By Benjamin Lampkin
After an unearned run by the Cardinals nearly ruined a pitcher’s duel between the University of Louisville and Evansville Wednesday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium, Josh Bolen belted his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth to send it into extra innings.
In the tenth, Mark Jurich stepped in with two outs and drilled a single to right, scoring J.T. LaFountain from third and giving the Cards a 2-1 win, marking their second straight extra-inning victory.
Starter Mike Eilers was taken out in the top of the first after loading the bases with one out, but reliever Scott Barber stepped in to induce the double-play to end the threat. Barber tossed five innings of shutout ball heading into the top of the seventh, when disaster struck.
With two outs, facing Evansville shortstop Courtney Campbell, Barber fielded Campbell’s comebacker cleanly. However, his throw to first sailed over the head of Morgan Bojorquez, and Campbell was able to advance to second on the error. Centerfielder Joey Vandever’s double scored Campbell, giving the Aces (10-9) a 1-0 lead.
Barber closed out the seventh but was replaced in the eighth by Grant Williams. Barber tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and one unearned run while striking out six.
The Cardinals were unable to get things going offensively until the bottom of the ninth. Facing an 0-1 count, Bolen blasted the offering from Andrew Arreola deep into the seats in right to tie the score at 1-1. Arreola was able to get out of the rest of the ninth unscathed, but the damage had been done.
Josh Ring pitched a 1-2-3 tenth, and the Cards looked to end things quickly in the extra frame. Leadoff hitter LaFountain ripped a one-out double down the line in right, and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Mike Budak. Up stepped rightfielder Mark Jurich, who sent an 0-1 pitch screaming to the gap in right center, easily scoring LaFountain from third and giving the Cardinals a 2-1 win, their fifth this season coming in the final at bat.
Closer Josh Ring picked up his third win of the season in relief. LaFountain and Jurich each had three hits on the afternoon, tying them for the team lead with nine multi-hit games apiece. U of L outhit Evansville 10-6.
The win gave the Cards a 17-4 mark, equalling the 1984 squad’s record through the first 21 games as the best start in school history.
South Florida completed a three-game sweep over Louisville with a 7-2 win on Sunday in Tampa. Both teams are part of a five-way tie for second place in Conference USA with 6-3 records, Louisville falls to 17-6 overall while USF is now 17-11.
In the series opener on Friday, the Cards started out with a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on back-to-back singles by Mark Jurich and Morgan Bojorquez. But the Bulls cut the lead to one on an RBI groundout in the bottom half of the 1st, then tied the score at two in the bottom of the second.
Mike Budak belted his second home run of the season over the wall in center to give U of L a 3-2 lead. It was short-lived, however, when in the bottom of the third starter Mike Tisdale loaded the bases, then gave up a grand slam to Kris Courier, as South Florida led 6-3 at that point.
The Cards were able to close the gap to 6-5 after Josh Bolen collected RBI’s in the sixth and seventh. But the Bulls pulled away with three runs in the seventh, giving them a 9-5 lead.
The Cards produced a mini-rally in the eighth when they put together three consecutive hits. But after pulling to within two at 9-7, the rally ended.
The Cards collected 20 hits, their most since April 13 last season. Tisdale (3-1) took the loss after giving up six runs and nine hits. Jurich led the Cards with four hits, while LaFountain, Budak, and DH Ken Tirpack each had three hits on the afternoon.
On Saturday, South Florida had a seven-run seventh inning to pull ahead for the 10-7 win.
The Bulls took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but the Cards struck back with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth to tie the score at three apiece. In the seventh, Morgan Bojorquez blasted a two-run jack to give U of L a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, a bases load comebacker to pitcher Josh Ring resulted in a wild throw to home, and two runs scored to tie things at 5-5. The Bulls collected three more runs before centerfielder Mike Barclay blasted a two-run homer to give the Bulls a 10-5 lead.
The Cards managed to plate two more runs before ending the rally, losing 10-7.
Starter Zack Jackson pitched solid in 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs and six hits while striking out five. Ring took the loss, giving up seven runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
LaFountain, Jurich, Tirpack, and Fernando Isa each had two hits on the day.
In the rubber match of the series on Sunday, U of L fell behind 3-0 in the second inning before plating a run in the fourth. South Florida got back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.
The subsequent two innings produced two more runs, and the Cards were only able to scrape together a single run the rest of the way, falling 7-2.
Carlos Fernandez (2-1) took the loss, surrendering five runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 1/3 inning. Ken Tirpack had two of only five Cardinals hits on the day.
The Cards are now part of a five-way tie for second place in Conference USA with a 6-3 mark. Their overall record stands at 17-7 on the young season.
The Cards will host Cincinnati for a three-game weekend set against the Bearcats beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium. All Cardinal baseball games are free to the public.
