LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Even for a team riding the “energy bus,” sometimes fuel is expensive and hard to come by. In a Saturday NCAA Regional game in which Michigan got to starter Jared Poland for back-to-back 2-out home runs in the third inning, the Louisville baseball team couldn’t muster the timely hitting it needed to keep up and wound up dropping a 7-3 decision before a crowd of 3,547 at Jim Patterson stadium.
The back-to-back blows from Clark Elliott (a 2-run shot) and Joe Stewart took some wind out of the Louisville baseball team, and it never quite recovered, though it did put runners on base to create some chances throughout the game. The home runs came after Poland had cruised through the first 8 Michigan batters.
And now, Louisville is faced with needing to win three games, including a pair on Sunday beginning with a noon matchup against Oregon.
It's a position the Cardinals have managed before, but they’ll need to bounce back with more energy – and offense – than they showed on Saturday.
“Congratulations to Michigan. They are playing good. They are swinging it well and using their bullpen very effectively,” Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said. “. . . We missed opportunities early and we can't get those at bats back. We left five runners on in the first two innings, and it would be nice to put some runs on the board early and get the crowd into it, but again you have to give them credit. They played better than us. They earned it.”
Louisville's Isaac Humphrey can't snag a home run ball in the third inning of Louisville's 7-3 loss to Michigan in an NCAA Regional game.
Louisville left 12 runners on base. It left the bases loaded in the second inning, and left two runners on base in the first, sixth, seventh and eighth. It went 4-19 with runners on base. With two outs, the Cards went 2 for 12 with 3 walks.
“We had opportunities and we couldn't get the big hit, and they did,” McDonnell said. “The momentum and energy swings to their side. We had opportunities throughout the game. Even when we were down, we cut it to 3-2 and then they go up 5-2, and we got runners on base and then even when they go up 7-2, we got the tying run either on deck or in the hole almost every inning, outside of the ninth. We had opportunities but we just couldn't get a big hit. A lot of times we say one more bat, one more at bat is all you need to have a really good inning and we just couldn't get that one more at bat.”
Now the Cards find themselves in the tough position of needing to win three straight to stay alive. It can be done — especially at home — but McDonnell says his team is going to have to embrace the challenge.
“We have been playing playoff hockey now for weeks and it is to get ready for game seven like where we are at now,” McDonnell said. “We play Game 7 tomorrow at noon. I am going tell you what, I don't feel sorry for myself. Gosh, I hope my group doesn't feel sorry for themselves. We are one of 48 teams in the country that gets the chance to play tomorrow, out of 300 Division I teams, and 250 teams would swap places with us in a heartbeat so don't for one minute think I am going feel sorry for myself or I am going let these players feel sorry for themselves. I am fired up. I wish we were playing tonight because I want to get back out there and play again. I am looking forward to tomorrow, but we can't get ahead of ourselves so let’s win the first inning and let's get a two-out hit right in the first or second inning tomorrow.”
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