TicketsApril 26, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- With the countdown to the 134th Kentucky Derby less than a week away the University of Cincinnati entered the afternoon tied for first place in the BIG EAST Conference race, but Louisville used a pair of two-run home runs en route to a 13-4 decision in front of 1,298 spectators at Patterson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
In Cincinnati's first chance of the afternoon, leadoff batter Tony Campana walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Campana moved to Josh Harrison's single and came home on Mike Spina's sacrifice fly to left field to give UC a 1-0 lead.
The Bearcats loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning and came away with a pair of runs to extend their lead to 3-0. Campana was hit by a pitch on his jersey sleeve, then Jamel Scott laid down a bunt and the first baseman missed the base and the Bearcats had runners on first and second. Harrison followed with a perfectly placed bunt up the third base line that filled the bases. Spina's line drive single forced Campana home. Following a strikeout, the second baseman lost an infield fly out in the sun and after the ball hit the FieldTurf, Scott advanced from third to make it 3-0. Harrison attempted to follow suit, and was caught trying to move to third base for the unconventional double play.
Harrison ended the afternoon 3-for-3 at the plate, with a walk and a hit by pitch. Spina finished 2-for-4, with two RBIs and is now batting .355 on the year to lead the Cincinnati offense.
In the bottom half of the third, Louisville used a two-out single and a triple that rattled around in the right field corner to cut the advantage to 3-1.
A one-out triple into the right field corner, followed by a double down the same right field line cut the UC lead to one, at 3-2. Harrison made a leaping effort to keep a line drive in the infield and with runners on the corners, a fielder's choice knotted the game, at 3.
Cincinnati (25-16, 12-5 BIG EAST) took advantage of a base on balls to retake the lead in the top of the sixth. With one out, Ryan Baker and Justin Riddell each walked and following a fly out by Chris Peters, a fielding error off the bat of Campana allowed Baker to score from second base and give UC a 4-3 edge.
Left-handed starter Justin Marks left the game after five and one-third innings for the host Cardinals. Marks struck out seven, but battled control issues, as evident by his five free passes. Inserted in place of Marks, Thomas Royse shutdown the Bearcats over the final three and two-thirds innings to earn his third win of the season. Royse gave up two hits, but struck out six batters.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Louisville used a pair of two-run home runs to take control of the game, 7-4. With one away, a throwing error put a runner at first. Chris Dominguez knocked a 3-1 curveball from Cincinnati starting pitcher Michael Hill for a towering homer to give UofL its first lead of the day. After a ground out, a walk, Stewart Ijames poked a 2-0 pitch by Hill for a round-tripper to make it a three-run advantage, at 7-4.
Hill left the game after six innings, having allowed four earned runs on seven hits. He struck out five and walked two, but fell to 3-3.
Louisville (25-16, 9-8 BIG EAST) had six consecutive batters reach base and scored five runs in the seventh innings to stretch its lead to 12-4. Adam Calez started the seventh in place of Hill and retired the first batter, but then yieled consecutive singles. Brian Sand replaced Calez and the first pitch to leave his hand was hit for a double down the left field line to score both runners. After an intentional walk and another base on balls, Sand allowed a single and a groundout that scored two more runs to make it a 12-4 contest.
Sand gave up a double and a fly out that plated another run in the eighth to set the final margin, at 13-4.
The rubber match in the BIG EAST series gets underway at Patterson Stadium at Noon on Sunday.
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