College Roundup From April 5-7

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Published on April 1 2013 10:13 am
Last Updated on April 1 2013 10:13 am
Written by Millie Lange

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior first baseman Zak Wasserman’s RBI sacrifice fly to deep left field scored junior outfielder Coco Johnson in the ninth inning to lift the No. 10 Louisville baseball team to a series-clinching 2-1 walk-off win over 15th-ranked Notre Dame on Friday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 21-5 overall and 3-2 BIG EAST Conference games while becoming the first team this season to win a weekend series against the Fighting Irish, who dropped to 15-8 on the season and 2-3 in league action.

After starting the ninth inning with a double to centerfield off Notre Dame closer Dan Slania, junior third baseman Ty Young (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep) moved to third on a bunt single by Johnson. Moments later, Johnson advanced to third when Young was tagged out in a run-down following a groundball off the bat of junior outfielder Cole Sturgeon (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic HS), who reached second on the play. After freshman Danny Rosenbaum (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh HS) was intentionally walked to load the bases, Wasserman sent a 1-2 pitch from Slania to deep right field allowing Johnson to score the game-winner.

A rugged stretch of four consecutive games in as many days started in bitter disappointment for the Louisville baseball team but ended in utter satisfaction.

On Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium, the 10th-ranked Cardinals completed a three-game series sweep of No. 15 Notre Dame with a 10-5 victory that featured a few stellar defensive plays, clutch two-out hitting in a seventh-inning outburst and timely relief pitching to back a solid outing by freshman righty Anthony Kidston.

With Louisville's first sweep in BIG EAST play since the conference-opening series last season against Cincinnati, the Cardinals improved to 22-5 overall and 4-2 in league action while the Fighting Irish dropped to 15-9 and 2-4. The game was tense until Louisville broke loose with six runs in the seventh inning, all with two outs. That siege tempered the grand slam hit by Notre Dame pinch hitter Phil Mosey in the eighth and sent the Cardinals to their fourth three-game sweep of an opponent this season, this time a resilient effort after a Wednesday loss at No. 19 Indiana.


Jacksonville State 2, Eastern Illinois 1

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Stephen Bartlett hit a walk-off solo home run to give the Jacksonville State baseball team a 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois and complete the series sweep over the Panthers in Ohio Valley Conference action on Saturday afternoon. EIU drops to 6-18 overall and 0-8 in conference play.

“It was a great game,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “Matt Borens pitched really well and we played outstanding defense. Overall, it was another tough loss.”

Jacob Reese gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single to left field, scoring Demetre Taylor. The Gamecocks (14-14, 8-3 OVC) knotted the game at one in the seventh inning on an Eddie Mora-Loera RBI single to left centerfield.

EIU had one more hit (8-7) than JSU and left two fewer runners on base (8-6). Neither team committed an error in the contest.