Louisville Baseball Post-Game Notes

May 4, 2011

Recap |  Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

Louisville Team Notes

The Cardinals drop to 5-4 all-time against Eastern Michigan, allowing the Eagles to score more than four runs for only the second time in the series. A 9-2 EMU win on March 2, 2006, was the other occasion.

Louisville lost for the first time when hosting an Elementary School Day game. The Cardinals had defeated Butler in 2008 (3-2, 11 innings), Iowa (11-7) and Ohio State (12-7) in 2009, and Xavier in 2010 (7-4) in the previous four.

U of L had multiple fielding errors for the 13th time in the past 21 games. Louisville committed both of its errors in a single inning for the second straight game, leading to three unearned runs on Tuesday (eighth inning) and six on Wednesday (third). U of L registered a .974 fielding percentage and 24 errors over its first 24 games this year, but has fielded just .952 with 38 miscues over the past 21 contests. The Cards are 5-13 this season when registering two or more errors.

U of L's fielding percentage this season (.964) would be its lowest since 2003 (.963).

The Cardinals put together flawless defense--no errors--and flawless pitching--no runs allowed--for 16 of the 18 innings in the two-game series, but were undone by two big Eagle innings, a four-run eighth on Tuesday and a six-run third on Wednesday. Nine of the 10 runs EMU scored in the series were unearned.

The six unearned runs tie for the most U of L has allowed in one game in the last 11 seasons. The other two games were a 10-3 loss at Tulane on April 10, 2004, and an 11-1 loss to USF in the 2005 Conference USA Tournament (May 26).

Most unearned runs allowed in a game, since 2001
1. 6 - 5.4.11 vs. Eastern Michigan (L, 2-6; 2 E in game)
1. 6 - 5.26.05 vs. USF (L, 1-11; 1 E)
1. 6 - 4.10.04 at Tulane-2 (L, 3-10; 5 E)

The six unearned runs also all came in a single inning in the USF contest. The Bulls plated seven runs in the sixth in that game, but only one was earned thanks to a two-out throwing error.

The Eagles' six-run frame tied for the largest by a Louisville non-conference opponent since Bowling Green put together a seven-run first inning in the finale of the Cards' opening series of the 2010 season, a game Louisville won, 8-7. U of L had not had a bigger inning lead to a non-conference defeat since Georgia used a seven-run seventh to knock the Cardinals out of the 2008 NCAA Tournament (May 31).

U of L lost without allowing an earned run for the first time since a 1-0 decision to Villanova in the first game of a doubleheader on March 24, 2007. That game ended in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth via a Cardinal throwing error on a Wildcat sacrifice bunt attempt.

Louisville's bullpen held the opposition scoreless for the fourth time in five games, tossing 6.0 shutout frames on Wednesday. Cardinal relievers have allowed just one earned run in their last 21.0 innings of work (0.43 ERA) dating back to the Kentucky game on April 26. The pitching staff as a whole, in fact, has an ERA of 1.80 over the past five games.

Cardinal hitters failed to draw a base on balls or get hit by a pitch for just the second time in the last 300 games dating back to the 2007 season. The only other occurrence came in the Cards' first home game this season, a 3-1 loss to Toledo on Feb. 25.

The loss for U of L was its 11th at home this year, the most for the team since 2006, when the Cards went 21-12 at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The Cardinals are now 0-11 this season when allowing six or more runs, having lost 12 straight such games.

Louisville Player Notes

Junior Ryan Wright extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an opposite-field double in the first on Wednesday. That hit string is the longest for a Cardinal since he and Stewart Ijames both had 13-game hitting streaks snapped in Louisville's final BIG EAST Championship game last season.

Wright is batting .487 (19-for-39) during the streak with seven multi-hit games. He has registered at least one run scored and one RBI in each of the last five contests, the fourth separate time he has done that in his career (most by any Cardinal over the last 11 years). The longest streak of games with both a run and an RBI by a Cardinal since 2001 is seven, achieved by Chris Dominguez in 2009.

Consecutive games with a run and an RBI, since 2001
1. 7 - Chris Dominguez (4.26.09-5.8.09)
2. 6 - Ryan Wright (5.26.10-6.5.10)
2. 6 - Ryan Wright (4.28.10-5.5.10)
2. 6 - Isaiah Howes (5.22.07-6.2.07)
2. 6 - Josh Bolen (4.20.03-4.29.03)
6. 5 - Ryan Wright (4.29.11-Present)
6. 5 - Ryan Wright (4.17.10-4.24.10)
6. 5 - Phil Wunderlich (3.6.09-3.14.09)
6. 5 - Chris Dominguez (3.19.08-3.25.08)
6. 5 - Chris Cates (4.2.06-4.9.06)
6. 5 - Mark Jurich (4.28.04-5.5.04)
6. 5 - Nick Haley (3.30.04-4.6.04)
6. 5 - Josh Bolen (2.22.03-2.28.03)

The last Cardinal to have a better 10-game stretch in terms of batting average was Andrew Clark, who hit .488 (20-for-41) over 10 contests from April 30-May 14, 2010.

Wright (one RBI) had his streak of multi-RBI games snapped at three. That stretch tied for the longest by a Louisville hitter since Chris Dominguez had four consecutive three-RBI games in 2008.

By virtue of a .388 (40-for-103) batting average over his past 26 games, Wright has raised his batting clip from a season-low .278 on March 20 to its current level of .343. Wright has 30 RBI over those 26 contests.

With two doubles in the game, Wright now has seven extra-base hits (four doubles, a triple, and two homers) over his last five games. He also has 10 RBI during that stretch.

The two-double game was the seventh of Wright's career and his third this season.

With his third-inning RBI, Wright (184 career RBI) moved into a seventh-place tie with Rob Newman (1989-92) on the school's career RBI list. He needs nine RBI to tie Darren Oppel (193 RBI from 1990-93) for sixth.

Career RBI, Louisville history
1. 218 - Chris Dominguez (2006-09)
2. 204 - Matt Berger (1994-97)
3. 201 - Richie Hawks (1988-91)
4. 198 - Charlie Allen (1990-93)
5. 196 - Tim Harper (1995-98)
6. 193 - Darren Oppel (1990-93)
7. 184 - Ryan Wright (2009-Present)
7. 184 - Rob Newman (1989-92)
9. 178 - Mark Jurich (2001-04)
10. 169 - Isaiah Howes (2003-07)

Wright and Ijames each drove in at least a run for the fourth time in Louisville's last five games. The two have combined for zero RBI in a game just nine times thus far in 2011.

Senior Drew Haynes' 231st career game played means a second-place tie for the left fielder on the Louisville all-time games played list. Also appearing in 231 contests was Isaiah Howes from 2004-07. Haynes needs 11 more appearances to tie Chris Cates' (2004-07) school record of 242 games played.

Career games played, Louisville history
1. 242 - Chris Cates (2004-07)
2. 231 - Drew Haynes (2008-Present)
2. 231 - Isaiah Howes (2004-07)
4. 227 - Boomer Whiting (2003-07)
5. 225 - Daniel Burton (2004-07)
5. 225 - Logan Johnson (2004-07)

Haynes is the only player in the top five whose career did not end after the school's 2007 College World Series season.

Sophomore Mike Nastold allowed six runs in the game but still lowered his season ERA to 3.98 (none of the six were earned).

Nastold entered the game with a 10.80 ERA, nine walks, and just three strikeouts in the first inning this year, but held the Eagles without a run and struck out three batters in the opening frame.

After the first inning this season, Nastold has recorded a 1.82 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 29.2 innings.

Nastold took his sixth loss in his last seven starts on Wednesday, once again suffering from poor run support; in all six of those defeats, Louisville has scored two runs or fewer. The Cards are averaging just 2.8 runs per game in Nastold's starting efforts, scoring three runs or less in eight of his 11 starts.

Nastold was the first Cardinal starting pitcher to take a loss despite not yielding an earned run since Zack Pitts surrendered four unearned runs in a 4-3 loss at Stetson on Feb. 23, 2007.

Nastold needed only 3.0 innings to set a new season high with a half-dozen strikeouts, the shortest stint for a Cardinal recording 6+ strikeouts since current junior Tony Zych had six in a 2.1-inning relief appearance against Seton Hall last season (April 25). No Cardinal has had more strikeouts in an outing of 3.0 innings or less since Bob Revesz had seven in a 3.0 innings of scoreless relief on March 11, 2008. Nastold entered the game with just four Ks over his last three starts combined (compared to eight walks).

The eight hits allowed by Nastold were the most yielded by a Louisville hurler without permitting an earned run since St. Louis notched 10 hits against Denny Williams in his complete-game effort on March 24, 2001. Williams suffered the tough-luck loss in that game, allowing only two unearned scores in a 2-0 loss.

Most hits against without allowing an earned run, since 2001Date Pitcher             IP  H   R   ER  BB  SO3.24.01 Denny Williams vs. St. Louis  9.0 10  2   0   1   55.4.11   Mike Nastold vs. Eastern Michigan   3.0 8   6   0   3   64.12.11 Jeff Thompson vs. Kentucky         3.2 7   2   0   2   34.17.10 Thomas Royse at West Virginia-1 8.0 7   0   0   1   43.1.09  Dean Kiekhefer vs. Bowling Green  6.0 7   0   0   1   5

Senior Gabriel Shaw made his 100th career relief appearance in the game, leaving him just one pitch shy of tying Gavin Logsdon's school record of 101 career mound outings.

Career pitching appearances, Louisville history
1. 101 - Gavin Logsdon (2006-09)
2. 100 - Gabriel Shaw (2008-Present)
3. 97 - Brian Halford (2003-06)
4. 96 - Griffin Bailey (2003-06)
5. 81 - Carlos Fernandez (2000-03)

The century game for Shaw turned into the longest scoreless relief outing of his career, matching the 4.0 perfect innings--with seven strikeouts--he tossed in his first career game with Louisville (Feb. 23, 2008, against Cleveland State). The 4.0-inning relief stint tied for the third-longest of his career, behind only his 5.0 innings of work against Milwaukee on March 7, 2009, and his 4.1 frames versus St. John's on April 5, 2008.

Shaw is the third Cardinal to put together a scoreless relief outing of at least 4.0 innings this year, joining Jeff Thompson (4.0 at USC on March 15) and Derek Self (4.1 versus Xavier on March 20).

Freshman Cody Ege made his first career plate appearance in the eighth inning on Wednesday and delivered with a single through the hole on the left side of the infield.

Freshman Kyle Gibson extended his own hitting streak to eight straight games, doing so with a bunt hit in the fourth. The eight-game string ties for the longest by a Cardinal backstop since Jeff Arnold hit in 15 straight from April 9-30, 2008.

Freshman righty Dace Kime made his first pitching appearance at Jim Patterson Stadium since April 1 against West Virginia. After 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings in the game, Kime has a 1.54 ERA in five outings at home this year, striking out 16 and allowing just five hits in 11.2 innings.

Dace Kime at home, 2011 seasonERA  APP IP  H   R   ER  BB  SO  Opp AVG1.54    5   11.2    5   5   2   5   16  .125

Sophomore Zak Wasserman snapped an 0-for-8 string with a single in his first trip to the plate on Wednesday.

Freshman Alex Chittenden made his first career start at third base in the game. All 34 of his previous starting nods had come at shortstop.

Freshman Ty Young smoked his first career triple in the third inning and later scored. Young has reached base safely in 11 of his past 12 games.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jeff Arnold

Daniel Burton

Chris Cates

Alex Chittenden

Andrew Clark

Chris Dominguez

Cody Ege

Kyle Gibson

Drew Haynes

Isaiah Howes

Stewart Ijames

Logan Johnson

Dean Kiekhefer

Dace Kime

Dace Kime

Gavin Logsdon

Mike Nastold

Mike Nastold

Zack Pitts

Bob Revesz

Thomas Royse

Derek Self

Gabriel Shaw

Jeff Thompson

Jeff Thompson

Zak Wasserman

Boomer Whiting

Ryan Wright

Phil Wunderlich

Ty Young

Tony Zych

Related Videos