By Derek DeBurger

Louisville took down the top-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores to advance to the Regional finals.

A smattering of errors

Reigniting the Battle of the Barrel in postseason play gave the Cards a much needed flame to carry them.

Matt Klein started the game off in the first inning with a solo home run to give Louisville a 1-0 lead.

On defense, Tucker Biven got the start and came out wheeling and dealing. Biven only gave up one hit in his 4.2 innings of play.

However, his first mistake came in the third inning when he walked Mike Mancini. Then a first wild pitch got Mancini to second base, followed by another wild pitch where Mancini stole third. But no one fielded the ball, so Mancini was able to keep running all the way home to tie the game.

Biven walked the next batter, but after a mound visit from Roger Williams he settled down and got the Cards out of the inning.

The next action came in the fifth when Zion Rose opened up the inning with a solo shot to reclaim the lead. Tague Davis then hit a double one pitch later, and Vandy pulled their starter.

Kamau Neighbors advanced Davis on a sacrifice fly, then Lucas Moore sent Davis home on an error to give the Cards a two-run lead.

The bottom of the fifth was rough, but it could have been much worse.

Biven gave up a single, then a fielding error by Davis sent the runner to second base. Two batters later, RJ Austin hit a grounder right to third base, but Jake Munroe hesitated with who to go for.

The result was his semi-diving for the runner at third, then switching gears and throwing the ball to first base. But the throw was high and went into the dugout, sending Austin home on a ground-rule double and cutting the lead to one.

Louisville was able to escape the fifth inning before too much damage was done, but the offense failed to do much of anything.

The bullpen held their treaded water in the sixth inning, giving up two hits but no runs. And in the next two innings the Commodores went three up and three down.

The Cards failed to put up any insurance runs, and it was all down to the bottom of the ninth with a one-run lead.

Jake Schweitzer came in for the close opportunity, and he hit the leadoff batter after battling to a full count. But he settled in quickly, striking out the next two bats.

Mancini then hit a single to put runners on first and third, and putting Vandy one swing away from either tying or winning the game. But a groundout gave the Cards the last out of the game.

Louisville won 3-2.

All sails ahead

The fire of a rivalry is nothing to sneeze at, and the Cards lived up to the challenge.

Louisville came into the game as big underdogs in spite of beating Vandy once this season. Both outings Louisville won on the backs of their bullpen, one of their weaknesses throughout most of the season.

The pitching staff as a whole recorded 10 strikeouts to just five hits and two walks, and Vandy was held to 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. This is all while not giving up a single earned run, with both of the Commodores’ runs coming off of errors.

The bats didn’t do much, but they didn’t have to. Survive and advance is all there is to it.

Louisville advances to their 13th Regional final, all under Dan McDonnell.

Louisville will play the winner of the Vanderbilt-Wright State game on Sunday.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics