University of Louisville
KENTUCKY
Baseball Cardinals Fall 8-7 to Kentucky
April 14, 2009 | Baseball
April 14, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After the Louisville baseball team battled back from an early three-run deficit to take a two-run lead into the eighth inning, they were unable to hold off a Kentucky rally in the eighth and dropped an 8-7 decision to the Wildcats on Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Wildcats capped their three-run eighth inning with an RBI double to left center by rightfielder Bryan Rose to score catcher Marcus Nidiffer to regain the lead for good at 7-6. Each team went on to score one run each in the ninth inning for the final score.
"It's very disappointing to lose a game like that because with a two-run lead and six outs to go, we normally win," said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. "You have to credit their offense and we finally had a bad night from our bullpen. We've been playing good baseball lately, but we just didn't play well tonight. We've got to bounce back from this one and get ready for a big conference weekend at Rutgers."
Junior third baseman Chris Dominguez led the way for the Cardinals (24-10) at the plate on Tuesday going 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored, while junior second baseman Adam Duvall was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Freshman Ryan Wright added a hit and three RBI for Louisville, which lost at home for just the third time in 23 games this season at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Kentucky (19-16) opened the scoring in the first inning as leadoff hitter Chad Wright reached base on a fielding error by shortstop John Dao, moved to third on a ground rule double to right center by Andy Burns and then scored on a Chris Bisson single through the right side off Louisville starter Keith Landers for a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats added two more runs in the second as shortstop Chris Wade scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Rose and centerfielder Keenan Wiley scored on a bunt single by Wright for a 3-0 advantage after two innings.
The Cardinals scored their first run of the game in the third inning as sophomore outfielder Josh Richmond doubled to center field and scored on an RBI double to right field by junior first baseman Andrew Clark to make it 3-1. However, UK made it 4-1 in the fourth as Chad Wright connected for his second home run of the season off Louisville reliever Gabriel Shaw.
Louisville bounced back in the fifth with a two-out, three-run rally. After the first two hitters were retired, Duvall and Clark reached base with walks from UK starter Clint Tilford to end his night. After he was replaced on the mound by Tyler Henry, Dominguez loaded the bases with an infield single to third and sophomore Phil Wunderlich was hit by a pitch to score Duvall from third. Wright then connected on a 1-1 pitch from Henry for a two-run single to center to score Clark and Dominguez and tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth.
Following a scoreless sixth inning, the Cardinals gained their first lead of the night in the seventh inning with two runs on two hits. After Duvall led off the inning with a double and was followed by a walk to Clark, Dominguez delivered an RBI single through the left side off Wildcats' reliever Logan Darnell to score Duvall and give Louisville a 5-4 advantage. Following a walk to Wunderlich, Darnell was replaced on the mound by Braden Kapteyn, who gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to center field by Wright to score Clark for a 6-4 Cards advantage.
But the Cards could not hold the lead on this night as the Wildcats came back to regain the lead for good in the eighth inning thanks to three runs on four hits. Third baseman Chris McClendon started the rally with a walk from Cards' sophomore reliever Bob Revesz and then scored on a triple to right center by Wade to make it 6-5 Louisville. After Revesz was replaced on the mound by freshman righty Tony Zych, Wiley singled down the left field line to score Wade and tie the game at 6-6.
After Wiley was caught stealing by Louisville junior catcher Jeff Arnold for the second out of the inning, Nidiffer extended the inning with a single to left field setting the stage for Rose's go-ahead double to left center.
The Wildcats added another run in the ninth as Burns scored on a bases loaded walk to Wade to push their advantage to 8-6. Louisville came back for one run in the bottom of the ninth as Dominguez doubled down the right field line and scored from second on a Wunderlich groundout to third after the Wildcats had nobody covering the plate. However, the Cards' rally fell short as Kapteyn got Wright top pop-up to second base for the final out of the game.
Kapteyn allowed one run on one hit in 3.0 innings of relief for the win to improve to 2-0 on the season, while Zych picked up the first loss of his collegiate career after allowing two runs on three hits in 1.0 inning of relief to fall to 2-1 this season.
Up next, the Cardinals will return to the road for a three-game series at BIG EAST foe Rutgers starting Friday at 3 p.m. ET, in Piscataway, N.J. The Cards and Scarlet Knights will also play on Saturday at 1 p.m., and Sunday at noon ET.
Louisville Notes - The loss to Kentucky ended an eight-game winning streak for Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium and was the first loss for the Cards at home since March 21. Louisville is 20-3 overall at Jim Patterson Stadium this season.
- Freshman righty closer Tony Zych had his scoreless streak halted at 14.2 innings after the Chicago native gave up two runs on three hits in his 1.0 inning of relief. Tuesday's runs were the first allowed by Zych since Feb. 25.
- A crowd of 2,442 fans braved the cool temperatures to watch the first of two games between the Cardinals and Wildcats on the baseball diamond this season. Louisville will return a trip to Lexington on April 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
