University of Louisville
<B>XAVIER</B>
Cardinal Nine Planked by Musketeers 8-3
April 21, 2004 | Baseball
April 21, 2004
LOUISVILLE, KY - The Xavier Musketeers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, and never looked back, topping the University of Louisville 8-3 in baseball action Wednesday night.
Xavier pushed across a pair of runs in the first off of starter Trystan Magnuson for a 2-0 lead.
A solo home run by Matt Lucas opened the second, and a two-run single by Brett Smith upped the margin to 5-0.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of Mark Jurich in the Cardinal(20-17) third cut the lead to 5-1, and Ron Braun cranked a pitch over the fence in straightaway center with one out in the sixth, making it 5-2 Xavier(11-25).
A double steal, a balk and a wild pitch lead to two more Musketeer runs in the seventh, and Lucas's second home run of the game opened the eighth, extending the lead to 8-2.
Jurich matched Lucas with a leadoff shot of his own in the eighth, his ninth on the season, slicing the deficit to 8-3.
Magnuson(0-1) worked 1.1 frames, taking the loss, allowing five runs, four of which were earned on five hits and a walk. He struck out one.
Griffin Bailey twirled the final 7.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out a career-high eight, matching U of L's top total this season, and surpassed his longest career outing of four innings.
On a staff day for Xavier, Bill Konecny (3-8) earned the win, tossing two innings of shutout ball.
Louisville will travel to Greenville, North Carolina to face #9 East Carolina for three games over the weekend beginning Friday at 7:00 p.m.
