Louisville Baseball Post-Game Notes

April 30, 2011

Louisville Team Notes

Louisville won for the fifth time in six games against the Hoyas, improving to 11-3 in the all-time series. The Cards have held Georgetown to three runs or fewer in 10 of those 11 wins.

GU has managed just 10 runs in the teams' last five meetings, a stretch in which Cardinal hurlers have compiled an ERA of 1.79.

Back-to-back wins for Louisville to begin the series mean another home series win for the Cards in BIG EAST play. Louisville has won its last nine BIG EAST series at home, the longest active streak in the conference and the 10th-longest active stretch in Division I baseball. U of L has not dropped a BIG EAST set at home since Notre Dame took two of three in 2009 (April 24-26).

Consecutive conference series wins at home, Division I (active)Rank Streak  School (Conference)     Streak began    Last lost to or split with1.  36* Oral Roberts (Summit)       4.26.98     Western Illinois (S)2.  20^ Coastal Carolina (Big South)    5.19.06     Birmingham-Southern (L)3.  17  Bethune-Cookman (MEAC)          4.8.06      Delaware State (L)4.  15  Manhattan (MAAC)            4.6.08      Le Moyne (L)5.  14  Arizona State (Pac-10)      4.25.08     Oregon State (L)6.  13  Texas State (Southland)     3.27.09     Sam Houston State (L)7.  12  Virginia (ACC)          4.3.09      Miami (Fla.) (L)8.  11  Charlotte (Atlantic 10)     4.11.09     Fordham (L)9.  10  TCU (MWC)               4.3.09      San Diego State (L)10.  9^  Louisville (BIG EAST)       5.14.09     Notre Dame (L)11. 8   Cal State Fullerton (Big West)  5.1.09      Pacific (L)    8   Connecticut (BIG EAST)      5.8.09      St. John's (L)

* - ORU is 38-0-1 in league sets at home since joining the Summit League (then the Mid-Continent Conference) for the 1998 season. The Golden Eagles are 42-0-2 since their last series loss at home in league play, a two-game doubleheader sweep at the hands of Oklahoma City on April 21, 1984, as a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League).

^ - Includes home series win already this weekend.

Georgetown, meanwhile, has now lost 16 consecutive BIG EAST series on the road and 13 straight BIG EAST series overall. GU has not won a conference series since April 1-3, 2010 (two of three against Notre Dame), and has not taken one at the opponent's home field since March 28-30, 2008 (two of three at USF).

The Hoyas have not won a BIG EAST road series against a team entering the weekend over .500 in the league standings since at least the 2002 season.

Louisville's five-run third inning tied for its biggest inning of the season, the fifth time U of L has accomplished the feat this year. Three of those occurrences have come in the past five games (five-run innings in each of the Cards' two wins over USF). The Cardinals have not scored more runs in a single frame since May 26, 2010, against West Virginia (six in the eighth).

The Cards followed up the five-run frame with innings of two and four runs in the fourth and fifth, respectively, giving Louisville its highest three-inning run total since scoring 15 in the first three innings of a record-setting 24-6 win over Rutgers on May 1 of last season.

The 11 runs overall tied a season high for U of L, its highest output since plating 13 in the finale of the series at Notre Dame last year (May 22).

Sophomore Justin Amlung's lone walk of the afternoon in the fifth was the first free pass issued by the Cards in 14.0 innings, a span of 54 batters. Louisville had walked 4+ batters in four straight games entering the series, but has issued just the one free pass in the first two games.

U of L entered the game having a combined total of zero grand slams among all of the players on its roster. Yet on Saturday afternoon, two Cardinals went yard with the bags juiced in a span of three innings: Stewart Ijames turned the trick in the third, with Ryan Wright doing the deed two innings later.

Saturday marked the first time in the past 12 seasons Louisville has smacked two grand slams in a single game. It has occurred at least once in Cardinal history, namely on March 24, 1976, when Jim LaFountain set NCAA records with two grand slams in an inning and three total grand slams against Western Kentucky.

The grand slams were the 14th and 15th in stadium history and the 10th and 11th by Louisville players. Andrew Clark, the last Cardinal to notch a grand slam, holds the ballpark record with three grand slams.

Jim Patterson Stadium grand slamsLouisville players in italicsDate    Player          Opponent        Inning4.30.11   Ryan Wright      Georgetown  5th4.30.11   Stewart Ijames        Georgetown  3rd4.23.11 Andrew Longley      USF     5th5.1.10   Andrew Clark        Rutgers     1st4.1.10   Andrew Clark        Villanova       4th5.15.09  Phil Wunderlich      USF     1st4.24.09 David Casey     Notre Dame  9th3.25.09 Chad Cregar     W. Kentucky 5th3.6.09   Chris Dominguez          Milwaukee       2nd3.4.09   Chris Dominguez      W. Michigan 6th2.27.09  Andrew Clark        Bowling Green   8th3.16.08 Ben Klafczynski     Kent State  7th6.10.07  Isaiah Howes        Oklahoma State  8th4.3.07   Derrick Alfonso      Marshall        3rd3.31.07  Jorge Castillo        West Virginia   7th

Six different Cardinals were hit by pitches in the game, just the second time that has occurred in the last 11 seasons. The other came on March 31, 2007, when three West Virginia pitchers combined to hit seven Louisville batters a total of nine times in the Cards' 16-5 win over West Virginia at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The six total HBP tie for the second-highest total for Louisville since 2001--only the WVU game featured more. This comes after the Cards had not registered a hit-by-pitch in their last 11 games dating back to April 8, easily the longest drought for the team over the past 11 years.

Most times hit by pitch, since 2001
1. 9 - West Virginia (H) - 3.31.07
2. 6 - Georgetown (H) - 4.30.11
2. 6 - Morehead State (H) - 3.18.09
2. 6 - Connecticut (H) - 3.20.08
2. 6 - Miami (Fla.) (N) - 6.1.07
2. 6 - Cincinnati (A) - 4.12.03

Six players with HBP in same game, since 2001
3.31.07 - Daniel Burton 2, Boomer Whiting 2, Derrick Alfonso 1, Isaiah Howes 1, Logan Johnson 1, Justin McClanahan 1, Pete Rodriguez 1 (7 players, 9 total HBP)
4.30.11 - Adam Engel 1, J.J. Ethel 1, Kyle Grieshaber 1, Stewart Ijames 1, Zak Wasserman 1, Ty Young 1 (6 players, 6 total HBP)

The Cardinals finished a game with more runs (11) than hits (eight) for the first time since the aforementioned Rutgers game (24 runs, 19 hits).

Louisville is 18-4 this season when scoring first.

Louisville Player Notes

Amlung became just the third pitcher in Louisville history to begin a season 8-0, joining last year's closer Neil Holland, who began 8-0 before losing his final decision, and Scott Reburn, who put together a perfect 10-0 record over 12 starts in 1984.

Amlung is the fourth BIG EAST pitcher in the last seven seasons to start 8-0. In addition to Holland, Chris Delaney of South Florida (8-0 start in 2007) and George Brown of St. John's (9-0 beginning in 2008) also accomplished the feat. No BIG EAST pitcher has ended the year with eight or more wins and no losses since at least the 2006 season.

Consecutive winning decisions to begin season, BIG EAST pitchers (since 2007)Rank Start   Finish  Pitcher, School         Year1.  9-0 9-1 George Brown, St. John's        20082.   8-0 ?   Justin Amlung, Louisville          2011    8-0 8-1 Neil Holland, Louisville        2010    8-0 9-4 Chris Delaney, USF          2007

As of the end of Louisville's game, only six players in the nation can say they have won eight or more games without a loss this season, listed below:

Eight or more wins without a loss in 2011, Division I
10-0 - Taylor Jungmann, Texas
10-0 - Tyler Ray, Troy
8-0 - Justin Amlung, Louisville
8-0 - John Neely, Texas Tech
8-0 - Will Roberts, Virginia
8-0 - Kurt Schluter, Stetson

The eight wins place Amlung atop the conference leaderboard (along with UConn's Matt Barnes, who is 8-3) and put him ninth in Cardinal single-season history. Justin Marks set the school record with 11 wins in 2009. Amlung has won 13 of his past 14 pitching decisions and is now 7-0 in his career in BIG EAST play.

Amlung fanned seven batters in the game, his fourth straight start and sixth in his last seven with six or more Ks. The last Cardinal to achieve either of those feats was Marks, who punched out six or more in 11 straight outings from March 6-May 14, 2009.

The quality start (6.0 innings or more, three earned runs or less) for Amlung, who gave up three earned runs in 7.0 innings, was his 11th straight, the longest active streak in the conference. Seton Hall's Joe DiRocco (seven in a row) has the league's second-longest current string. UConn's Matt Barnes had registered 11 consecutive quality starts before being roughed up for five earned runs in 5.0 innings against Rutgers on Friday night.

Amlung had not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his previous starts this season. His streak of 10 consecutive starts working at least 6.0 innings and allowing two earned runs or less was the longest by a Louisville pitcher since at least the 2000 season. His current quality start string is also the longest for a Cardinal since that time.

Ijames' bases-filled tater was the first by a Cardinal since Andrew Clark's in the first inning of Louisville's record-setting 24-6 win over Rutgers on May 1 of last season at Jim Patterson Stadium, a span of just under a year (364 days, to be exact).

Ijames drove in five in the game, the second-highest total of his career (he had six against St. John's on March 16, 2010) and tied for his largest output this season (also five at Rutgers on March 25). His three hits also matched a season best.

Wright's grand slam extended his hit streak to seven games, during which he has hit .462 (12-for-26) with three doubles, three long balls, 10 RBI, and four steals. Wright now has 19 RBI in 17 BIG EAST games this season, including 10 in the past five.

His slam also pushed him into eighth place on Louisville's all-time RBI list. Wright (179 RBI) passed Mark Jurich, who collected 178 from 2001-04.

Ijames and Wright became the first Louisville teammates to drive in four or more runs in the same game since Clark had eight and Jeff Arnold four in that 24-6 win over Rutgers last season. They became the first Cardinal duo to each notch a home run and 4+ RBI in one game since Chris Dominguez (2 HR, 5 RBI), Adam Duvall (2 HR, 4 RBI), Wright (HR, 4 RBI), and Phil Wunderlich (HR, 4 RBI) all accomplished the feat in a 21-5 win over Ohio State on May 5, 2009.

Freshman Ty Young matched a career high with two runs scored in the game. He has crossed the plate at least once in 17 of his last 23 games after scoring in just three of his first 15 appearances.

Sophomore Kyle Grieshaber made his third start of the season in the leadoff spot after batting first 23 times as a freshman in 2010. Grieshaber opened the bottom half of the first with a hit-by-pitch, the third time in his last five starts at leadoff he has reached to open the game. Louisville gone 363 batters without being plunked prior to that at bat.

Grieshaber has reached base in all five of his plate appearances in the series, coaxing a walk on Friday night and following that up with a hit-by-pitch, two singles, and a walk on Saturday. He scored three runs on the afternoon, marking a new career high. Grieshaber had entered the weekend reaching just once in his previous 12 trips to the plate.

Freshman Cole Sturgeon worked a scoreless ninth on only seven pitches in his first mound outing since March 18.

Junior Travis Tingle tossed a shutout eighth in preceding Sturgeon, only the second scoreless outing he has put together in BIG EAST play (seven appearances). He has a 7.45 ERA in conference play compared to a 0.84 mark in non-conference tilts.

Senior Drew Haynes entered as a defensive replacement in the sixth, allowing him to move into sole possession of third place on the Cardinal career games played list. He climbed ahead of Boomer Whiting, who appeared in 227 games from 2003-07.

Senior J.J. Ethel stole his first career base in the game, swiping second easily in the third inning and then scampering to third when the throw from catcher Erick Fernandez sailed into center field. Ethel also drove home a run in the game, the fourth consecutive BIG EAST game in which he has notched an RBI.

Freshman Adam Engel tied a career high by scoring twice in the game.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Derrick Alfonso

Justin Amlung

Justin Amlung

Justin Amlung

Jeff Arnold

Daniel Burton

Andrew Clark

Andrew Clark

Andrew Clark

Chris Dominguez

Adam Duvall

Adam Engel

J.J. Ethel

Kyle Grieshaber

Drew Haynes

Drew Haynes

Neil Holland

Neil Holland

Neil Holland

Isaiah Howes

Stewart Ijames

Stewart Ijames

Stewart Ijames

Logan Johnson

Justin Marks

Justin McClanahan

Pete Rodriguez

Cole Sturgeon

Cole Sturgeon

Travis Tingle

Travis Tingle

Zak Wasserman

Boomer Whiting

Ryan Wright

Ryan Wright

Phil Wunderlich

Phil Wunderlich

Phil Wunderlich

Ty Young

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