Louisville Baseball Post-Game Notes
May 21, 2011 | Baseball
May 21, 2011
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Louisville Team Notes
- The loss snapped Louisville's winning streak over Notre Dame at six games, tied for the longest streak by any league team over the Irish since ND broke from its independent status following the 1982 season (joining the Midwestern City Conference, now the Horizon League, before moving to the BIG EAST in 1996). The only other team in the same conference as the Fighting Irish to win six straight over the squad was Detroit from April 19, 1986-April 18, 1987.
- Consecutive wins over Notre Dame by league foes, all-time
1. 6 - Louisville - 5.23.09-5.20.11 (BIG EAST)
1. 6 - Detroit - 4.19.86-4.18.87 (Midwestern Collegiate Conference)
- The six-game win string was the second-longest active streak by any team over ND. Only Michigan State, who has dropped the Irish in 10 straight meetings, had a longer current stretch of wins over Notre Dame.
- U of L still leads the all-time series with ND 13-8.
- Louisville smacked 10 hits in the game but plated just one run, the first time the Cards have had double-digit hits in a contest with one or zero runs since March 5, 2004. In that game, U of L had 10 hits but only a run in a 3-1 defeat against Kent State.
- The loss was just the sixth for Louisville in the 31 games this season in which they have registered as many or more hits than the opposition.
- Eight of Louisville's 10 hits came from the top third of the order (Adam Engel, Jeff Gardner, and Ryan Wright), who finished a combined 8-for-11 in the contest.
- The weekend ended with Louisville's 10th consecutive BIG EAST series win at home in the books. That streak is tied for the ninth-longest in the nation.
Consecutive conference series wins at home, Division I (active, after Saturday's games)Rank Streak School Conference Streak began Last lost to or split with1. 39 Oral Roberts Summit 4.26.98 Western Illinois (S)2. 22 Coastal Carolina Big South 5.19.06 Birmingham-Southern (L)3. 18 Bethune-Cookman MEAC 4.8.06 Delaware State (L)4. 15 Arizona State Pac-10 4.25.08 Oregon State (L) 15 Texas State Southland 3.27.09 Sam Houston State (L)6. 13 Virginia ACC 4.3.09 Miami (Fla.) (L)7. 12 Charlotte Atlantic 10 4.11.09 Fordham (L)8. 11 TCU MWC 4.3.09 San Diego State (L)9. 10 Louisville BIG EAST 5.14.09 Notre Dame (L) 10 Cal State Fullerton Big West 5.1.09 Pacific (L) 10 Connecticut BIG EAST 5.8.09 St. John's (L)
- The Cardinals finish the 2011 season with a 9-3 record at home in the league, their third straight season with three losses or fewer to BIG EAST teams at Jim Patterson Stadium. Louisville is 30-9 (.769) at home in the BIG EAST over the last three years and 59-22 (.728) all-time. The Cards are 22-5 in 27 BIG EAST sets at home since entering the league.
- Louisville falls to 3-7 this season in one-run games. Notre Dame, meanwhile, played in its 19th one-run game of the season, a new school record (Irish are now 9-10).
- U of L hit into four double plays in the game, tying a season high (also four at St. John's on April 17). All four came with the Irish clinging to a one-run lead.
- The seven pitchers in Saturday's game needed only 214 pitches, or 11.9 per inning, to get 54 outs. Louisville's combined for 114, while the three ND hurlers needed only 100, including just 23 in 3.1 innings for Dan Slania (winning pitcher).
Louisville Player Notes
- Gardner and Wright put together two of the best series by individuals in Louisville history, combining to go an incredible 17-for-23 (.739) at the plate in the series with six doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, 11 runs scored, and a 1.391 slugging percentage (no typos in that list). The two accounted for exactly half of the Cards' hits and runs scored in the set.
- Where to begin? The Cards have not had two players combine for 17 hits in a three-game span since May 5-8, 2009, when Andrew Clark and Adam Duvall each had nine base knocks over three victories against Ohio State (two) and St. John's (one).
- For Wright, the series line was 9-for-11 (.818) with a double, two home runs, five RBI, five runs scored, and averages of 1.455 (slugging) and .846 (on-base). Wright becomes the first Cardinal to have nine hits in any three-game span since Andrew Clark had nine in three contests from May 9-14 last season.
- The last Louisville hitter with more hits in a trio of games was Wright himself from March 19-20 last season (10). No player other than Wright has notched more hits in a three-game period since Justin McClanahan had 11 in the Cards' first three BIG EAST Tournament games in 2008 (May 20-23).
- Wright is the first Cardinal to have nine hits in a single BIG EAST series. No U of L hitter has had that many hits in a conference series since Mark Jurich went 9-for-13 with three home runs, six RBI, and five runs scored in a three-game set with TCU from April 30-May 2, 2004. Wright and Jurich are the only Cardinals to have a nine-hit series in conference play since 2001.
- Wright is the only Louisville player in the last 11 years with three hits in every game of a conference set (Jurich had five, one, and three in the TCU series).
- Of the seven different Louisville players to record back-to-back-to-back three-hit games in the last 11 seasons, only Wright has done it twice (he also had four straight three-hit games from March 14-20 last season).
Consecutive three-hit games, since 2001
1. 4 - Ryan Wright - 3.14.10-3.20.10 (3-4-3-4)
1. 4 - Justin McClanahan - 5.17.08-5.23.08 (3-3-3-5)
3. 3 - Ryan Wright - 5.19.11-Present (3-3-3)
3. 3 - Phil Wunderlich - 4.21.09-4.24.09 (3-3-3)
3. 3 - Josh Richmond - 4.4.09-4.7.09 (3-3-3)
3. 3 - Nick Haley - 5.20.06-5.24.06 (3-3-3)
3. 3 - Ron Braun - 4.16.03-4.20.03 (3-3-3)
3. 3 - J.T. LaFountain - 3.23.02-3.29.02 (4-3-3)
- Wright reached base in each of his last 10 plate appearances of the weekend. If we use Wright's .397 career on-base percentage entering that streak, the chances of him reaching base in 10 straight trips are approximately one in 10,277. For those without such a high on-base clip, the odds would be even greater. No other Cardinal has had such a streak since at least 2002.
- Wright's streak is seven shy of the MLB record for consecutive plate appearances reaching base safely, set by Piggy Ward from June 16-19, 1893, while playing for the Baltimore Orioles and the Cincinnati Reds. Ward's streak consisted of eight hits, eight walks, and a hit-by-pitch.
- Needless to say, it was no surprise when Notre Dame elected to intentionally walk Wright in his last trip to the dish in the series. He now has eight intentional free passes this year, tied for the most by a Cardinal since 2000 (Chris Dominguez also had eight in 2008).
- Gardner's series line consisted of eight hits, five doubles, a home run, three RBI, six runs scored, and a 1.333 slugging percentage in 12 at bats. His freshman campaign has been bolstered by two stretches in which opposing pitchers have had a world of trouble trying to get him out, as he also went 10-for-14 with three doubles and six runs scored in a four-game span from April 2-5. Of Gardner's 23 hits this season, 18 have come in those two spans.
- Gardner doubled twice in each of the final two games of the series, making him the first Cardinal to record two doubles in back-to-back games since McClanahan had two each in the Cards' first two games of the 2008 BIG EAST Championship exactly three years ago.
Two doubles in back-to-back games, since 2001
5.20.11-5.21.11 - Jeff Gardner vs. Notre Dame (2, 2)
5.20.08-5.21.08 - Justin McClanahan vs. Seton Hall, Villanova (2, 2)
4.18.08-4.19.08 - Andrew Clark vs. Villanova (2, 2)
- Gardner's five doubles are the most by a Louisville player in a three-game span since Adam Duvall had seven from Feb. 27-March 3 of last season. Gardner, Duvall, and McClanahan are the only Cardinals since 2001 to record five or more doubles in a three-game span.
Doubles in a three-game period, since 2001
1. 7 - Adam Duvall - 2.27.10-3.3.10 (2-1-4)
2. 5 - Jeff Gardner - 5.19.11-5.21.11 (1-2-2)
2. 5 - Justin McClanahan - 5.17.08-5.21.08 (1-2-2)
2. 5 - Justin McClanahan - 4.16.08-4.19.08 (2-1-2)
- Gardner's five two-baggers are the most by any Cardinal in a single conference series in the past 11 years, as are his six extra-base hits.
Extra-base hits in a conference series, since 2001
1. 6 - Jeff Gardner vs. Notre Dame - 5.19.11-5.21.11 (5 2B, HR)
2. 5 - Stewart Ijames at Rutgers - 3.25.11-3.27.11 (2 2B, 3 HR)
2. 5 - Stewart Ijames vs. Rutgers - 4.30.10-5.1.10 (3 2B, 2 HR)
2. 5 - Andrew Clark vs. Villanova - 4.1.10-4.3.10 (2 2B, 3 HR)
2. 5 - Phil Wunderlich vs. Notre Dame - 4.24.09-4.26.09 (3 2B, 2 HR)
2. 5 - J.T. LaFountain at Cincinnati - 3.18.05-3.20.05 (2 2B, 3 HR)
- Starter Travis Tingle had his 15.0-inning scoreless streak snapped when Mick Doyle's two-out single gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the second. Tingle was seeking to become the first Louisville player since at least the 2000 season to register four straight scoreless starts.
Consecutive scoreless starts, since 2001
1. 3 - Travis Tingle - 5.3.11-5.14.11 (5.0 IP, 1.0 IP, 6.1 IP)
1. 3 - Justin Amlung - 4.21.10-5.9.10 (3.0 IP, 5.0 IP, 6.0 IP)
- Tingle walked three batters in the game, a season high. He still only threw 82 pitches in his 6.1 innings, his second straight start of that length (a career best).
- In four career starts with U of L, Tingle has registered a 0.96 ERA in 18.2 innings, but has only a loss to show for it. Louisville has scored just 11 runs in his four outings, including only four with him actually in the game.
Travis Tingle in starts, 2011 season
ERA W-L G IP H R ER BB SO Opp Avg0.96 0-1 4 18.2 13 2 2 6 12 .203
- Freshman Cody Ege recorded his 14th straight scoreless outing, retiring the only batter he faced for the second straight game. The 14 consecutive scoreless appearances are the most by a Cardinal since at least the 2000 season (Trystan Magnuson had the longest streak previously, going 13 games without giving up a run in 2007).
Consecutive scoreless appearances, since 2001
1. 14 - Cody Ege - 4.5.11-Present
1. 13 - Trystan Magnuson - 4.22.07-5.19.07
3. 10 - Trystan Magnuson - 2.16.07-4.1.11
3. 10 - Grant Williams - 2.23.02-3.30.02
5. 9 - Tony Zych - 3.11.09-4.11.09
- Ege has eight strikeouts in 5.1 frames during the streak. In eight of the 14 appearances, he has not allowed a runner to reach base.
- Rookie Adam Engel notched another two-hit game in May, his seventh already this month after he had just one prior to that. Engel is hitting .386 (22-for-57) since May 1.
- Both of Engel's hits were of the infield variety, including a bunt single in the fifth. Twelve of his last 18 hits have been infield singles, among them six bunt hits.
- Freshman Alex Chittenden capped off a 4-for-10 series by singling and drawing a walk in four times up. Chittenden has hit safely in six straight games and is batting .357 (10-for-28) over his last nine.
