TicketsApril 20, 2008
CINCINNATI -- After winning on Friday and Saturday, the University of Cincinnati baseball team let an opportunity to solidify its position atop the BIG EAST Conference leaderboard slip to the wayside with an 8-5 loss to Georgetown on Sunday afternoon at a saturated Marge Schott Stadium. Junior third baseman Mike Spina went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead Cincinnati, but it was not enough as UC dropped its fourth BIG EAST game of the season.
Georgetown (14-22, 4-14 BIG EAST) opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the second inning against Cincinnati starting pitcher Tyler Smith (3-3). Kelly Muir earned an infield single, stole second base and scored on Greg Pustizzi's base hit for a 1-0 advantage. With off and on rain showers in the area for much of the game, Smith was pulled quickly in favor of Brian Sand.
The Hoyas added to their lead with three runs in the third inning. Matt Iannetta singled and stole second before Matt Harrigan's double brought him home. Following a fly out, Dan Capeless doubled and Harrigan came around to score. Evan Sanford took the mound in place of Sanford. Sanford quickly tossed a wild pitch and then yielded a sacrifice fly that plated Capeless and extended the margin to 4-0.
Cincinnati (22-14, 11-4 BIG EAST) found its way into the scoring column in the sixth. Cameron Satterwhite opened with a double off the wall in right field and came home two batters later on Kevin Johnson's RBI single to make it a 4-1 game.
The Bearcats' Matt Heber worked two scoreless innings of relief before the Hoyas pounded out two runs in the seventh. Capeless doubled and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Pustizzi's second RBI single of the day plated Capeless. With pinch runner Rob standing at third later in the inning, Erick Fernandez hit a sacrifice fly against reliever Justin Schultheiss to make it a 6-1 lead.
Once again, Capeless keyed Georgetown's offense in the ninth inning. Capeless doubled down the right field line for his third hit of the day. Muir followed with a single and pinch hitter Sean Baumann doubled to drive in both runners and extend the margin to 8-1.
Cincinnati came back to score four times in its final at-bat, keyed by Johnson's home run to right field. Jamel Scott and Josh Harrison notched back-to-back singles and after a fielder's choice put runners on first and third base, Spina ripped his third single of the day to score Scott. The left-handed hitting Johnson blasted his fifth round-tripper of the year to make it an 8-5 contest.
Georgetown starting pitcher Jimmy Saris (4-4) gave up one run, on five hits, over six innings of work. The performance earned Saris his fourth win of the season. Cary Piligian gave up two hits in the seventh, but survived unscathed before giving way to Daniel Kennedy who finished the final two innings to secure the decision.
Cincinnati returns to the diamond tomorrow night for a non-conference matchup against crosstown rival Xavier. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
--GoBEARCATS.com--