Louisville Eliminates No. 2 Seed Hurricanes, 8-7
June 3, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 3 seed Louisville pounded out 14 hits and held off a late Miami rally as the Cardinals eliminated the Hurricanes (37-24), 8-7, in the Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional. Senior catcher Richard O’Brien led the Canes going 3-for4 with his second home run of the regional.
Miami lost its first NCAA Regional since the 1993 season and the first since head coach Jim Morris took over as head coach in 1994.
UM Starter Eric Erickson fell to 10-4 as he allowed seven runs, six earned, on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings and struck out five. John Housey, David Gutierrez and Danny Gil combined to limit Louisville to one earned run in the final 3 2/3 innings. Roger Tomas and Mark Sobolewski each had two RBIs.
Zack Pitts (9-3) picked up the win for the Cardinals in relief as he tossed 2 1/3 innings allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits. Jorge Castillo finished 2-for-5 with four RBI. Boomer Whiting, Isaiah Howes, Pete Rodriguez and Derrick Alfonso each had two hits. Trystan Magnuson recorded his ninth save limiting the Hurricanes to one run on one hit in two innings.
Miami trailed 8-6 heading in the top of the eighth. Dennis Raben’s solo home run brought the Hurricanes within, 8-7. The Hurricanes had the tying run on in the top of the ninth with two outs. Magnuson recorded a strikeout and a groundout for the final two outs and the save.
Roger Tomas’ sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh allowed Dave DiNatale to score for bringing the Canes within, 8-6.
Louisville took an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth on Castillo’s RBI single to center field.
The Cardinals overcame a one-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Dominguez hit a two-run home run and Howes hit a run-scoring single putting Louisville ahead, 7-5.
Miami took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth. O’Brien doubled to center field and scored on an error tying the game, 4-4. Tomas singled to right field to score DiNatale for a one-run Miami lead.
A fielding error on a failed rundown in the bottom of the fourth allowed the Cardinals to take a 4-3 lead after Rodriguez doubled and stole third.
Miami tied the game in the top of the fourth on Mark Sobolewski’s two-run home run, 3-3. The Hurricanes cut their deficit to two runs in the top of the third on O’Brien’s solo home run to make it, 3-1.
Louisville loaded the bases in the bottom of the first on back-to-back singles and on a walk. One out later, Castillo hit a three-run double to the gap in right center putting Louisville ahead, 3-0.
Miami wrapped up its season 37-24 and 17-13 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
General Game Notes
With the win, Louisville advances to face the University of Missouri at 6:30 p.m. The Cardinals will need to win Sunday night’s game and then a 1 p.m. contest on Monday to advance in postseason play.With the loss by Miami, the Hurricanes are eliminated from NCAA Regional action and have their streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Regional titles snapped.
Miami Game Notes
Richard O’Brien connected on his fourth home run in his last five games when he ripped a solo shot to left field. The round-tripper was his second of the NCAA Regional and second vs. the Cardinals. O’Brien also hit a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning vs. Louisville on Friday.Like O’Brien, Mark Sobolewski hit his second home run of the NCAA Regional, hitting a game-tying two-run blast in the top of the fourth to knot the game at 3-3. Sobolewski led off the second inning of Saturday’s game vs. Kent State with a solo homer as well.Sobolewski increased his hitting steak to 11 games and finished the season hitting safely in 31 of his last 32 contests.Dennis Raben recorded his first home run of the Columbia Regional in the top of the eighth inning to narrow the Louisville lead to 8-7. The homer was Raben’s 12th of the season, which ranks second on the club.Miami finished the Columbia Regional with six home runs and five of the six homers were solo shots.The 4.1 innings of work for Miami starter Eric Erickson was his shortest stint as a starter this season. Erickson entered the game 10-3 on the year with a 2.00 ERA.
