.---It was a long and disappointing day for the Cincinnati Bearcats, as the team dropped both ends of a BIG EAST doubleheader to Rutgers on Saturday afternoon at Bainton Field. UC fell by scores of 16-6 and 7-3 and slip to eighth in the league standings with the pair of losses.
Lost in the defeats for the Bearcats was a 5-for-5 performance in game one from Neall French and a new team single season stolen base record reached in the finale.
It looked like the day might get off to a fine start for the Bearcats (25-22, 8-11 BIG EAST) as French's RBI single in the top of the first inning of the opener pushed UC out to a 1-0 lead. The Bearcats added another run on a weird play with Brian Szarmach at bat. After chasing strike three in the dirt, Szarmach took off for first and then went all the way to third when Rutgers (29-16, 15-5 BIG EAST) catcher Frank Meade airmailed the throw into the right field corner, allowing French to score from first.
The momentum for the entire day swung with what happened in the last of the first as the Scarlet Knights exploded for eight runs against UC starter Steve Blevins. All-American candidate Todd Frazier led the game off with a solo homer and when his turn to bat came back around later in the inning, he did the improbable, launching a three-run blast to left center that capped the eight-run inning. In between, Dave Williams, Tom Edwards and Meade all added RBI singles for Rutgers.
Rutgers added its ninth run in the third inning, but Blevins held the Knights scoreless in his other three innings on the mound. The hosts turned the contest into a rout, racing to a 16-2 lead with a seven-run tally in the sixth inning. Ryan Hill delivered the big hit of the inning, launching a grand slam over the right field wall against Matt Heber.
Cincinnati took a chunk out of the deficit with three runs in the seventh inning and one more in the eighth. Adam Yeager drilled a single up the middle to plate Tony Campana and after a walk to Josh Harrison, French laced a two-run double down the left field line to round out the inning's scoring. UC's final run of the first game came on a Campana RBI single in the eighth.
French finished game one with five hits, including a double, and three RBI, while Campana added three of the Bearcats' 12 hits. Blevins (5-7) was dealt the loss after allowing nine runs and 11 hits in five innings. The sophomore did strike out six in the outing.
Frazier led the potent Rutgers offense with three hits, three runs and four RBI. Hill added two hits and four RBI, while Edwards and Luis Feliz each tacked on two hits apiece.
Steve Healing (7-3) was the winning pitcher for Rutgers, allowing five runs and eight hits in seven innings, with two walks and six strikeouts.
Another big, early scoring outburst by Rutgers set the tone for the second game. The Scarlet Knights scored four times in the second inning, all with two out, to stake the early advantage. Meade's sac fly got Rutgers on the board and Feliz followed with an RBI single. Frazier made it 3-0 when he drilled a John Baird offering for an RBI double. The scoring for the inning rounded out on a Mike Bionde RBI single.
Cincinnati got one of the runs back in the top of the third as Harrison lined an RBI double into the left field corner. Rutgers countered, making it 5-1 in its half of the third on a Tim Querns run-scoring double.
After the rough start, Baird settled into a groove, retiring 11 of 13 hitters from the third through sixth innings. UC had a chance to even the score in the seventh as it loaded the bases with one out. Harrison got the Bearcats within 5-2 with a sac fly, but reliever Jason Downey got French to ground out to end the threat.
Rutgers added two more runs in the seventh on back-to-back RBI singles by Querns and Meade. Downey staved off one final Bearcat charge in the ninth as he got Harrison to ground out with two men aboard.
Yeager led the Cincinnati offense in game two with three hits and a pair of stolen bases. Harrison and Baker added two doubles each for UC. Campana's seventh inning stolen base gave the Bearcats their 120th swipe of the year, establishing a new school single season record.
Baird (2-2) took the defeat after yielding seven runs and 10 hits in seven innings of work. Casey Gaynor (3-2) was the winner for Rutgers, holding the Bearcats to three runs and seven hits in 6.1 innings, with a career-high nine strikeouts.
The Scarlet Knights' offense produced 12 hits in the finale, with four different players collecting two each.
UC will fight to avoid the sweep when it returns to the field against Rutgers tomorrow with first pitch set for Noon.