University of Louisville
<i>@Charlotte *</i>
Cardinal Nine Pulls Out Win Over Charlotte
May 06, 2005 | Baseball
May 6, 2005
CHARLOTTE, NC - The University of Louisville baseball team pushed across the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and Brian Halford shut the door in the bottom of the inning to pick up his sixth save of the season, as the Cardinals edged Charlotte 9-8 in the series opener Friday night.
Louisville (25-18, 11-10) took an early lead with a run in the first, when Isaiah Howes' bloop single to center plated Boomer Whiting, who had reached on a bunt single, his 19th on the season.
Greg Taylor lead off the second with a solo home run to left to make it 2-0 Cards. Later in the inning, Chris Cates, Nick Haley and J.T. LaFountain all singled to load the bases and Howes cleared them with a triple to left center to make it 5-0 Cards.
RBI singles by Charlotte's Garret Hanselman and Alex Bryant and a wild pitch with a runner at third in the second inning cut the lead to 5-3 Cards.
Ryan McKinnon reached on a two-base error to lead off the third, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly by Taylor for a 6-3 U of L advantage, but the 49ers (25-20, 8-14 C-USA) took a 7-6 lead with a four-run bottom of the inning.
Spencer Steedley's RBI single scored O'Brien Taylor, and a three-run home run by Hanselman capped the inning, putting Charlotte on top.
Haley walked with one out in the fifth, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by LaFountain to tie the game at seven.
In the seventh Haley lead off with a single and moved to second on a groundout by LaFountain. Jorge Castillo hit a slow roller to the right side, and when Charlotte pitcher B.J. Hagen could not handle the throw covering the bag at first, Haley scored, putting the Cards up 8-7.
The 49ers tied up the game in the eighth on an RBI single by Mike Ambrose.
In the Cardinal ninth, LaFountain drew a leadoff walk and Castillo pushed him to third with a single. Erik Walker, the top closer in C-USA with 10 saves, threw the first pitch to Howes to the backstop, scoring LaFountain for what turned out to be the game winner.
Halford gave up a hit and struck out one in the ninth, and was aided by a diving stab of a line drive by Curt Stewart. He is now alone in fourth place at U of L in career saves with 13.
Griffin Bailey (4-1) earned the win for the Cards with two innings of work, allowing a run on three hits while fanning one.
Starter B.J. Rosenberg was drilled on the wrist by a line drive in the second, and only lasted 2.1 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits and a walk. He struck out two.
Trystan Magnuson tossed 3.2 scoreless innings allowing a hit and a walk, striking out four.
Charlotte reliever Keith Moreland (4-2) took the loss, allowing a run on a hit and a walk in a third of an inning.
Louisville managed to hang on, despite going 1 for 7 with the bases loaded and stranding a season-high 18 on base.
LaFountain had three hits on the evening, while Whiting, Haley, Howes and Cates each had two hits. Howes drove in four, and Haley scored three runs.
The teams will meet for game two of the series on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
