University of Louisville
Seton Hall
Louisville Baseball Drops Series Finale at Seton Hall
March 29, 2009 | Baseball
March 28, 2009
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - After a 17-inning marathon win in Saturday's double-header opener, the Louisville baseball team dropped a tough 6-0 decision in the nightcap to host Seton Hall as Pirates' starter Joe DiRocco went the distance for a six-hit, complete game shutout at Owen T. Carroll Field.
DiRocco, a sophomore from East Hanover, N.J., allowed only two Cardinal baserunners to reach second base and improved to 3-1 on the season with Saturday night's win. The shutout is the first for Louisville since a 9-0 loss to Kent State on March 16, 2008 and just the third in head coach Dan McDonnell's three seasons with the Cardinals.
With the loss, the Cardinals (17-8, 3-3 BIG EAST) dropped the three-game series to the Pirates (13-8, 4-2) 2-1 and lost their second series overall this season. Louisville opened Saturday with an 8-6 win in 17 innings over the Pirates to even the series at 1-1.
The Pirates struck early in Saturday's second game scoring three runs on three hits and one Louisville error in the second inning. Designated hitter Chris Affinito led off the inning with a single up the middle off Louisville starter Dean Kiekhefer, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Charlie Rivera to make it 1-0 Seton Hall.
Right fielder Michael Rogers then reached base and advanced to second on a throwing error by shortstop John Dao. Third baseman Chris Fontenelli followed with an infield single and catcher Dave Phelan loaded the bases with a walk. Rogers then scored and Fontenelli moved to third on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Ed Brown to make it 2-0 Pirates. Left fielder Bobby Abreu made it 3-0 SHU on a single to left to score Fontenelli.
The score stayed that way until the fifth when the Pirates added another run as centerfielder Matt Smedberg connected on a one-out triple to right center and then scored on an RBI double to right field by Affinito for a 4-0 lead.
Seton Hall added two more runs in the sixth as Abreu picked up an RBI single through the right side to score Phelan and Brown scored moments later on a squeeze bunt by shortstop A.J. Rusbarsky for the final margin.
Kiekhefer dropped to 2-2 on the season with the loss after giving up three earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Sophomore Phil Wunderlich led the way on a tough night for the Louisville bats as the Chicago native had two of the Cards' six hits in his four at-bats.
Up next, the Cards will stay on the road for a game at Purdue on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, in West Lafayette, Ind., before returning home for a Wednesday game against Ball State at 6 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville Note
- Despite losing two of three to the Pirates over the weekend, the Cards' 17-8 record matches the best 25-game start for Dan McDonnell-coached team at Louisville, joining the 2007 College World Series team with that record.
