University of Louisville
44-18
Texas Tech
41-17
No. 9 Texas Tech Defeats No. 21 Louisville in NCAA Regional
June 02, 2018 | Baseball
Cardinals see 16-game NCAA Regional winning streak halted in 10-4 loss
LUBBOCK, Texas - The No. 21 Louisville baseball team suffered its first loss of the 2018 NCAA Championship dropping a 10-4 decision to No. 9 national seed Texas Tech in Saturday night's winners' bracket game at Rip Griffin Park.
The Red Raiders (41-17) used a pair of three-run frames in the third and fourth innings to claim command for good against the Cardinals (44-18), who had their 16-game NCAA Regional winning streak halted. Louisville will face Kent State (40-17) in an elimination game on Sunday at 3 p.m., ET. The winning side in Sunday's elimination game will advance to the championship round of the NCAA Lubbock Regional against Texas Tech on Sunday at 7 p.m., ET.
Josh Stowers led the way on a tough night for the Cardinals offensively as the junior outfielder doubled, drove in a run, scored once, walked twice and stole a base. The Westchester, Illinois native extended his reached base safely streak to 45 straight games as well as his career long hitting streak to 15 games. Justin Lavey drove in a run, scored once and had one stolen base, while Danny Oriente chipped in with a single and scored once for Louisville, which finished 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners on base.
The Cardinals struck first on Saturday as Lavey scored from third on a RBI groundout off the bat of Logan Wyatt for the 1-0 lead. Lavey started the inning with a single up the middle, moved to second after Tyler Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a walk by Devin Mann before scoring on Wyatt's ground out to second.
The Red Raiders answered with a trio of runs on two hits in the bottom of the third inning. Gabe Holt delivered a RBI sacrifice fly to send Cody Farhat home for the first run of the inning. A bases loaded walk to Grant Little scored Braxton Fulford for the second run before a balk allowed Brian Klein to plate the final run for a 3-1 lead.
After Louisville narrowed the deficit with a run in the top of the fourth inning on a RBI fielder's choice from Lavey to score Oriente, Texas Tech followed with a trio of runs in the bottom of the frame. Gabe Holt connected on a RBI double down the left field line to start the scoring and end the day for Louisville lefty Nick Bennett. Klein then greeted sophomore righty Shay Smiddy by connecting on a two-run single to right center for the 6-2 cushion.
The Red Raiders increased the advantage to 8-2 in the sixth inning on a RBI double from Little and a fielding error by the Cardinals. The margin moved to 10-2 in the seventh on a two-out, two-run homer off the bat of Jung.
The Cardinals plated their final two runs in the ninth inning on a RBI double by Stowers and a RBI single from Lucas Dunn. The hits by Stowers and Dunn were the only two for Louisville with runners in scoring position in Saturday's game.
Bennett suffered just his second loss of the season and dropped to 8-2 overall after allowing six runs on five hits in 3.1 innings. Caleb Kilian earned the win for the Red Raiders after surrendering just two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings. Jung led the Tech offense finishing 2-for-2 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and three walks, while Klein was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Sunday's elimination game will be a rematch of Louisville's 13-6 win over Kent State in Friday night's opening round game in Lubbock. The Golden Flashes rebounded from that defeat by registering a 2-1 win over New Mexico State in Saturday afternoon's elimination game.
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at @UofLBaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kilian, C. (9-1)
L: Bennett, Nick (8-2)
S: Harpenau, Ty (3)
Batting:
2B: Stowers, Josh 1 ; Campbell, Drew 1
RBI: Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1 ; Dunn, Lucas 1 ; Lavey, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Snider, Jake 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1 ; Oriente, Danny 1 ; Lavey, Justin 1
SB: Stowers, Josh 1 ; Lavey, Justin 1
HBP: Fitzgerald, Tyler 1 ; Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1 ; Oriente, Danny 1
PO: Campbell, Drew 1
Batting:
2B: Holt, Gabe 1 ; Little, Grant 1
HR: Jung, Josh 1
RBI: Holt, Gabe 2 ; Klein, Brian 2 ; Jung, Josh 2 ; Little, Grant 2
SF: Holt, Gabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, Gabe 1 ; Klein, Brian 2 ; Jung, Josh 2 ; Little, Grant 1 ; Davis, Michael 1 ; Farhat, Cody 1 ; Fulford, Braxton 2
SB: Farhat, Cody 1
CS: Little, Grant 1
HBP: Davis, Michael 1
