Cincinnati Steam

Steam Plate Six Unanswered Runs to Defeat Hamilton, 8-4
Four extra-base hits in the final four innings propel Cincinnati to victory

HAMILTON, Ohio—Cincinnati plated the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth on a fly ball lost in the lights and went on to defeat the Hamilton Joes 8-4 Tuesday night at Foundation Field. The Steam (12-8) entered the inning down 4-3 and scored three two-out, unearned runs to take the lead.

Brandon Bouley (Mount St. Joseph) induced a fly out and two ground outs to start the eighth and should have been out of the inning, but a throwing error by third baseman Colton Cattani (Lincoln Trail) gave the Steam new life. With T.J. Jones (Cincinnati) on first and two out, Ryan Strausborger (Indiana State) hit a fly ball down the right field line that dropped for a triple, scoring Jones and tying the game. Drew Schmidt (Xavier) then hit a routine fly ball to center, but Jimmy Brenneman (Lincoln Trail) lost the ball in the lights, allowing Strausborger to score the go-ahead run. Schmidt coasted into second with a double on the play and scored on a line drive single up the middle by Jon Edgington (Miami), giving the Steam a 6-4 lead, which Mike Peterson (DePauw) and Cody Elliott (Ball State) would make hold up.

Hamilton (5-13) managed to score four runs despite going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The four runs came home on two bases-loaded walks, a sacrifice fly, and an error on a botched suicide squeeze.

Strausborger went 4-for-6 and fell a home run shy of the cycle in the game. He drove in a run and also scored twice to up his league-leading runs total to 23. Strausborger now ranks second in doubles (20), first in triples (5), and third in home runs (5) in Steam history. Travis Shaw (Kent State) notched three hits (including a triple) and an RBI in his first multi-hit game of the year, and Schmidt went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Peterson picked up the win in relief, tossing 3.2 innings and giving up one earned run to improve to 2-0 on the season. Elliott notched his second save in two games, recording four clutch strikeouts in 1.2 innings.

Mike Jefferson (Louisiana Tech) struggled with control for the second consecutive start, working just 3.2 innings and walking five batters. He threw more balls (41) than strikes (39) in the game. Jefferson did give up only one earned run (three runs total) and struck out six to increase his league-leading total to 27. Remarkably, only six of the 20 batters that Jefferson faced swung and put the ball in play—the other 14 either walked, struck out, reached via hit-by-pitch, or squared around to bunt.

Wesley Rehmert (Urbana) worked 6.0 innings in the start, allowing nine hits but just two earned runs. Rehmert walked two and struck out four but still cannot buy a victory, as he sports an 0-3 record despite a 2.53 ERA.

Bouley (0-1) was the hard luck loser, giving up three unearned runs in the eighth inning.

Cattani singled twice for the Joes, and B.J. Willis (Cincinnati) had two hits, a walk, and two runs scored. Kyle Weldon (Miami) had a game he would rather forget, as he earned the golden sombrero after striking out four times in the game.

The Steam scored twice in the first inning and have now scored in the opening inning in all three games against Hamilton. Strausborger extended his hitting streak to 11 games (the longest by a Steam player on the season) with a first-pitch single past Cattani at third, and Schmidt followed with a single through the right side. After a rare Edgington strikeout (just his fourth in 66 at bats on the year), Macky Cianciolo (UConn-Avery Point) made a great diving stop in the hole on Ben Thomas’ (Xavier) ground ball, but Thomas beat the throw for an infield single, loading the bases. Brad Gschwind (Miami) followed his teammates’ lead with another single to right to plate Strausborger and Schmidt and put the Steam up 2-0.

Hamilton answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning. With a runner on second and two outs, Jefferson walked Cianciolo and Tyler Schunk (Rio Grande) and hit Phillip Bauer (Xavier) on a full-count pitch to force in a run. Jefferson rebounded to strike out Dorian West (Cincinnati) looking and strand three Hamilton baserunners.

Cincinnati reached base twice on errors in the third inning but failed to plate a run. Edgington reached but was thrown out stealing for just the second time in his career (both times by catcher Schunk).

Hamilton took advantage of three walks, two passed balls, and an error to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning.

Patrick Jones (St. Catharine College) smacked a base hit to left to begin the frame and, after two passed balls, stood at third base with one out. The Joes then put on the suicide squeeze, but Cianciolo bunted the ball right back to Jefferson and Jones broke late from third base. Jefferson had plenty of time but tossed the ball over the head of catcher Ryan Bellamy (Xavier), allowing Jones to score the tying run and Cianciolo to advance to second. After walking Schunk and striking out Bauer, Jefferson walked West and Brenneman to force in the go-ahead run. Jefferson was lifted in favor of Peterson, who struck out Weldon on three pitches to end the inning.

Peterson worked out of some trouble in the fifth, giving up just one run after the Joes loaded the bases with nobody out. Ciancolo knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly, but Peterson retired Schunk on a pop out and Bauer on a ground out to keep the score 4-2 in favor of the Joes.

The Steam got the run right back in the next half inning to close the gap to one. Shaw singled with one out, and Jones lined a base hit up the middle one out later. Strausborger then hit a sinking line drive to right field that got past a diving Willis for a double, scoring Shaw. Jones looked like he would score on the play, but confusion between Jones and third base coach Jeff Newman led to Jones stopping at third base. Schmidt then nearly beat out a ground ball to first, but Rehmert just beat the Xavier product to the bag to preserve the one-run lead.

Cincinnati added two insurance runs in the eighth inning. Gschwind was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and scored on a one-out triple to right by Shaw, a play in which Willis appeared to lose the ball in the lights. After a Bellamy walk, Jones beat out a double play ball to drive home Shaw and give the Steam an 8-4 cushion.

The Steam play their final game of the six-game road trip on Wednesday night when they face the league-leading Lima Locos in a 7:00 game at Simmons Field in Lima. Cincinnati returns home on Thursday, July 9 for a matchup with the Grand Lake Mariners. First pitch from Western Hills High School is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.