By Dalton Ray–

With a trip to the ACC semifinals on the line, baseball dropped a 4-2 game to Florida State. Their third loss of the year to FSU, U of L struggled offensively by only recording four hits.

“Another tough day for us against Florida State, give them credit,” assistant coach Roger Williams said. “They got some timely hits and made nice plays when they needed to. Thought our guys battle … it got away from us late.”

Star junior Brendan McKay said he is concerned, but that it’s part of the game and the team must adjust.

“Everybody hits a bump in the road, honestly. It’s just something that happens. It’s a long season – it’s a grind,” McKay said. “It’s a little different now that’s it the later half of the season and you’re out of school. It’s tough to not think about other things when you have all that free time … we have practice and then you’re free from 5 p.m. until when you go to bed.”

Cards suffer deja-vu 

Like their two losses at the end of the regular season, Louisville couldn’t keep the Seminoles from crossing the plate early.

With runners on second and third in the first inning, FSU scored one run on a wild pitch. The next batter, Quincey Nieporte, doubled to right field and scored another run.

The Cards scored in the bottom of the third through sophomore Josh Stowers, but Florida State answered back.

With two on and no outs in the top of the fourth, a single drove home a runner. Stowers fielded the ball in right field but overthrew the play at the plate, allowing a second run to cross.

Snowball affect 

Junior catcher Colby Fitch missed his second straight game, leading to freshman Pat Rumoro starting. U of L suffered their second injury in the first inning when Colin Lyman laid out for a ball and missed.

Louisville’s offensive strength, depth, became an issue within one inning. The 7-8-9 spots became a liability at the plate, with the best average being .227.

Alongside little items adding up, defensive miscues hurt the Cardinals. The first four runs were made by U of L mistakes.

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

McKay was the only non-freshman to get a hit. The Cardinals’ vets went 0-for-22 at the worst possible time for Louisville.

Photo by Dalton Ray / The Louisville Cardinal