Cardinal Nine Ends Fall Drills
October 29, 2001 | Baseball
Oct. 29, 2001
The University of Louisville baseball team wrapped up its fall session as they prepare for the 2002 season. The 2001 season ended with a 32-29 record, a 15 win improvement over the 2000 slate-the fifth best turnaround in the nation for division one colleges. The Cardinals return 17 players from a team that set records for fielding percentage(.972), double plays(63), fewest errors(63), and ties the mark for shutouts(6).
The pitching staff from the 2001 squad that set a new conference record with 14 complete games only loses one member that saw significant innings. Denny Williams was 7-7 with a 4.45 ERA, two shutouts and five complete games in a team-leading 16 starts.
Returning to anchor the staff will be junior Mike Tisdale who tied Williams seven wins, against six losses. Tisdale was twice named C-USA pitcher of the week, twirling four complete games, two of which were shutouts. He struck out 73 in his 94.2 innings of work walking only 15 batters.
Junior Mike Eilers was 6-3 with a 5.52 ERA in 62 innings of work last season, and pitched for the second consecutive summer for the Danbury Westerners of the NECBL. Eilers combined on a shutout and threw one complete game in his 11 starts.
Senior Josh Ring was named the closer on the Conference USA All-Conference team after last season. He had 10 saves, tying him for 13th in the country and first in single season efforts at Louisville. His season was highlighted on May 12th when he retired 15th ranked Tulane's one through six batters in order in the eighth and ninth to secure a 7-5 win and snap a national high 15 game winning streak for the Green Wave.
Ring also started six games, going the distance in four of those, combining on two shutouts. Ring was 4-6 with a 4.63 ERA, appearing in 28 games-also tying a single season school record. He worked 89.1 innings, allowing 24 walks while fanning a team-high 74. Opponents hit .265 against Ring. The added depth in the recruiting class should allow Ring to focus on his closer role.
Junior Carlos Fernandez showed flashes of brilliance, including his 7.2 innings of scoreless relief against Charlotte on April 14th, allowing just four hits while striking out five and walking none. As a staff, the Cards issued just 183 free passes in 516 innings while striking out 355. Fernandez was 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA in 14 appearances that spanned 46.2 innings. Fernandez was the top pitcher in the Clark Griffith Collegiate League over the summer.
Sophomore Chase Cruse started seven games and appeared in 16 for the red and black, combining on a shutout and notching two saves. Cruse worked 49.2 innings, including a five inning start at Evansville on March 8th that saw him strike out 11 batters.
Senior Garrett Estabrook returns after sitting out a portion of last season after taking a comebacker off the kneecap early in the season to add a lefty arm to the staff. Estabrook made eight appearances, starting four games and posting a 1-2 mark.
The Cardinal nine will see a healthy number of newcomers in the rotation and bullpen in the 2002 season. Zach Jackson, Scott Barber, Willie McKenzie, Clif Novak and Grant Williams all join the team. Jackson, a highly touted freshman who was drafted by the White Sox, will most likely figure into the starting rotation, adding another southpaw to the staff. Jackson posted a 27-4 high school record while earning numerous all-state honors in Pennsylvania.
Barber, a junior righty from Kishwaukee College in Illinois was drafted by the Yankees in the 2000 draft and will also find time in the rotation. Barber was 10-7 with 217 strikeouts in his final two years of high school, and fanned 56 more last season in JUCO.
McKenzie and Novak are both junior college transfers who will add depth to the staff. McKenzie stands at 6'7" and pitched at nationally ranked Walters State in Tennessee, posting a 8-5 mark with 108 K's. He has twice been drafted by the Indians. Novak is a lefty who twirled for South Suburban Community College in Illinois where he was 10-7 with 140 strikeouts in two seasons. Was 11-2 with a 1.54 ERA and 128 strikeouts as a senior in high school.
Williams is a senior transfer who threw middle relief at Kansas University. He earned all-state honors at Fort Collins High School in Colorado.
Offensively, the Cards will look to the left side of the infield. Senior third baseman Mike Budak and junior shortstop Adam Haley lead the team in 16 offensive categories last season.
Budak was tied for the lead with seven home runs, and lead the squad in RBI(58), doubles(21-tying the fourth best single season in Cardinal history), starts(60), hits(70) and total bases(114). He played in the NECBL over the summer as Eilers' teammate with Danbury where he hit .264 with a team high 12 doubles. Redshirt freshman Ryan McKinnon will get some innings at third, backing up Budak.
Haley was the top hitter on the team, swinging the bat from the left side at a .347 clip, was tops in runs(45), HBP(14-a Cardinal record), sacrifices(8) and lead the conference in assists with 193. Haley hit .289 with 19 runs, 13 RBI and nine steals in 36 games for the Torrington Twisters in the NECBL and was named to the all-league team that met the Cape Cod all-stars in a midseason classic this past summer.
Continuing around the horn, with the graduation of Matt Jarboe, senior Scott Gerlach, sophomore J.T. LaFountain and freshman Danny Plasencia will all see time at the middle infield spots. Gerlach hit .366 with four home runs, 22 steals, 32 RBI and a league high 12 doubles in the Arizona Summer Collegiate League while playing for the Tempe Diablos. LaFountain hit .265 last season while playing all four infield spots. Plasencia was part of the 2000 Florida state champion Jesuit HS squad.
First base will see junior Morgan Bojorquez sharing time with sophomores Carlos De la Osa and Brennan Hall and freshman Curt Stewart. Bojorquez hit .282 with four home runs and 32 RBI last season. He also played in the outfield, where he my again fit into the lineup. De la Osa had four home runs and 20 RBI in 98 AB's last season.
Hall saw limited playing time last season, while Stewart hit over .450 with 14 home runs in high school.
Mike Hook's departure as a graduate opens the door in center to junior Dave Williams Jr., who has seen considerable playing time in left the past two seasons. He was named to the freshman all-conference team in 2000, and was 7-for-9 on the basepaths while making just a single error in the field. Junior Dan Cunningham will most likely spell Williams in center.
Sophomore Mark Jurich was in the line-up in right or at DH most of the season, and his lefty bat tied him for the team lead in home runs with seven. Jurich was a member of the H & B honorable mention freshman All-America list, and was a member of the All-Conference freshman team. Last season he hit .274 overall and .327 in C-USA games, getting stronger as the season wore on. Twenty-one of his 40 hits were for extra bases. He played with Fernandez in the Clark Griffith League. His swing is tailor made for the short right field porch at Cardinal Stadium.
Junior Josh Bolen was tabbed by the Boston Red Sox in the previous draft, but elected to toil with the Cardinals this season. He hit .399 with 21 home runs and 95 RBI in his two seasons at Illinois Central CC, all school records, including 15 bombs last season alone. He has a plus arm in the outfield and has the speed to cover the spacious gap in left center. Redshirt Will Shelton expects to fill in as a reserve in the outfield.
Behind the dish for the Cards senior Fernando Isa returns following a season that saw him hit .310 with 12 doubles and 26 RBI. The pitching staff had just 35 wild pitches during the season with Isa catching, and he threw out 10 of 26 runners in conference play. Isa caught for the Great Lakes League champion Northern Ohio ball club over the summer in a wood bat league.
Junior transfer Ken Tirpack brings big time experience, having spent the past two seasons with Stanford. A highly decorated prep player in Ohio, Tirpack is a switch hitter who will likely see innings at DH as well as catcher. De la Osa will also don the "tools of ignorance" when needed.
Head coach Lelo Prado always has his sights set on getting the Cards into postseason play for the first time in school history, and hopes that what may be his deepest squad here in Louisville might end the drought.
