University of Louisville
Seton Hall
Baseball Falls in Weekend Finale at Seton Hall
May 07, 2011 | Baseball
May 7, 2011
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Louisville baseball team completed a disappointing and frustrating week with a 9-4 loss at Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field.
With their fifth loss in five days, the Cardinals dropped to 25-23 overall and 11-10 in BIG EAST games, while the host Pirates improved to 24-21 on the season and 10-11 in the league. After being swept in league play for the second time this season, Louisville dropped to seventh in the BIG EAST standings with just two weeks left in the regular season. Only the top eight teams in the regular season standings advance to the annual BIG EAST Championship on May 25-29 in Clearwater, Fla.
Junior infielder Ryan Wright (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead HS) was the only Cardinal with multiple hits as he finished 2-for-5 with one RBI on his ninth home run of the season. On the mound, sophomore right-hander Matt Koch (Cherokee, Iowa/Washington HS) suffered the loss and dropped to 4-5 on the season after allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and one strikeout in 2.2 innings of relief. Sophomore righty Andy Flett (Fenton, Mo./Lindbergh HS) made his first start of the season and allowed one earned run on three hits in 2.1 innings.
For Seton Hall, freshman right-handed starter Brian Gilbert earned his first career win and improved to 1-2 on the season after giving up three runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. At the plate, third baseman Giuseppe Papaccio had a triple and three RBI, while leftfielder Scott Kalamar added two hits and two runs scored to lead the Pirates.
SHU opened the scoring in Saturday's game in the first inning on a two-run triple by Papaccio to plate Zack Granite and Mike Genovese for the 2-0 lead. Louisville answered in the second inning as sophomore infielder Cade Stallings (Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut HS) singled up the middle and scored on an RBI triple to right center by Ty Young (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep), who scored moments later on an RBI groundout by senior outfielder Drew Haynes (New Albany, Ind./New Albany HS) to even the score at 2-2.
The Pirates regained the lead in the fourth inning on designated hitter Michael Betz's two-run single to left off Koch for the 4-2 advantage.
Louisville pulled within a run in the top of the sixth as Wright connected for his first hit of the day on the solo home run to left field to cut the Pirates' advantage to 4-3. However, Seton Hall responded in the bottom of the inning with five runs on three hits to put the game out of reach at 9-3. The Cardinals added a final run in the eighth inning on an RBI double to left center by freshman infielder Alex Chittenden (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central HS).
Up next, Louisville returns home to host No. 1 Vanderbilt on Tuesday at 6 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. It will be "Patriotic Night" at the ballpark and fans are encouraged to wear their Red, White and Blue in support of the event.
Louisville Notes
- Despite Saturday's loss, Louisville holds a 10-6 advantage in the all-time series with Seton Hall. The Pirates have won four straight in the series and five of the last six in South Orange.
- Louisville has lost eight straight overall on the road with its last win away from home coming on April 9 at Cincinnati. Overall, the Cardinals are just 7-12 in true road games this season.
- The Cardinals have been outscored 41-16 in the first inning this season, including a 2-0 deficit on Saturday.
- Seton Hall won Saturday's series finale despite committing five errors, the most for a Louisville opponent this season.
- With their two runs in the second inning, the Cardinals ended a stretch of 34.2 straight innings without scoring going back to the third inning of Wednesday's loss to Eastern Michigan.
