University of Louisville
St. John's
Louisville Drops Series Finale at St. John's
May 10, 2009 | Baseball
May 10, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - After winning the first two games of the weekend series at St. John's, the Louisville baseball team lost Sunday's series finale to the host Red Storm 19-15 on a windy day at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
The Louisville loss, combined with South Florida's win at Notre Dame on Sunday, drops the Cardinals (36-14, 16-7 BIG EAST) 1 1/2 games behind the first place Bulls in the BIG EAST standings with three games left. Louisville will host USF on Thursday in the first of three games between the first and second place teams that will decide the BIG EAST champion.
On Sunday, St. John's (28-28, 15-9) overcame an early 4-1 deficit and another 6-5 deficit to win the high scoring game and salvage the final game of the series. The 19 runs for the Red Storm is the most allowed by Louisville since a 30-2 loss at No. 29 TCU on May 16, 2003. The loss for the Cardinals ended their season-best seven-game winning streak as well as their nine-game winning streak on the road.
Leading the way for the Louisville bats on Sunday was junior second baseman Adam Duvall, who finished 4-for-6 with four runs scored and one RBI. Freshman outfielder Ryan Wright went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, while sophomore outfielder Josh Richmond scored twice after a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Sophomore Phil Wunderlich added two hits, including his 14th home run of the season, to go with two RBI and two runs scored, while sophomore Nate Holland hit his first career grand slam in his only at-bat of the day during the Cardinals' furious ninth inning rally.
On the mound, Louisville sophomore starter Bob Revesz earned a no-decision after allowing four runs on six hits in 4.2 innings, while sophomore righty Tyler Mathis took the loss for the Cardinals after giving up four runs on one hit in less than an inning. St. John's righty starter Nick Cenateimpo picked up the win after allowing five runs, including three earned, on six hits in 6.0 innings. At the plate, the Red Storm was led by senior shortstop Gino Matias, who finished 2-for-2 with five RBI and four runs scored.
Louisville opened the game with an early 4-1 lead thanks to an RBI ground out in the first by junior first baseman scored Adam Duvall, an RBI sacrifice fly in the second by senior shortstop John Dao scored Richmond, an RBI sacrifice fly in the third by Wunderlich scored Duvall and an RBI sacrifice fly to right by Wright.
However, St. John's tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth as Matias connected for his first home run of the season, a wind-aided, three-run shot to the opposite field, to score Matt Wessinger and Danny Benedetti.
Following a scoreless fifth inning, Louisville regained the lead in the sixth as Wunderlich led off the inning with his solo home run that cleared the bullpens in right field. Unfortunately for the Louisville, that would be their last lead of the day as St. John's stormed back for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to take an 11-5 advantage.
After Louisville pulled to within three at 11-8 in the top of the seventh inning, St. John's responded with five more runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth for a 19-8 lead. The Cardinals did put together a late rally for an entertaining ninth inning with seven runs on seven hits to cut the final margin to four runs.
Up next, Louisville will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to face Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, in the second and final game of the season with the Hilltoppers.
Following the mid-week game at WKU, the Cardinals will host the three-game series with USF. The series with the Bulls is set to begin on Thursday at 6 p.m., followed by Friday's second game at 6 p.m., and Saturday's finale at 1 p.m. Admission is free for all three games with USF.
Louisville Notes
- With his 2-for-5 day at the plate, sophomore outfielder Phil Wunderlich pushed his hitting streak to a career best 13 games. The Chicago native leads the team in hitting at .371 and ranks second in home runs with 14 and RBI with 58.
- Despite the loss, the Cardinals are 36-14 overall for their best 50-game record in Dan McDonnell's three seasons in Louisville. The 2009 Cards' record is two wins better than Louisville's 2007 College World Series squad and U of L's 2008 team, both of which were 34-16 through 50 games.
