University of Louisville
Alabama
No. 14 Baseball Falls 7-6 at Alabama
March 10, 2012 | Baseball
March 10, 2012
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Late miscues prove costly as the 14th-ranked Louisville baseball team dropped a disappointing 7-6 decision to the host Crimson Tide during day two of the DRASH Alabama Classic on Saturday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Senior first baseman Stewart Ijames (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic HS) led the offense for the Cardinals (10-4) going 3-for-4 with his team-leading fifth home run of the season and two RBI. Junior second baseman Nick Ratajczak (Joliet, Ill./Gulf Coast CC) added two hits, an RBI and one run, while sophomore outfielder Adam Engel (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) had two hits and scored twice in the loss.
After overcoming a three-run deficit to even the score at 6-6, the Cardinals missed on a chance to regain the lead because of a base-running mistake in the top of the eighth and then committed a fielding error in the bottom of the frame, which allowed the eventual winning run to reach base. The Cardinals started the three-run rally in the seventh inning when Ijames connected for the solo home run, a moon-ball over the wall in right center to cut the deficit to 6-4.
The rally continued in the eighth when sophomore outfielder Cole Sturgeon (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic HS) earned a one-out single before moving to second on a balk by Alabama reliever Justin Kamplain and then taking third on a wild pitch. After Engel reached base with a walk, the Cardinals plated their first run of the inning when Sturgeon scored from third after Engel successfully escaped a rundown following a pickoff attempt. After moving to third on a throwing error by first baseman Cary Baxter as he attempted to throw out Sturgeon at home, Engel scored on an RBI single up the middle by Ratajczak to tie it at 6-6.
The inning continued when sophomore outfielder Jeff Gardner (Louisville, Ky./Whitefield Academy) reaching base on a fielding error by Alabama second baseman Kenny Roberts. After Kamplain was replaced on the mound by Jake Hubbard, Ijames flew out to deep right center for the second out of the eighth. As Ratajczak tagged to move from second to third on the flyout, Gardner unsuccessfully attempted to move from first to second and was called out to end the Louisville threat with the go-ahead run at third.
As the game moved to the bottom of the eighth, junior right-hander Matt Koch (Cherokee, Iowa/Washington HS) came in from the Cardinals' bullpen. Following a strikeout of third baseman Brett Booth to begin the inning, Koch forced leftfielder Hunter Gregory into a groundball to Ijames at first. After a backhand stop of the grounder, Ijames made an accurate throw to Koch, who was unable to handle it as he attempted to cover first and allowed Gregory to reach base.
Crimson Tide outfielder Taylor Dugas followed with a single to left center, which allowed Gregory to move to third. Designated hitter Jon Kelton followed with an RBI bunt single to plate Gregory for the game-winning run. Hubbard closed the game out in the ninth with two groundouts and a flyout to earn the win after 1.2 innings of shutout relief and improved to 2-0 overall.
Koch took the loss after allowing one unearned run on two hits in his one inning of relief to fall to 0-1 overall. Sophomore righty starter Jeff Thompson (Greenville, Ind./Floyd Central HS) struggled in his shortest outing of the season for the Cardinals allowing five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in 4.0+ innings. He was followed by sophomore righty Dace Kime (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance HS), who allowed one run on just one hit with two strikeouts in 3.0 innings of relief before giving way to Koch.
Louisville opened the scoring in the first inning of Saturday's game as Ratajczak was hit by a pitch from Alabama starter Taylor Guilbeau, moved to second on a throwing error by Guilbeau and then scored on an RBI single by Ijames for the 1-0 lead.
After Alabama evened the score at 1-1 in the second on an RBI groundout by outfielder Andrew Miller, the Cardinals moved back ahead in the third inning with two runs on three hits off Gulibeau. Engel started the inning with a single down the left field line. After moving to second on a single by Ratajczak and advancing to third on a groundout by Gardner, Engel scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch. Later in the third, Ijames took advantage of a walk and the wild pitch by scoring from second on an RBI single by sophomore third baseman Ty Young (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep) for the 3-1 lead.
After loading the bases in the fourth against Thompson, the Crimson Tide scored two runs to even it at 3-3 following an RBI single from Gregory and an RBI hit-by-pitch for Dugas. An inning later, Alabama gained its first lead of the game with three more runs on three hits. Catcher Ben Moore had an RBI single and Booth added an RBI grounder, while Baxter plated the final run in the fifth scoring from third on a wild pitch by Kime.
On the mound for Alabama, Gulibeau took the no-decision after allowing three runs, including two earned, on eight hits with two strikeouts and four walks in six innings pitched. He was followed by Kamplain, who allowed one earned run and three total runs on three hits in his 1.1 innings of relief before turning it over to Hubbard.
The Cardinals will conclude the Alabama Classic on Sunday at 11 a.m., ET against No. 29 East Carolina.
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
