University of Louisville
Western Ky
Cardinal Nine Tops Western
April 24, 2001 | Baseball
April 24, 2001
Freshman third baseman J.T. LaFountain was 3 for 4 with two RBI, including his first career home run to lead U of L to a 4-2 win over Western Kentucky in Bowling Green Tuesday.
Senior Denny Williams (6-6) tossed six strong innings, giving up just one run on six hits, while striking out three to get the win.
LaFountain jacked a 1-2 pitch with one out in the first inning to give the Cards a 1-0 lead.
The lead was short lived, as the Toppers tied things up in the bottom of the frame on an RBI groundout by first baseman D.J. Johnson.
Shortstop Adam Haley lead off the sixth by reaching on an error by his opposite number. Mike Hook singled down the left field line, and LaFountain singled through the right side to score Haley and put Hook at third with no outs. First Baseman Mike Budak hit a sacrifice fly to right to plate Hook, and give the Cards a 3-1 lead.
In the seventh, DH Mark Jurich blasted a 1-1 pitch to right for his team-leading seventh home run of the season extending the Cards lead to 4-1.
Western loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but only managed to push across a single run on an RBI single by shortstop Luis Rodriguez for the final run of the game.
The Toppers again loaded the bases on Cardinal reliever Josh Ring in the eighth, but he induced pinch hitter Nick Turner into a weak ground ball to LaFountain at third to end the threat.
Ring tossed the final three frames, surrendering a single run on six hits and a walk in picking up his seventh save of the season. The seven saves is second only to the 10 by Todd Raithel in '98 for a single season, and ties him for the fourth-highest total over a career. Ring collected five strikeouts.
Brian Houdek(4-3) started for WKU, and took the loss, giving up three earned runs on six hits and a walk in seven innings of work. Nine Cards were victim to strikeouts by Houdek.
Jurich joined LaFountain, who was a triple away from the cycle, as the only multi-hit performances for U of L, adding a single to go with his bomb. It is the sixth straight win over Western for Louisville.
Louisville will host conference leading Houston for a three-game weekend series, beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium.
