Green Throws Eight Dominant Innings, Widdersheim Earns Win

STORRS, Conn. - Junior righthander Chad Green threw eight dominant innings while fellow juniors Jeff Gardner and Cole Sturgeon led the offense as the No. 10 Louisville baseball team claimed an 8-0 win over Connecticut in game one of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at J.O. Christian Field.

Green (Effingham, Ill./Effingham HS) struck out six while allowing just three hits and only two walks to win his third straight start and lead the Cardinals (40-10, 15-4 BIG EAST) to their 10th consecutive win, the longest such streak of the season. Delivering his second straight shutout performance, Green has worked a career-best 15.1 consecutive scoreless innings while improving to 8-2 overall and lowering his ERA to 1.73.

At the plate, Gardner (Louisville, Ky./Whitefield Academy) was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBI and a run scored, while Sturgeon was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run.After watching his teammates earn a shutout victory in Saturday’s doubleheader opener, junior righty Jeff Thompson delivered his own strong performance pitching eight scoreless innings to lead the 10th-ranked Louisville baseball team to a 6-0 victory over Connecticut in the nightcap at J.O. Christian Field.

Thompson (Greenville, Ind./Floyd Central HS) struck out seven while allowing only four hits as he won his third straight decision and improved to 9-1 on the season. The eight innings match a career-long for Thompson, who earned his seventh scoreless outing of the season. He has also struck out seven or more in seven in of his 13 starts in 2013.

Freshman righty Jonah Philley (Louisville, Ky./Eastern HS) and junior lefty Cody Ege (Cherokee, Iowa/Washington HS) combined with Thompson to complete the Cardinals’ third shutout of the week and their fourth in the last seven games. Riding a stretch of 23 straight shutout innings, the Cardinals earned back-to-back shutout wins for the second time this season. In four games this week, Louisville has held its opponents scoreless in 35 of 36 innings.

The 10th-ranked Louisville baseball team completed its ninth series sweep of the season while clinching head coach Dan McDonnell’s 300th career win with Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Connecticut at J.O. Christian Field.

With their 12th straight win overall, which ranks just one shy of the school record, the Cardinals improved to 42-10 on the season and 17-4 in BIG EAST Conference games, while the host Huskies dropped to 28-24 and 9-15. Having equaled the 12-game winning streak first achieved during the 2006 season, the 2013 Cardinals will look to match the 13 consecutive wins set by the 2010 team when they visit Ohio State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., ET in a nationally televised matchup on the Big Ten Network.

MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Panther baseball team completed the Ohio Valley Conference series sweep of Morehead State on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Eagles, 6-5, at Allen Field.

Trailing 4-3 heading into the ninth inning, the Panthers (20-26, 9-16 OVC) scored three runs on one hit and two errors to take two-run lead. Cameron Berra drove in the first two runs with a single to right field before Brant Valach scored the final run on a Jacob Reese sacrifice fly to centerfield.

“I was happy with how we came from behind in two games to win this weekend,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “I am proud of how the guys came to play even though we were already eliminated from the conference tournament. Overall, we put it all together with good pitching, defense and clutch hitting.”

The Eagles (15-37, 9-18 OVC) scored one run in the bottom of the ninth inning on one hit and an error to get within one (6-5), but Panther reliever Ben Kennedy struck out the final batter to preserve the win and post his first career save. All told, the Panthers used three pitchers in the final inning of play that combined to allow two hits and one run with two strikeouts.

 

EIU Earns Two Victories

MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Panther baseball team earned two wins on Saturday afternoon at Morehead State in Ohio Valley Conference action. The series finale is slated for noon on Sunday, May 12.

EIU improves to 19-26 overall and 8-16 in conference action while Morehead State drops to 15-36 on the year and 9-17 in OVC play.

Game 1: EIU 9, Morehead State 7

After having the series opener suspended in the third inning on Friday night with the Panthers trailing 5-1, EIU responded nearly 24 hours later to comeback and earn a 9-7 victory.

Treysen Vavra cut the Panthers deficit to three (5-2) when the game resumed with a sacrifice fly to right field in the third inning. EIU added seven unanswered runs over the next six innings, making the score 9-5. The Eagles scored two runs on two hits in the bottom of the ninth inning to get within two (9-7), but Panther relief pitcher Garrison Stenger struck out the final two batters to end the rally.

EIU had seven more hits (18-11) than Morehead State and left three more runners on base (12-9). The Eagles had two errors in the contest while the Panthers did not have any miscues.

Vavra led the Panther offense as the junior infielder went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs and two home runs. Brant Valach went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI while Nick Priessman went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs.

Jaden Widdersheim (4-3), Stewardson-Strasburg graduate earned the win for EIU, striking out two and only allowing four hits in 5.1 scoreless innings of relief. Stenger posted his second save of the year in the win, surrendering two runs with two strikeouts in the final 1.2 innings of play.

Noah Smallwood (1-6) took the loss for the Eagles, striking out five while allowing six runs and 12 hits in six innings of work. Andy Mocahbee led the team at the plate as he went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.

Game 2: EIU 7, Morehead State 2

Joe Greenfield (3-6) posted his fourth complete game of the season on Saturday afternoon, leading the Panthers to a 7-2 win over the Eagles. The junior pitcher had seven strikeouts without issuing a walk while only allowing five hits and two runs.

In the top of the second inning, Cameron Berra hit a two-run homer to give EIU an early 2-0 lead. Valach hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to make the score 3-0 before the Panthers added three runs on five hits in the next inning, taking a 6-0 advantage. Morehead State cut its deficit to four (6-2) in the bottom of the frame as the Eagles scored two runs on two hits.