University of Louisville
at East Carolina *
Cards Drop Heartbreaker to Pirates, 7-5
May 17, 2002 | Baseball
May 17, 2002
GREENVILLE, N.C. - A seven-run seventh erased a 5-0 Louisville lead, lifting East Carolina to a 7-5 win over the Cards Friday in baseball action. The loss snaps a nine game winning streak, and ends Louisville's Conference USA title hopes.
Louisville(38-14, 20-9) opened the scoring with an unearned run without the benefit of a hit in the first. Center fielder Dave Williams Jr. walked on four pitches to lead of the game and advanced to second when second baseman J.T. LaFountain's ground ball went through the legs of Pirate third baseman Bryant Ward.
Right fielder Mark Jurich then hit a slow hopper to second, and after the force was recorded at second, ECU(37-17-1, 16-12-1) shortstop Luke Cherry launched a late throw to first that went into the dugout, scoring Williams Jr. for the 1-0 advantage.
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, C-USA Freshman of the Year candidate Darryl Lawhorn drilled a 1-2 pitch to deep center field that Williams Jr. tracked to the wall and pulled back into the field of play.
In the bottom of the fifth, another defensive play by Louisville kept the Pirates off the board. With runners at the corners and one out, Cherry knocked a pitch to left field that was caught just short of the warning track by Josh Bolen. With the runner at third tagging, Bolen unleashed a laser one-hopper to the plate nailing Clayton McCullough at home with his eighth assist of the year.
In the sixth, Williams Jr. lead off with his first career home run, ripping a 2-2 pitch deep to left for a 2-0 Cardinal lead. It was the Cardinals first hit off of starter Will Brinson.
LaFountain followed with a single on the first pitch he saw, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games and Jurich followed with his 16th home run of the season to right center field, putting the Cards up 4-0.
Adam Haley scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh on a throwing error for a 5-0 Louisville lead.
The Pirates loaded the bases with no outs to begin the seventh, before Cardinal starter Josh Ring struck out two. With two down, pinch hitter Ryan Jones singled home two runs, and Warren Gaspar drove in a run with a single, chasing Ring and cutting the lead to 5-3.
Carlos Fernandez replaced Ring and gave up a 1-0 RBI single up the middle trimming the lead to one. That lead to Lawhorn, who worked the count to full before matching Jurich with his 16th home run of the year and the 7-5 margin.
Fernandez (3-3) was on the wrong end of the decision, giving up two runs on two hits in a third of an inning. Ring gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks in 6.2 frames, fanning seven.
Grant Williams struck out one and allowed a hit in the eighth.
East Carolina reliever Neal Sears(7-3) picked up the win, allowing an unearned run on four hits, striking out two in three innings of work. Greg Bunn got the final out of the game with two on in the ninth for his sixth save of the year.
Williams Jr. and LaFountain each had a pair of hits to lead the Cardinal attack.
The Cards and the Pirates will play the rubber game of the series, Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and round out the regular season before the C-USA tournament in Kinston, N.C., May 21-26.
