University of Louisville
at TCU *
Cardinal Nine Slams Horned Frogs 10-6
May 15, 2003 | Baseball
May 15, 2003
FORT WORTH, TX - Mark Jurich was 3 for 5 with five RBI, including a fifth inning grand slam, to help the University of Louisville Cardinals to a 10-6 win over #29 TCU in the series opener on Thursday. It was the fourth straight win for the Cards.
A two-run single by TCU's Jared Lundeen in the first, gave the Horned Frogs(33-20, 20-8) a 2-0 lead.
Cardinal third baseman Ryan McKinnon opened the U of L half of the third by drilling Clayton Jerome's first pitch high and deep to left field, his fifth home run of the season, and the fourth consecutive game he has hit a home run, cutting the lead to 2-1.
In the bottom of the third, Chris Meeks lead off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Terry Trofholz and moved to third on a passed ball. Jake Duncan struck out, but a wild pitch on the third strike got away from catcher Ron Braun, and when he threw to first to retire the batter, his throw was errant, allowing Meeks to score and increase the lead to 3-1.
With two out in the top of the fifth, Nick Haley walked, Boomer Whiting reached on an error and J.T. LaFountain walked to load the bases. Jurich stepped to the plate and worked the count to 3-1 before blasting his fifth home run of the season, and second career grand slam over the fence in right to give the Cards a 5-3 lead.
The Frogs loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, plated a run on a double play, and another on an RBI double to tie the game at five.
Louisville (32-19, 14-13) regained the lead when an RBI single by Haley plated Braun in the sixth.
They then extended the margin with another four-run inning in the seventh. Reliever Chris Osentowski entered to open the frame for the Frogs and was tagged for four consecutive hits.
Whiting doubled to left, LaFountain singled, and Jurich singled home a run. Josh Bolen singled in LaFountain, chasing Osentowski, and Braun blistered a double to the gap in right center off of Ryan Grafe to score Jurich and make it 9-5. An RBI groundout by Morgan Bojorquez closed the scoring in the frame for a 10-5 Cardinal lead.
Meeks tripled to lead off the TCU seventh, and scored on a groundout by Duncan to close the scoring.
Zach Jackson, starting for a school record 18th time on the season, lasted 4.2 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, two walks and two strikeouts without figuring into the decision.
He was relieved by senior Mike Eilers (5-3), who picked up the win, tossing 3.2 frames, and allowing a run on two hits and three walks, fanning four.
Carlos Fernandez entered with two on and one out in the ninth and recorded the final two outs, one by way of strikeout, to establish a new school record for single season saves with his 11th.
Jerome (9-3) took the loss, allowing six runs, two of which were earned, on five hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out seven.
Grafe tossed three scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk, striking out one.
The grand slam by Jurich was the first of the season for U of L. Whiting also had three hits for the Cards, hitting his eighth and ninth doubles of the season. Whiting, LaFountain and Jurich each scored two runs.
The same two teams will hook up for game two of the series on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. CT at Lupton Stadium.
