Louisville Baseball Fall Notebook - Oct. 7
October 07, 2013 | Baseball
Oct. 7, 2013
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Week four of the Louisville baseball team's fall workouts concluded last weekend with a pair of scrimmages highlighted by Friday's Scout Day activities at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Cardinals opened the weekend on Thursday afternoon with the Red squad earning a 10-5 victory in 10 innings. On Friday, the Black team picked up a 7-0 win in seven innings to conclude Louisville's annual Scout Day schedule.
Friday's Scout Day started with the 60-yard dash for all position players as more than 30 representatives from nearly every Major League Baseball organization covered the day's activities. That was followed by the typical pregame schedule of batting practice and infield/outfield prior to first pitch of the open scrimmage.
The Cardinals are scheduled to host weekend scrimmages for two more weeks before concluding full-squad workouts in mid-October. Dates and times for those future scrimmages as well as the annual Pizza Bowl series will be announced in the coming days.
Pitching Highlights
In Thursday's opener, freshman righthander Jake Sparger had three strikeouts in two shutout innings, while freshman lefty Drew Harrington added two strikeouts in two innings of scoreless relief for the Red team. For the Black squad, freshman righty Mason Richardson had four strikeouts in two scoreless innings, while sophomore righthander Jordan Simons added a pair of shutout innings of work with one strikeout.
On Friday, junior righty Jared Ruxer had two strikeouts in two strong innings of shutout work for the Black team, while junior lefty Kyle McGrath followed with a pair of strikeouts in two scoreless innings of relief. Junior righthander Nick Burdi closed the game for the Black squad by striking out the side in a perfect inning of work. For the Red team, junior lefthander Joe Filomeno had three strikeouts in two innings in the starting role.
Offensive Highlights
At the plate last weekend, senior outfielder Jeff Gardner had three hits, three walks, three RBI and four runs scored in the two scrimmages. Freshman utility player Will Smith was 3-for-7 with five RBI, two runs, two stolen bases and a walk, while freshman outfielder Logan Taylor was 4-for-7 with a walk and a run scored. On Thursday, sophomore infielder Danny Rosenbaum was 2-for-6 with a double, three RBI and a run scored, while Sturgeon was 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Freshman infielder Blake Tiberi chipped in with two hits and a run, while freshman outfielder Corey Ray added two hits and a RBI.
About Louisville Baseball
Directed by head coach Dan McDonnell, who is entering his eighth season at the helm, Louisville returns 19 letterwinners from last year's squad, which won a school record 51 games, the program's fourth regular season conference title in five seasons and hosted NCAA postseason games for the fourth time. The Cardinals capped the season by defeating No. 2 national seed Vanderbilt in the Nashville Super Regional to clinch the program's second College World Series berth and a No. 8 national ranking.
Among the top returnees for Louisville for the 2014 season are senior captains and All-Conference standouts Jeff Gardner and Cole Sturgeon, junior righty pitcher and All-American Nick Burdi, All-Conference shortstop Sutton Whiting, senior catching duo Shane Crain and Kyle Gibson and Freshman All-American pitchers Kyle Funkhouser and Anthony Kidston. A strong group of experienced upperclassmen including the likes of infielders Alex Chittenden, Zach Lucas and Danny Rosenbaum, outfielder Mike White and pitchers Jared Ruxer, Kyle McGrath and Joe Filomeno are joined by a deep and talented set of newcomers setting the stage for an entertaining fall and spring on the baseball diamond for the Cardinals.
In his seven seasons guiding the Louisville baseball program, McDonnell has placed the Cardinals among the nation's elite with two College World Series berths, three NCAA Super Regional appearances, six NCAA Regional bids, four conference regular season titles, two conference tournament titles and 309 wins overall.
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
