The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
at Cincinnati*
Blazers Fall To Cincinnati, 7-4
5/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2004
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Third baseman Jon DeLuca's three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning gave Cincinnati a 6-4 lead and the Bearcats held on for a 7-4 win over UAB in Conference USA baseball action Saturday afternoon at UC baseball Stadium.
Cincinnati began the inning down 4-3. Center fielder Aaron Moll started the rally with a one-out single to left field. Shortstop Drew Saylor then reached first on a fielding error by Blazer shortstop Josh Miljavac. DeLuca then homered to left field to give UC the lead for good.
Tony Maynard (3-6) picked up the win for Cincinnati (15-40, 6-24 C-USA) after coming on in relief of Bearcat starter Jim Olds. Maynard worked three and a third shut-out innings, allowed only two hits, walked one and struck out two.
Olds pitched five and two-thirds innings and gave up four runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out two.
Jacob Legg (3-4) took the loss for UAB (28-27, 13-16 C-USA) after coming on in relief of Blazer starter Eric Roberts. Legg pitched three and a third innings and gave up four runs, three of which were earned, on four hits. He struck out one and did not walk a batter.
Roberts worked four innings and allowed three runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out three.
"We had a lot of opportunities today," said UAB head coach Larry Giangrosso. "We just didn't capitalize. We are happy with taking two games of this series. We are playing good baseball right now."
Cincinnati struck first in the bottom of the second inning when second baseman Mark Muscenti doubled to right field, scoring Saylor and DeLuca. The Bearcats led 2-0.
Right fielder Cole Helms answered for the Blazers with a three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. UAB led 3-2.
Cincinnati tied the score in the bottom of the fourth when designated hitter Brian Dill grounded out to shortstop, allowing Saylor to score from third base.
UAB took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning when left fielder Jeremy Moran's sacrifice fly to right field brought in Helms.
Cincinnati final run came in the bottom of the eighth inning when DeLuca singled up the middle, scoring Moll.
The Blazers left a total of eight runners on base. UAB had runners in scoring position in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings with only one out and were unable to capitalize.
UAB next plays at the Conference USA Tournament, which will be held Wednesday-Saturday in Houston, Texas.
The Blazers finished the season as the seventh-place team in the C-USA standings and will garner a No. 7 seed in the tournament.
All Blazer games at the tournament will be broadcast live via the world wide web on the Blazers' official athletics website, www.uabsports.com. For those who are not Yahoo! subscribers, a monthly subscription can be purchased for $4.95 per month and a season-long subscription may be purchased for $14.95. To listen to the broadcast, click on either "UAB Audio Broadcasts" or "Multimedia" from the UAB athletics website's main page and follow the links.
