University of Louisville
XAVIER
Cards Blank Xavier 6-0 Friday
March 16, 2007 | Baseball
March 16, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Zack Pitts carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with eight shutout innings to guide the University of Louisville baseball team to a 6-0 win over Xavier Friday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium.
"Pitts was just outstanding today, and overall we played the cleanest game we have played all season," observed U of L Head Coach Dan McDonnell.
"We had a lot of quality at bats offensively and put a lot of good swings on the ball."
Pitts retired the side in order in the first, third and fourth innings, and allowed just two walks and a hit batter through six.
Chris Dominguez doubled to left and Isaiah Howes followed with his fourth home run of the season, a rocket to right center that gave the Cards a 2-0 lead in the second.
In the fourth, Dominguez was hit by a pitch, and after a fielder's choice off the bat of Howes, Pete Rodriguez tripled to center for a 3-0 advantage. Derrick Alfonso's single up the middle then made it 4-0.
The Musketeers (3-15) finally broke through with one out in the seventh on a clean single to right by Adam Pasono. An out later Andy Zellers singled to put runners at first and second, but Neil Lindgren hit a line drive to right that was snared on a beautiful diving catch by Rodriguez to end the inning and the only threat of the game.
Pitts allowed just four singles and walked two while striking out six and improving his record to 4-1 on the season.
In the Cardinal eighth Howes singled, and scored on a double into the left field corner by Rodriguez who advanced to third on the throw to the plate. Chris Cates then squeezed home Rodriguez for the 6-0 final.
James Belanger set the side down in order in the ninth to seal the win.
Cates extended his U of L career record with his 41st career sac bunt, but saw his season-long hit streak of 11 games come to an end.
Howes and Rodriguez each had three hits, scoring five and driving in four of the six Cardinal runs. Logan Johnson added two hits for the Cardinals who notched their 10th double-digit hit total on the season with 11.
The weekend series continues Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when Cardinal freshman Justin Marks (0-1, 4.19 ERA) takes the hill and faces Xavier's Bill Konecny (0-2, 2.70 ERA). Admission is free.
