University of Louisville
(2) Rutgers
Cards Lose to Rutgers 12-10 Friday
May 25, 2007 | Baseball
May 25, 2007
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A six-run seventh inning that included four unearned runs lifted Rutgers to an 11-7 lead, and the Knights held off a University of Louisville rally to defeat the Cards 12-10 in the 2007 BIG EAST Championship semifinals. Now the Cardinals and Knights will meet in a game scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Cardinal starter Colby Wark struggled with his control early as four walks sandwiched an RBI single in the first that put the Knights (39-19) up 2-0.
Boomer Whiting drilled the first pitch of the bottom of the first off the base of the wall in left, and Logan Johnson doubled down the right field line to put the Cards on the board. Two outs later Jorge Castillo smacked his fifth home run of the season to left center for a 3-2 U of L (40-19) lead.
Isaiah Howes belted a solo home run to left with two down in the third, extending the advantage to 4-2 Cards.
BIG EAST Player of the Year Todd Frazier hit his 21st home run of the season to open the fifth and after a pair of singles, a wild pitch and a passed ball brought home two more runs to put the Knights back on top 5-4.
The seesaw battle continued in the bottom of the fifth, when Johnson drew a one out walk, and an out later it was Howes again, drilling his team-leading 14th home run of the season, putting the Cards up 6-5.
Wark exited the game after five innings in which he surrendered five runs - four of which were earned on five hits and five walks, also striking out five.
Chris Dominguez opened the sixth with a single to left, stole second and moved to third on a sac bunt by Pete Rodriguez. Derrick Alfonso laid down a squeeze bunt for a 7-5 Cardinal advantage.
The fateful seventh began with a walk to Frazier and a single by Mike Bionde. Ryan Hill laid down a sac bunt and relief pitcher Skylar Meade pounced off the mound and threw wildly to third, allowing a run to score. Dave Williams drove in a run with a base hit and two outs and a hit batter later, Frank Meade belted his eighth home run of the season to put the Knights up 11-7.
Frazier laid down a bunt single leading off the eighth, moved to second on a sac bunt by Bionde and scored from second on a rare two-base sacrifice fly to center by Hill to make it 12-7.
Louisville put together a rally in the eighth. Rodriguez singles up the middle with one down and an out later Chris Cates doubled him home. Whiting then followed with a double of his own and the lead was trimmed to 12-9. Johnson was hit by a pitch for the 68th time in his career, tying him for fifth in the NCAA record books and Daniel Burton walked to load the bases. A balk plated Whiting, putting the tying run at second, but Howes struck out to end the inning.
Meade took the loss, dropping his record to 8-3 after allowing three runs - two earned on a hit and a walk in an inning plus. Kyle Hollander gave up two unearned runs on a hit in a third of an inning, while Gavin Logsdon worked the final 2.2 frames, giving up an earned run on three hits, while striking out two.
Rutgers starter Jon McCue was touched for seven runs on seven hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. He struck out four. Jason Downey (5-1) came in out of the pen and picked up the win despite allowing three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out one in 2.1 innings.
Matt Patterson hit a man and walked one without recording an out, while Kevin Lillis worked the final 1.1 innings, striking out two to earn his second save of the season.
