University of Louisville
TCU *
TCU Rallies in Ninth to Drop Cards 12-10
April 26, 2002 | Baseball
April 26, 2002
LOUISVILLE, KY - TCU rallied form a run down to tally six runs in the ninth to secure a 12-10 win over the 29th ranked Louisville Cardinal baseball team Friday at Cardinal Stadium.
Louisville (26-11, 13-6) rallied for three in the bottom of the ninth and had the winning run at first, but fell short, snapping a seven-game winning streak and knocking the Cards out of first place in Conference USA.
The Horned Frogs (21-22, 12-7) struck first with three in the opening stanza on an RBI single by Terry Trofholz, an RBI triple by Walter Olmstead and a sac fly off the bat of Shaff Elkouri.
Louisville took a 5-3 lead with five in their half of the opening frame. Dave Williams Jr. walked and J.T. LaFountain singled ahead of Mark Jurich's 11th home run of the season.
Mike Budak later singled in a run and Scott Gerlach smacked an RBI double for the lead chasing TCU starter Kyle Shoemaker.
The lead was short-lived, as three in the second put TCU back on top 6-5. Levi Robinson singled home a run, Chris Meeks plated a run on a sac fly and an error plated the final run of the inning.
In the fourth Jurich grounded into a double play with the bases-loaded to tie the game and Morgan Bojorquez followed with an RBI single for a 7-6 lead.
Cardinal starter Scott Barber struggled early, but settled down, facing just one over the minimum and not allowing a hit the third through the seventh innings.
Barber allowed five earned runs on four hits and four walks in seven innings of work, striking out five.
In the ninth, leading 7-6, reliever Carlos Fernandez gave up a walk and a single with one out and exited. Grant Williams entered and walked Robinson to load the bases. Meeks popped up on a 3-2 pitch for the second out of the inning.
Trofholz then, leading C-USA in hitting with a .447 average ripped a hard liner off the glove of Budak into left field, putting the Frogs up 8-7.
Olmstead and Jared Lundeen each singled home a run before a two-run single by Greg Bratton closed the inning with a 12-7 advantage for TCU.
The Cardinals looked to rally in the ninth, and with one out, Williams Jr. singled and LaFountain and Jurich walked to load the bases. Bojorquez struck out before Josh Bolen reached on a error, cutting the lead to 12-8.
Designated hitter Carlos De la Osa was hit by a pitch to plate another run and Budak drew a bases-loaded walk for the 12-10 ledger.
With the bases loaded, catcher Fernando Isa ripped a hard liner to center that was caught by Trofholz to end the game.
Fernandez (3-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk, while fanning one in 1.1 innings. Williams was touched for four runs on four hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
TCU reliever Chris Osentowski (1-2) was solid, surrendering just two earned runs on six hits and two walks in 7.2 innings of work. He struck out four while getting the win.
Ryan Grafe walked one in a third of an inning to pick up career save number one.
The same two teams will meet Saturday at Cardinal Stadium for game two of the series at 1:00 p.m. ET.
