University of Louisville
Seton Hall
Louisville Baseball Drops Series Opener at Seton Hall
March 27, 2009 | Baseball
March 27, 2009
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Seton Hall junior righty Sean Black went the distance allowing only three runs on six hits in his first complete game of the season as 28th-ranked University of Louisville baseball team dropped its BIG EAST series opener 5-3 to the host Pirates on Friday night at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Black, from Mt. Laurel, N.J., earned his second career complete game with eight strikeouts while not allowing a run until the seventh inning to improve to 3-2 on the season and lead the Pirates to their first ever win over Louisville in eight total meetings. Louisville starter Justin Marks took the loss after giving up five runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings, while freshman reliever Derek Self gave the Cards 2.0 innings of scoreless and hitless relief with two strikeouts.
For the first time in seven games, the Cardinals (16-7, 2-2 BIG EAST) did not score first as Seton Hall got an RBI single from centerfielder Matt Smedberg to score leftfielder Bobby Abreu for a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Abreu led off the inning with a walk from Marks.
After both pitchers dominated for three innings, the Pirates (12-7, 3-1 BIG EAST) added to their lead in the fifth as Abreu singled to center field to score right fielder Michael Rogers from third for a 2-0 advantage. Rogers led off the fifth inning with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a groundout by third baseman Chris Fontenelli.
The Pirates then pushed their advantage out to 5-0 in the sixth as catcher Frank Esposito connected on a bases-clearing three-run triple to left center. The hit scored Smedberg, who led off the inning with a walk, designated hitter Chris Affinito, who reached on an infield single and first baseman Chris Spagnuolo, who reached on a bunt single down the third base line.
Louisville's offense finally broke through in the seventh inning with two runs. Junior first baseman Andrew Clark led off with a walk and advanced to third on a double to right center by junior third baseman Chris Dominguez. Clark scored the first run on an RBI groundout to second by sophomore Phil Wunderlich, while Dominguez, after advancing on the groundout, scored from third on a sacrifice fly by freshman Ryan Wright to make it 5-2 Pirates after seven innings.
The Cardinals pulled to within 5-3 in the eighth inning as sophomore outfielder Josh Richmond tripled to right center and scored on an RBI single by junior second baseman Adam Duvall. In the ninth, Jeff Arnold reached on a two-out walk from Black to bring the tying run to the plate, but senior shortstop John Dao grounded out to third to end the Cards chances.
Richmond finished the game 2-for-3 from the plate with a run scored, while no other Cardinal had more than one hit. Due to inclement weather forecasted for Sunday, the Cards and Pirates will play a double-header on Saturday to complete the series. The first nine-inning game of the day is set for noon ET while game two will begin approximately 30 minutes following the completion of game one.
Live audio of the series will not be available through CardsTV due to press box limitations at Seton Hall, however fans can follow the live stats for each game through the Gametracker feature at UofLSports.com.
