University of Louisville
CONNECTICUT
No. 20 Baseball Drops Finale to UConn with Late Stumble
April 29, 2012 | Baseball
April 29, 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A late rally was the difference as the 20th-ranked Louisville baseball team surrendered six runs in the final two innings of a 7-4 loss to visiting Connecticut on Sunday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium.
With the loss in the final game of the weekend series, the Cardinals dropped to 31-13 overall and 12-6 in BIG EAST Conference action, while Connecticut improved to 24-20 overall and 12-6 in league games by salvaging a win in the series. After Sunday's action, Louisville is tied for second in the BIG EAST standings with UConn and USF two games behind first-place St. John's.
Trailing 3-1 after seven innings, the Huskies managed to pull even in the eighth on RBI infield singles by catcher Connor David and outfielder Billy Ferriter. After Louisville regained the lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth when pinch hitter Shane Crain (Lexington, Ky./Wabash Valley CC) was hit by a pitch from reliever Scott Oberg with the bases loaded, UConn moved back ahead for good in the ninth scoring four runs on four hits against Louisville junior righty Matt Koch (Cherokee, Iowa/Washington HS). It marked the first time this season the Cardinals have lost when leading after the seventh inning.
The end result on Sunday was especially frustrating for the Cardinals, who were two innings away from their second BIG EAST series sweep of the season and the first since March 23-25 against Cincinnati. Louisville earned commanding wins in the opening two games of the weekend (5-0, 14-6) and controlled Sunday's finale for the first seven innings only to see it slip away.
U of L opened the scoring early on Sunday plating two runs in the first inning against UConn starter Anthony Marzi. After a leadoff double, sophomore outfielder Cole Sturgeon (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic HS) scored on an RBI single by second Nick Ratajczak (Joliet, Ill./Gulf Coast CC) for the first run of the inning. Later in the frame, Ratajczak scored from third on an RBI groundout by freshman Mason Snyder (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette Academy) for the 2-0 lead. Ratajczak had a good day at the plate for Louisville finishing 3-for-5 overall with two runs and an RBI but was the only Cardinal with more than one hit.
The Huskies broke through for their first run of the day in the top of the sixth as third baseman Ryan Fuller led off with a double against U of L starter Jared Ruxer (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central HS) and then scored on an RBI single by shortstop Tom Verdi against senior reliever Travis Tingle (Louisville, Ky./Cleveland State CC) to cut the deficit to 2-1. However, the Cardinals answered with a run in the bottom of the frame as sophomore infielder Ty Young (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep) was hit by a pitch from Marzi to start the inning, moved to second with his 12th stolen base of the season and then scored on an RBI double by senior Stewart Ijames (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic HS) off reliever Dan Feehan for the 3-1 lead.
Following a scoreless seventh inning, UConn tied the score in the eighth on the RBI singles by David and Ferriter. The inning started with outfielder Stanley Paul being hit by a pitch from Sturgeon, who started the inning in relief of Tingle. Verdi followed by reaching base with a walk and both players advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Ryan Moore to set the stage for the RBI hits.
Louisville rallied to regain the lead in the bottom of the eighth as Ratajczak led off with a single off Feehan and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman infielder Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky./Butler HS) against Oberg. After an intentional walk to Young, Zak Wasserman (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore HS) followed with a groundout to the right side to advance Ratajczak to third and Young to second with two outs. Another intentional walk, this one to Ijames, loaded the bases before Crain was hit by the first pitch of the at-bat from Oberg to score Ratajczak for a 4-3 Cards' advantage.
Koch then entered from the Louisville bullpen and was greeted by back-to-back singles from second baseman L.J. Mazzilli and Fuller. After a sac bunt from Paul, Verdi was hit by a pitch from Koch to load the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Jon Testani followed with a two-run double to left field to score Mazzilli and Fuller for UConn's first lead of the day. The Huskies added two more runs later in the inning on a two-run single by outfielder Eric Yavarone for the 7-4 lead. Oberg then worked a perfect ninth inning to end the day.
On the mound, neither starter earned a decision as Ruxer allowed just one run on six hits with one strikeout in 5.0+ innings of work for U of L, while Marzi allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings for the Huskies. Koch took the loss for the Cardinals and dropped to 0-2 on the season after allowing four runs on four hits in 1.0 inning of relief, while Oberg earned the win and improved to 5-0 with 2.0 innings of shutout relief.
Up next, Louisville begins a five-game road stretch with a midweek game against Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 7 p.m., ET at Bowling Green Ballpark, the home facility of the Bowling Green Hot Rods professional baseball team. It will mark the second straight season the Cardinals and Hilltoppers have played in the facility.
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