University of Louisville
<B>ILLINOIS STATE</B>
Cardinal Nine Rally Falls Short
February 27, 2004 | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2004
LOUISVILLE, KY - A ninth-innings rally fell just short as the University of Louisville baseball team lost to Illinois State 6-5 on Friday in the first game of a three-game series.
The Cards(2-2) plated three runs and had runners at second and third with two out in the ninth, but could not tie the game up.
The Redbirds(1-0), opening their season, took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by DH Greg Blaesing.
They added three runs in the third on back-to-back RBI doubles and a pair of errors to take a 4-0 lead.
An RBI single by Matthew Bolt increased the advantage to 5-0 in the fifth.
ISU starter Kyle Bloom(1-0) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, before freshman Chris Cates singled up the middle. Boomer Whiting followed with a walk, and two outs later catcher Ron Braun singled the runs home to chase Bloom and put the Cards on the board, trailing 5-2.
Bloom's replacement, freshman Eric Theisen retired the first six he faced, four by way of strikeout.
Joe Peterson's sac fly in the top of the ninth plated what would turn out to be a crucial insurance run for the Redbirds.
The Cardinal half of the ninth started with a one out walk to Braun and Isaiah Howes getting hit by a Theisen pitch.
Reliever Kyle Zaleski entered and surrendered a double by McKinnon that scored Braun to make it 6-3.
Ken Tirpack followed with a two-run single to right, scoring two more and cutting the lead to 6-5.
Freshman Logan Johnson singled in his first collegiate at bat, putting runners at first and second with one out.
Cates was called out on strikes, and Whiting followed. A wild pitch moved up the runners, and Whiting worked the count to full, but came up empty on the payoff pitch to end the game.
Bloom earned the win, while Zaleski notched his first save.
Cardinal starter Mike Tisdale (0-2) took the loss, allowing five runs, three of which were earned on 10 hits in 6.1 innings of work. He struck out six.
Skylar Meade tossed 1.1 perfect innings, striking out two, and Scott Jenkins made his collegiate debut, giving up a run on a hit and a walk in an inning and a third.
Louisville was outhit 11-5 in the game.
The same two teams will meet on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium and wrap up the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
