University of Louisville
St. John's
Baseball Ends Season with BIG EAST Semifinal Loss
May 28, 2011 | Baseball
May 28, 2011
CLEARWATER, Fla. - After surviving three straight elimination games to reach a Saturday night semifinal matchup, the Louisville baseball team had its season ended with a 5-1 loss to St. John's at Bright House Field.
With the loss in their fifth game in four days, the sixth-seeded Cardinals closed the season at 32-29 overall, while the No. 2 Red Storm improved to 35-19 and will play Seton Hall tomorrow at noon ET in the BIG EAST Championship title game.
The Cardinals were led at the plate by junior second baseman Ryan Wright (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead HS), who was 2-for-4 with an RBI in the loss. He closed the five-game tournament by hitting .389 (7-for-18) with a home run and eight RBI. Freshman designated hitter Jeff Gardner (Louisville, Ky./Whitefield Academy) added two hits, while freshman outfielder Adam Engel (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) had a hit and a run scored in the loss.
On the mound, senior right-hander Gabriel Shaw (Paducah, Ky./St. Mary's HS) suffered the loss in his final career appearance and dropped to 0-3 on the season after allowing three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work in the starting role. For St. John's, starter Kevin Kilpatrick earned the win and improved to 4-3 on the season after allowing just one run on five hits with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
For the third straight game in the tournament, Louisville plated a run in the first inning as Engel led off the frame with a single to right center and after moving to third on a single to right field by Gardner, scored on an RBI single through the left side by Wright for the 1-0 lead.
However, St. John's gained command of the game in the third with three runs on four hits. The inning started with a single to center by catcher Frankie Schwindel, who then moved to second on a single to left by centerfielder Jimmy Brennan and then advanced to third on a bunt single by third baseman Pat Talbut. Shortstop Joe Panik followed with a two-run single to right center to score Schwindel and Brennan for a 2-1 advantage. The Red Storm made it 3-1 later as Panik scored from third on a double steal with outfielder Jeremy Baltz advancing from first to second.
Following a pair of scoreless innings, St. John's pushed its lead to 4-1 in the sixth as Baltz earned a leadoff walk from Louisville junior reliever Tony Zych (Monee, Ill./St. Rita HS), moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Case and then scored on an RBI single to right by outfielder Rowan Wick. And after a scoreless seventh, the Red Storm added a final insurance run in the eighth on an RBI single to center by Karmas to score pinch runner Kyle Richardson for the 5-1 margin.
Louisville Notes
- In their sixth appearance all-time in the BIG EAST Championship, Louisville dropped to 7-4 in elimination games and 3-1 in 2011. Overall, Louisville is now 18-8 in the BIG EAST Championship for a .692 winning percentage, which ranks No. 1 in the league.
- Louisville is 17-6 all-time at Bright House Field, including a 4-2 mark in 2011.
- With seven hits in five games in the 2011 BIG EAST Championship, Wright has 22 career hits in the event, which is tied for third all-time with Rutgers' Jake Daubert and David DeJesus. Wright also pushed his career RBI total at the BIG EAST Championship to 24, which is the most all-time and five clear of second place.
- Senior Drew Haynes closed his career with 244 games played in the Cardinal uniform, the most all-time at Louisville. He finished two ahead of former U of L shortstop Chris Cates, who played in 242 games from 2004-07.
- Freshman outfielder Adam Engel was outstanding in his first career BIG EAST Championship appearance leading the Cardinals with a .412 average at the plate (7-for-17) with six runs scored, three RBI and four stolen bases in four attempts.
- Senior pitcher Gabriel Shaw ends his career with 104 appearances on the mound in the Louisville baseball uniform, the most in school history.
