University of Louisville
at South Florida *
Cardinal Nine Bettered by Bulls
March 30, 2002 | Baseball
March 29, 2002
TAMPA, FL - Louisville lost a slugfest to South Florida 9-7 on Friday in Tampa, Florida, taking its first loss in Conference USA play in the first game of a three game weekend set.
The Cards jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Mark Jurich and Morgan Bojorquez.
The Bulls responded with a tally in the bottom of the inning on an RBI ground out. A single mark in the second evened the ledger at 2-2.
Cardinal third baseman Mike Budak cranked a 2-1 pitch to straight away center field for his second home run of the season and a 3-2 U of L lead in the top of the third.
The lead was short-lived as a walk and two singles loaded the bases in the third for the Bulls Kris Courier, who drove the first pitch he saw deep over the fence in right center to give USF a 6-3 advantage.
The Cards scratched back with a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Josh Bolen and a sacrifice fly to center by Bolen in the seventh closed the gap to 6-5.
But the Bulls put the Cards away in the bottom of the inning with their final three runs on an RBI single by Courier and a two run double by DH Chris Cuccia to make it 9-5.
Louisville put together a mini rally in the eighth with consecutive singles by Dave Williams Jr., Adam Haley and J.T. LaFountain. An RBI single by Jurich narrowed the gap to 9-6, and the final margin was decided after an RBI knock by Bojorquez but the rally ended there.
The Cardinals outhit the Bulls 20-15. The 20 hits was the most since April 13 of last season when they collected 21 at Charlotte.
Jurich lead the attack with four hits, while LaFountain, Budak and DH Ken Tirpack each had three hits. Bojorquez and catcher Fernando Isa had two hits apiece.
Starter Mike Tisdale (3-1) took the loss after allowing six runs on nine hits and walk, while striking out two. Garrett Estabrook tossed 2.2 frames of scoreless relief giving up two hits and two walks. Mike Eilers surrendered three runs on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Grant Williams closed things out by striking out three in two innings, allowing a hit and a walk. He has now tossed 18 consecutive scoreless innings and has not allowed an extra base hit, while striking out 21 batters this season.
USF starter John Gorham(4-3) gave up seven runs on 15 hits in seven innings of work to get the win. Joey Livingston got his first save of the season, giving up two hits in 1.1 innings.
The loss ends a five game winning streak for the Cardinals.
The same two teams will face each other for game two of the series Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and wrap up the set on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
