University of Louisville
Xavier
Cards Dominate Duel With Musketeers
April 18, 2001 | Baseball
April 18, 2001
A solid outing by starter Denny Williams, and station-to-station offense lead the Louisville baseball team to a 9-1 win over Xavier Wednesday in Cincinnati. The Cardinal offense compiled ten singles, hitting double figures for the fifth time in six games. Williams(5-6) tossed 7.0 innings of shutout ball, giving up four hits and two walks in the winning effort.
Louisville(23-20, 7-8) put three runs on the board in the third to take a 3-0 lead over Xavier. Following base hits by catcher Fernando Isa and second baseman Matt Jarboe, and a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Adam Haley, centerfielder Mike Hook laced an RBI single to right field to open the scoring. Third baseman J.T. LaFountain walked on four pitches to load the bases, and first baseman Mike Budak hit a sacrifice fly to center, plating Jarboe, and rightfielder Morgan Bojorquez singled to right, scoring the Cards third run of the inning.
In the seventh, the Cards plated its other six runs on five hits and two walks. Isa singled to lead off, and Jarboe and Haley followed with walks before consecutive RBI singles by Hook, LaFountain and Budak. Bojorquez grounded out to plate a run, and DH Mark Jurich singled home Budak to cap the inning with a 9-0 U of L lead.
The Musketeers(15-24) scored on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth for the final margin of 9-1.
Xavier starting pitcher Jared Cutter(1-1) was touched for five runs on four hits and four walks to go with two strikeouts in the loss. Jarret Sues threw the final three frames, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk with a strikeout.
Carlos Fernandez pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts. Chris Keaton walked two and gave up a hit in the ninth, and was replaced by Mike Eilers who gave up a walk before getting a fly out and a 6-4-3 double play to finish the game. Hook was 3 for 5 with two RBI and two runs. Budak and Bojorquez also drove in two runs, while Isa and Jarboe each scored twice.
The Cardinal middle-infield combination of Jarboe and Haley combined for 11 assists and five putouts, anchoring the fifth-best fielding team in college baseball with a .975 fielding percentage. The game ends a stretch of eight consecutive road games in which the Cards won three of its last four.
Louisville will host South Florida(20-21, 9-6) in a three-game conference series over the weekend with games Friday at 6:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
