University of Louisville
WESTERN KENTUCKY
Cards Rally Twice to Win 8-7 Thriller
April 30, 2008 | Baseball
April 30, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville had to fight back from two different deficits to capture a dramatic 8-7 win over Western Kentucky Wednesday night, the fourth straight win for the Cardinals, completing a nine-game homestand with a 7-2 record.
The Hilltoppers (24-20) took a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI groundout by Chad Cregar and a run-scoring single off the bat of Jeremy Coleman.
A solo home run by right fielder Rye Davis opened the top of the second for Western, making it 3-0.
Cregar then singled leading off the third, and Wade Gaynor tripled to right center for a 4-0 advantage. J.B. Paxson's double down the line upped the lead to 5-0 WKU.
Louisville got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Drew Haynes was hit by a pitch with one out and John Dao tripled him home.
Chris Dominguez tripled off the wall in center to open the Cardinals (28-17) fourth and scored on an RBI single by Andrew Clark. A single by Jeff Arnold put runners at the corners with nobody out and extended Arnold's career-best hit streak to 15 games, the longest by a Cardinal this season.
On a double steal, Arnold broke for second, and as the throw was sent to the bag by Paxson, Clark broke for the plate. The throw was wide of the bag and sailed into center field, allowing Arnold to move to third, where he scored on an RBI double by Josh Richmond, cutting the Western lead to a single run, 5-4.
Clark walked to open the Louisville sixth and tied the game at five on Richmond's second RBI double of the contest.
Louisville loaded the bases in the seventh, but could not push a run across. With two out in the top of the eighth, WKU regained the lead after a 3-2 pitch just missed for ball four to Terrance Dayleg, and Cregar followed with his 18th home run of the season, putting the Toppers back on top 7-5.
With one down in the bottom of the eighth Richmond singled, and Haynes drew a walk.
Dao singled a run home for his fourth hit of the game, cutting the lead to one, and Justin McClanahan was hit by a pitch for the second time on the game, loading the bases for Dominguez.
The sophomore third baseman worked the count to 2-2 before rifling a pitch to the second baseman Drew Morgan, who could not come up with it, plating the tying run on Haynes, and what turned out to be the winning run in Dao.
B.J. Rosenberg entered to pitch the ninth, and allowed a single, but collected three strikeouts, earning his fourth save of the season.
Jon Clarence, the fifth Cardinal pitcher of the day improved to 1-0 with his first collegiate win, allowing a run on a hit in a third of an inning.
Fellow freshman Bob Revesz started for the Cards, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out one in two-plus innings. He was followed by Gabriel Shaw, who was touched for a run on five hits and a walk in two innings, striking out two.
Gavin Logsdon worked two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and fanning three. Thomas Royse gave up a run on a hit and a walk in an inning an two-thirds, but struck out all five he retired.
WKU tried to find the right match-ups out of the bullpen after starter Matt Hightower exited the game, using five arms - none of which went more than two-thirds of an inning. Bryce Jenney fell to 0-2 while taking the loss. He gave up three runs, one of which was earned, on two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
Dao collected his second career four-hit game, while Richmond had three base knocks, each driving in two.
Louisville has won 12 of 15, and will travel to Washington, D.C. where they will play Georgetown in a three-game series over the weekend beginning Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Audio broadcasts will be available on-line through UofL All Access at UofLsports.com.
