University of Louisville
EASTERN MICHIGAN <br>(Elementary School Day)
Baseball Falls to Eastern Michigan
May 04, 2011 | Baseball
May 4, 2011
Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For the second straight day, defensive miscues proved to be the difference as two errors by the Louisville baseball team led to six unearned runs for visiting Eastern Michigan in a 6-2 loss on Elementary School Day at Jim Patterson Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
With the loss, the Cardinals dropped to 25-20 overall, while the Eagles improved to 30-15 on the season. It marked Louisville's first ever loss on Elementary School Day at Jim Patterson Stadium. Previously, the Cardinals had wins over Xavier (7-4) in 2010, Ohio State (12-7) and Iowa (11-7) in 2009 and Butler (3-2) in 2008. Despite cooler temperatures, Wednesday's game was played in front of a crowd of 1,999.
Holding a slim 1-0 lead early in Wednesday's game, Louisville committed errors on back-to-back possible double-play ground balls, which opened the door for the Eagles to score six runs on four hits and garner command of the game. All six unearned runs were charged to Louisville starter Mike Nastold (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder), who took the loss and dropped to 3-6 on the season after also allowing eight hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work.
Nastold was followed on the mound by senior righty Gabriel Shaw (Paducah, Ky./St. Mary's HS), who pitched 4.0 shutout innings of relief, and freshman right-hander Dace Kime (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance HS), who added 2.0 innings of scoreless relief for U of L. At the plate, junior infielder Ryan Wright (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead HS) was 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored to lead the Cardinals, while junior outfielder Stewart Ijames (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic HS) added an RBI single in the loss.
For EMU, starting pitcher Jordan Glover earned the win and improved to 3-0 on the season after allowing two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in 6.0 innings. At the plate, second baseman Zack Leonard and first baseman Kyle Klein had two hits each, while designated hitter Sam Ott had a key three-run double in the win.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the first inning on Wednesday as Wright reached base with a two-out double down the right field line and scored moments later on an RBI single to left field by Ijames for the 1-0 lead.
Following a scoreless second inning, Eastern Michigan gained control of the game with the six-run third inning. The Cardinals plated a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single up the middle by Wright to score freshman infielder Ty Young (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep), who reached base with his first career triple earlier in the inning. However, that was as close as the Cardinals would get as they dropped their second straight game overall.
On Tuesday, Louisville committed a pair of late errors leading to three unearned runs in a 4-3 loss to Eastern Michigan. Overall, nine of the Eagles' 10 runs in the two-game mid-week series were unearned.
Wednesday's game was the second of five games in five days for the Cardinals, who will travel to New Jersey on Wednesday evening in preparation for a pivotal three-game BIG EAST Conference series at Seton Hall. Louisville and Seton Hall will play on Thursday at 6 p.m., ET and Friday at 4 p.m., before concluding the weekend series on Saturday at 11 a.m.
