University of Louisville
USF
USF Holds Off No. 5 Louisville at American Championship
May 23, 2014 | Baseball
May 23, 2014
Josh Rogers suffered the loss on Friday despite his second straight quality start on the mound. (photo courtesy of Ben Solomon)
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Suffering its first setback of the postseason, the top-seeded and No. 5 ranked Louisville baseball team dropped a 2-1 decision to USF in its second game of pool play at the American Conference Championship on Friday at Bright House Field.
The Cardinals (44-14) will finish their Pool A schedule on Saturday at 3 p.m., ET against Rutgers (1-1 in Pool A). To advance to Sunday's title game (noon, ESPNU), Louisville must defeat the Scarlet Knights and then get help with a Memphis (1-1 in Pool A) victory over USF (27-30 overall, 1-1 in Pool A) on Saturday night.
For the second straight day in Clearwater and the third consecutive game overall, Louisville scored in the first inning after senior third baseman Alex Chittenden (Indianapolis, Ind.) delivered a RBI sacrifice fly to center off USF starter Jimmy Herget to plate freshman designated hitter Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) for the 1-0 lead. Solak kicked things off with an infield single and advanced to third on a single to right by senior outfielder Jeff Gardner (Louisville, Ky.) before scoring.
USF broke through for a run in the third inning on a RBI single to center by shortstop Kyle Teaf to plate outfielder Luke Maglich from second and even the score at 1-1. The scoring chance started when Louisville freshman starter Josh Rogers (New Albany, Ind.) issued a two-out walk to Maglich, who advanced to second on a single to left by outfielder Austin Lueck.
An inning later, the Bulls moved ahead for good at 2-1 in the fourth following a RBI single to left by Luke Borders to score third baseman Zac Gilcrease, who singled and moved to second on a sac bunt. That was all of the offense USF needed after Herget held Louisville scoreless over the final eight innings for the complete game victory. Overall, he allowed one run on six hits with six strikeouts to improve to 8-6 on the season.
Despite his second straight quality start for the Cardinals, Rogers was charged with the tough-luck loss and dropped to 2-3 on the season after allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts in six innings. Junior lefty Kyle McGrath (Louisville, Ky.) kept Louisville in the game with two strikeouts in two innings of shutout relief. At the plate, Solak earned his fourth straight two-hit performance going 2-for-4 with the run scored, while freshman outfielder Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in going 2-for-4 in the loss.
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