CINCINNATI, OH - Cincinnati’s Brian Szarmach hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to lift the Bearcats past the Scarlet Knights, 6-5, Thursday evening in BIG EAST baseball action at UC Bearcat Stadium.
The loss snaps RU’s six-game winning streak as the Scarlet Knights fall to 14-15-1 overall and 5-5 in the league, while Cincinnati moves to 20-12 overall, evening its conference record to 5-5.
After Rutgers tied it up at 5-5 with a run in the top of the eighth, Cincinnati’s Mark Muscenti doubled to center field, ending Rutgers starter Steve Holt’s (Toms River, NJ) day after 7.1 innings. The Bearcats moved Muscenti to third with a sacrifice bunt against reliever Joe Baione (Staten Island, NY). Muscenti then scored the winning run on Szarmach’s single up the middle. Sophomore Tim Woodhull (Princeton Junction, NJ) came in for the final out of the inning.
Prior to the decisive run in the eighth inning, Rutgers had played catch-up all night after Holt gave up a grand slam to Nick Maragas in the second inning. He loaded the bases with two outs in the inning after hitting a pair of batters and issuing a walk. The second hit batsman proved costly as it loaded the bases where Maragas, UC’s nine-spot hitter, drilled the ball over the left-field fence to give the Bearcats the 4-0 lead.
Rutgers got three runs back in the third inning to cut the UC lead to 4-3. Junior Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, NJ) led off the frame with an infield single and senior Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) moved him over to second base with a single to left field. Designated hitter Vic Cegles (Phoenix, AZ) brought both runners home with a triple down the right-field line for the first two runs of the inning. Following a strikeout, catcher Frank Meade (Linden, NJ) drew a two-out walk to put runners at the corners. Meade then attempted to steal second, creating a run-down between first and second base, which allowed Cegles to score from third, before Meade safely slid back to first base.
Muscenti singled with one out in the fourth inning and stole second to move into scoring position where he scored on another Bearcat single as UC opened a two-run cushion.
Rutgers reduced Cincinnati’s lead back to a run on Steve Hook’s (Langhorne, PA) solo home run to right field to make it 5-4. The mammoth blast was Hook’s second in as many games and fifth of the season.
The Scarlet Knights put runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth on Ryan Hill’s (Hillsdale, NJ) single and Luis Feliz’s (New Brunswick, NJ) walk. Querns then slapped his fourth hit of the game through the right side to plate Hill from second to tie the game at 5-5. RU nearly scored another run on Mike Bionde’s (Pompton Plains, NJ) chopper to shortstop, but was called out on a close play at first base for the final out of the inning.
After the Bearcats broke the tie with the run in the bottom-half of the eighth, the Scarlet Knights put one on in the ninth to end starter Steve Blevins’ night with RU’s three and four hitters due up. Closer A.J. Upton struck out Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ) and got Meade to ground out to end the game for his fifth save of the season.
Holt (4-4) suffered his first loss in three outings, giving up all six runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and only one walk in 7.1 innings of work. Blevins (6-3) picked up the victory, giving up five runs on 12 hits, while striking out four batters in 8.1 innings.
Rutgers and Cincinnati will play another night game tomorrow at UC Bearcat Stadium with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
2006 Rutgers Baseball
Rutgers at Cincinnati
Apr 13, 2006 at Cincinnati, OH (UC Baseball Stadium)
Rutgers 5 (14-15-1,5-5)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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GROSE, Jeff cf........... 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 2
CEGLES, Victor dh........ 4 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0
LIVINGSTON, Mike pr..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 5 0 1 0 0 3 0 5 0
MEADE, Frank c........... 4 0 1 0 1 1 5 0 1
HILL, Ryan lf............ 4 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 4 1 1 1 0 1 12 0 0
FELIZ, Luis rf........... 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 4 1 4 1 0 0 2 1 0
BIONDE, Mike 2b.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3
HOLT, Steve p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
BAIONE, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
WOODHULL, Tim p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 36 5 12 4 4 5 24 12 8
Cincinnati 6 (20-12,5-5)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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HAYES, LaFringe cf....... 4 0 0 0 1 1 5 0 0
HARRISON, Josh rf........ 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
PARKER, Logan 1b......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 9 2 0
NELSON, Jack dh.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
DeLUCA, Jon 3b........... 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0
MUSCENTI, Mark 2b........ 3 3 2 0 1 0 3 1 0
YEAGER, Adam ss.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 0
SZARMACH, Brian lf....... 3 1 2 2 0 1 2 0 0
MARAGAS, Nick c.......... 3 1 1 4 0 1 5 3 3
BLEVINS, Steve p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
UPTON, A.J. p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 32 6 8 6 2 5 27 14 8
Score by Innings R H E
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Rutgers............. 003 001 010 - 5 12 1
Cincinnati.......... 040 100 01X - 6 8 0
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E - FRAZIER(9). DP - Cincinnati 1. LOB - Rutgers 8; Cincinnati 8. 2B -
Muscenti(9). 3B - CEGLES(1). HR - HOOK(5); Maragas(3). HBP - DeLuca;
Szarmach; Maragas. SH - Yeager(6). SB - CEGLES(4); MEADE(2); Harrison(8);
Muscenti(3). CS - FRAZIER(6).
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HOLT, Steve......... 7.1 7 6 6 1 5 30 33
BAIONE, Joe......... 0.1 1 0 0 1 0 1 4
WOODHULL, Tim....... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BLEVINS, Steve...... 8.1 12 5 5 4 4 34 38
UPTON, A.J.......... 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
Win - Blevins (6-3). Loss - HOLT (4-4). Save - Upton (5).
HBP - by HOLT (DeLuca); by HOLT (Szarmach); by BAIONE (Maragas).
Umpires - HP: Mick Sharkey 1B: Clarence Coleman 3B: Ron Nordquist
Start: 6:33 Time: 2:44 Attendance: 326
Game: 413CIN
