TicketsMay 19, 2009
CLEARWATER, Fla. - After falling behind 6-0 in the first inning, the University of Cincinnati baseball team chipped away at the University of Louisville lead, but six more runs in the Cardinals seventh inning gave top-seeded Louisville the 12-2 seven-inning triumph in the opening round of the 2009 BIG EAST Conference Tournament. The loss dropped UC to 29-28 overall and improved Louisville to 41-14.
Junior Lance Durham (Forest Park, Ohio/Roger Bacon) led UC with two hits and scored one run for the Bearcats.
Louisville jumped on top early as six hits coupled with one costly UC error helped the Cardinals jump on top 6-0 through one inning.
After the troubled start, senior Michael Hill (Proctorville, Ohio/Fairland) kept the top-seeded Cardinals in check allowing just four hits in the next five innings to keep Cincinnati in the ball game.
In the top of the seventh, back-to-back singles by Durham and senior Mike Spina (Newberry, Fla./Newberry) and a walk to senior Cameron Satterwhite (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) loaded the bases with no outs. Consecutive RBI ground outs by freshman pinch-hitter Kendal Coleman (Hillsboro, Ohio/Hillsboro) and sophomore Justin Riddell (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) closed the deficit to 6-2.
Just as UC chopped its deficit to four runs, the Cardinals responded in their half of the seventh on a RBI bases loaded a walk, a two-RBI double, and a three-run home run by Jeff Arnold, giving the Cardinals a 12-2 lead. Due to the 10-run Cardinals lead at that point, the game ended in a 12-2 loss.
For Louisville, Derek Self pitched six innings to earn his sixth win of the season, while Jeff Arnold led the Cardinals at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance and four RBI.
Cincinnati returns to the field on Wednesday, May 20, at 1 p.m. when the Bearcats take on St. John's. The Red Storm lost their opener of the tournament to Notre, Dame, 14-5. During the regular-season, UC took two-of-three games at St. John's.