University of Louisville
UCF
Cardinals Drop Series-Opener at UCF, 8-2
April 17, 2014 | Baseball
April 17, 2014
Junior second baseman Zach Lucas was 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI in Thursday's opener at UCF.
ORLANDO, Fla. - The seventh-ranked Louisville baseball team struggled out of the gates on Thursday afternoon falling 8-2 to UCF in the first game of a series-opening doubleheader at the UCF Baseball Complex.
In a matchup of the top two teams in the American Conference standings, the Cardinals (27-10, 7-3 American) were unable to deliver on multiple opportunities at the plate early in the game and did not score until rallying for both runs with two outs in the ninth. On the mound, Louisville issued a season-high 11 walks and allowed 11 hits while the defense committed two fielding errors in a disappointing start to the weekend.
UCF (24-15, 11-2) plated the first run of the day without the benefit of a hit as a Louisville fielding error and three straight walks by sophomore righty Kyle Funkhouser (Oak Forest, Ill.) handed the Knights a 1-0 lead in the first inning. That was followed by five scoreless innings before the home squad added to the lead with a three-run seventh inning. After designated hitter Matt Diorio was hit by a pitch from freshman lefty Drew Harrington (Elizabethtown, Ky.) with the bases loaded to plate the first run, shortstop Tommy Williams followed with a two-run single up the middle to push the lead to 4-0.
An inning later, the Knights doubled their lead with a four-run eighth. After outfielder Erik Barber delivered a RBI bunt single down the third base line, first baseman James Vasquez connected for a three-run homer to right field. The Cardinals, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, plated a pair of runs in the ninth inning on a RBI single through the left side by junior second baseman Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.) and a RBI single up the middle by freshman Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.).
Lucas led the way for Louisville going 3-for-4 with a double, while junior first baseman Grant Kay (Omaha, Neb.) chipped in with a pair of hits. On the mound, Funkhouser suffered his second loss of the season after winning six straight starts and dropped to 7-2 overall allowing only an unearned run on three hits and a career-high eight walks in 5.2 innings.
UCF lefty starter Eric Skoglund controlled the Cardinals until the late rally in the ninth prevented him from earning his third complete game of the season. However, he did earn the win to improve to 6-1 on the season after allowing two runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
Game two of the Thursday doubleheader was scheduled to begin 45 minutes following the completion of the opener. Possible inclement weather on Friday led to the schedule change on Thursday. The teams will attempt to complete the series on Friday at 6:30 p.m. If weather forces a delay, the series will close on Saturday at 11 a.m.
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