CINCINNATI - The Niagara baseball team scored a run in the top of the ninth inning against the University of Cincinnati to take the first game of a four-game series on Friday. The Purple Eagles held off a late-inning Bearcat charge to secure the victory.

With the scored tied at 4-4, Bobby Lenhard (Rochester, N.Y.) started the final inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on Chris Leendertse's (Ancaster, Ont.) sacrifice bunt. Clint Elkins (Kansas City, Mo.) provided the timely hitting for Niagara, lining a pinch-hit double down the right-field line to score Lenhard.

Center fielder Frank Kurnik (Reno, Nev.) provided the defensive heroics for the Purple Eagles in the bottom of the ninth. Cincinnati's Tony Campana, who is considered the fastest player in college baseball, ripped a single to center field and headed for second base with one out. Kurnik came up firing and nailed Campana, as the bases were empty with two outs instead of one out with a runner in scoring position.

"I am very proud of how our team overcame obstacles and mistakes to win this game," Niagara head coach Chris Chernisky said. "We used a good pitching performance and received timely hitting against one of the nation's best pitchers to bring home the victory in game one."

Mark Sikorski (Toronto, Ont.) pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn the victory. He pitched a perfect ninth inning and finished the night with two hits and one stikeout. The junior right-hander entered the game in the seventh inning with the score knotted at four and runners at the corners and held the Bearcats at bay. Sikorski has inherited the most runners on the Niagara staff (7) while allowing just one to score all season.

Michael Kellar (Colifax, Ill.) kept Niagara in the game, scattering three runs over four hits in 5.1 innings. Dennis Chacko (Oceanport, N.J.) also provided quality relief for the Purple Eagles allowing one run on two hits in an inning and a third.

The Purple Eagles score four runs in the second inning to take an early lead. Leendertse had an RBI double to left center and Andrew Macdonald (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) laced a two-run double to left. Three of the four runs scored were unearned.

Cincinnati slowly came back into the game, scoring one run in the second, third, sixth and seventh innings to tie the game. Kevin Johnson and Cameron Satterwhile each hit solo home runs early in the contest.

Saturday's double header with the Bearcats has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to weather conditions. Follow the action on live stats.