Louisville Baseball Spotlight: 2012 Seniors
May 14, 2012 | Baseball
May 14, 2012
Feature by Adam Pruiett, UofLsports.com
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville baseball coach Dan McDonnell likes to refer to Justin Amlung as the "bell cow" for his prowess and placement among the pitching staff. If you stuck with the animal theme in evaluating the Cardinals' collection of seniors, it would be easy to dub them "The Four Horsemen," which makes particularly good sense with Churchill Downs' close proximity to Jim Patterson Stadium.
"You're talking four high-profile seniors," McDonnell said. "It's not common in college baseball. Three of them (Amlung, Stewart Ijames and Derek Self) have been drafted. The other one (Travis Tingle) I think is going to get drafted, so you've got four talented kids that want to go out on top. They've all individually had great careers and a lot of them have done special things as a team."
Tuesday will mark the final time the foursome plays a regular-season game at Jim Patterson Stadium. They will be honored prior to Louisville's 6:05 p.m., ET contest with Morehead State. The group has a unique bond with UofL and the community: all four are products of high schools in the state.
"It hasn't hit me yet, but it will just be overwhelming," said Self (Cave City, Ky./Caverna HS), the team's closer. "Time flew by. It doesn't seem like four years. I've always had lots of great memories on this field. We've accomplished a lot."
And they're not finished yet. Louisville (35-17) is chasing another 40-win season under McDonnell and, more importantly, the No. 22 Cardinals are only a game behind league-leading St. John's in the BIG EAST Conference standings after taking two of three from the Red Storm over the weekend. Louisville will look to build even more momentum against Morehead State (25-24) before departing for Pittsburgh and the final conference series of the season, which hopefully ends with the Cardinals' first regular-season conference title since 2010.
"It's going to be very bittersweet," Ijames, the team's first baseman/rightfielder, said of Tuesday night's ceremony. "I've been here long enough to say I've accomplished a lot of things, but there's still a lot more that this team can do. I don't want to leave, but it's on to the next thing, whatever life brings me."
Life with the Louisville baseball team, especially this season, has been made easier because of the four. Amlung (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier HS) was the BIG EAST's Preseason Pitcher of the Year and has more than lived up to that billing, compiling a miniscule 1.99 ERA with 91 strikeouts and an 8-3 record that actually doesn't do him justice considering how dominant he has been. The right-hander is second on Louisville's all-time list for career pitching victories with 23 and sixth in strikeouts with 226.
Amlung, a First Team All-BIG EAST pick last season, noted the sentimentality of playing his final regular-season game at Jim Patterson Stadium before noting the excitement of a future beyond the college diamond. Amlung is a redshirt junior who graduates with an engineering degree. He's a cinch to get drafted by a big league team and is expected to sign a professional contract, thus the Cardinals have every intention of honoring him Tuesday.
"It will be bittersweet," Amlung said, "but, after four years, it's almost kind of like high school where you know it's going to end and it's been fun, but you are ready to move on and see what else there is for you."
Ijames is a fifth-year senior who built a reputation as one of the most feared hitters in the BIG EAST. A heralded recruit out of Owensboro Catholic High School in Kentucky, he's sixth on Louisville's all-time home run list with 45 and third with 203 RBI. Ijames, a three-time All-BIG EAST selection and a Freshman All-American, has followed suit this season by bashing a team-best 12 homers to go along with a team-leading 56 RBI.
Self has been nothing short of selfless in his Louisville tenure. He's been asked to fill nearly every role conceivable on the Louisville pitching staff and has done so with success and without complaint. The right-hander began his career 16-0 before finally suffering a loss. His resume includes 92 appearances, including 16 starts, and he leads the Cardinals this season with seven saves.
Tingle (Louisville, Ky./Cleveland State CC) transferred to Louisville last season after playing two years of junior college baseball. An injury hindered him early in the year, but the right-hander became a vital member of the pitching staff, tallying three wins and a 2.60 ERA in 19 appearances, including five starts. He was the Cardinals' No. 3 starter for much of this season before moving into the bullpen. Tingle has been effective in both roles, going 5-3 in 18 outings, half of them starts.
Tingle played in several games at Jim Patterson Stadium in high school before joining the Cardinals after his JUCO stint.
"As a team," he said, "I couldn't ask for another group of guys to go through my senior year with."
McDonnell couldn't ask for a better group of seniors to go through 2012 with.
"Two of them are captains in Self and Tingle," McDonnell said. "We say Ijames is the captain of the hitters because he hangs out in the cages, he's the grandfather of the offense, and the wise one, and he's been through the ups and downs of college baseball, so the kids really lean on him. Amlung has done it by his actions. Here's a kid in the (J.B.) Speed School (of Engineering) getting an engineering degree having success (on the field) in the summer.
"I kind of felt like all year that was our mantra - the four special seniors - and they've done a great job because we're still a young team."
