Bearcats maul Bobcats

by Bill Bender
Staff Writer

In most cases some good can be salvaged from a loss.

But for the Ohio baseball team, finding a bright spot in yesterday's 22-4 loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats might prove difficult. The Bearcats jumped to a 7-1 lead after just one inning en route to the victory. Ohio (17-16) fell in its second-consecutive contest and moved to 5-6 on the road.

Ohio coach Joe Carbone said the team encountered pitching problems in the early innings.

"We ran into a good hitting team," Carbone said. "We only got one out in that first inning; then they scored a bunch of runs."

Cincinnati showed no mercy, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and seven more in the sixth to put the game out of reach for the Bobcats. Outfielder Chris Hamblen went 2 for 4, including a grand slam for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats pounded out 19 hits against the Bobcats' pitching staff, which struggled throughout the game. Despite a rough outing for Ohio pitcher Casey McKinney, pitchers Dan Cobb, Sean Hutcheson and Matt Cochrell pitched a combined five scoreless innings for the team.

The innings in which the Bearcats put runs on the board, however, proved devastating for the Bobcats. Carbone said the pitching staff did not do an effective job against the Bearcats' batting order.

"Our guys got tattooed by their hitters," Carbone said. "Not every pitcher did his job tonight."

Cincinnati pitcher Dan Reineke worked six innings and picked up the win. He allowed four runs and nine hits. Pitchers B.J. Borsa and Curtus Mouk finished off the Bobcats, hurling a combined three scoreless innings of relief.

The seven outbursts by the Bearcats are not new to Ohio. In 1999, the Bearcats scored an NCAA-record 12 runs in the ninth inning to rally past Ohio at Johnny Bench Field.

Both hitting and pitching suffered for the Bobcats. First baseman Chuck Lombardy led the team with a pair of doubles, and third baseman Adam Fox added a two-run homer in the sixth inning. The ditch the Bobcats dug in the first inning proved to be too much, however.

Ohio has a chance for redemption on the road this weekend. The team will return to Mid-American Conference action and face the Buffalo Bulls for a four-game series. The first showdown is slated for 3 p.m. Friday at Buffalo.