University of Louisville
VANDERBILT
Cardinals Fall 4-3 to Vanderbilt in 10 Innings
April 22, 2009 | Baseball
April 22, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Vanderbilt Commodores scored one run in the ninth inning and another in the 10th to pull out a 4-3 win over the Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday night in front of 2,042 fans at Jim Patterson Stadium.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the 10th, first baseman Curt Casali led off the inning with a double to right center off Louisville left Dean Kiekhefer, moved to third on a single to right by Aaron Westlake and then scored on a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of leftfielder Joe Loftus for the winning run.
The loss is the first extra-inning defeat for the Cardinals (28-11) in seven games this season and just their fourth home loss (20-4) in 2009. It is also the first time in 22 games this season that Louisville has not won after leading through eight innings.
The scoring started on Wednesday in the second inning as Louisville sophomore outfielder Phil Wunderlich sent the second pitch of the inning from Vanderbilt righty starter Taylor Hill over the wall in right field for his 10th home run of the season and a 1-0 Cards' lead. Freshman Ryan Wright followed with a double down the left field line, advanced to third on a bunt single by junior catcher Jeff Arnold and then scored on a sacrifice fly to deep right field by senior shortstop John Dao for a 2-0 lead after two innings.
The Commodores cut the Louisville lead in half in the third inning as shortstop Brian Harris doubled to the gap in left center to score centerfielder Jordan Wormsley from second to make it 2-1. Following a scoreless fourth inning, Vanderbilt tied the game in the fifth as third baseman Jason Esposito singled to center field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Wormsley, advanced to third on a single through the left side by catcher Drew Fann and then scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Harris to make it 2-2.
Louisville then regained the lead in the sixth inning as Dominguez hammered a 2-1 pitch from Vanderbilt reliever Chase Reid over the left field wall for his team-leading 11th home run of the season and a 3-2 Cards' lead.
Following two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, Vanderbilt came back to tie the game in the ninth as Harris earned a two-out, bases loaded walk on a very close 3-2 pitch from Cards' freshman closer Tony Zych to score Loftus from third and even things at 3-3.
After the Commodores gained their first lead of the night in the 10th inning, the Cardinals were unable to put together a rally in the home half of the 10th as Josh Richmond struck out and Adam Duvall popped out to second base off Russell Brewer, while Andrew Clark grounded out to second base off Mike Minor to end the game.
Brewer earned the win with 1.2 innings of perfect relief to improve to 1-2, while Minor, the Commodores ace starter, earned his first save of the season by retiring the final hitter of the game. Kiekhefer took the loss for Louisville after allowing one run on three hits in his one inning to even his 2009 record to 3-3.
Up next, the Cardinals will host an important three-game series with BIG EAST foe Notre Dame starting Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. Saturday's game is set for 4 p.m., while Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. Admission is free for all three games with Notre Dame.
Louisville enters the weekend tied with West Virginia for second in the BIG EAST Conference race with an 11-4 record, just one game behind South Florida for the league lead.
