No. 1 Louisville Upset by Morehead State
(Photo of Lucas Dunn: William Caudill via University of Louisville Athletics)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
UL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
W: Grant Herron (1-0), L: Carter Lohman (0-1)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in their first game since being elevated to the No. 1 team in the country, the Louisville baseball program immediately ran into some bumps in the road, dropping a midweek contest to Morehead State 5-2 on Tuesday at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Cardinals' 20-game win streak against the Eagles, which dated back to 2001 and was the longest active winning streak against any opponent for Louisville, has now been snapped. They fall to 6-2 on the season, while Morehead State improves to 2-5.
Outside of a solid start from left-hander Luke Seed (4.0 IP, 7 K, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 ER), Louisville was not particularly efficient anywhere else, especially on the offensive side of things. The Cardinals would end up leaving 19 runners on base, as they were 0-12 with runners in scoring position.
Louisville's lone runs came when first baseman Dalton Rushing (0-3, RBI) drove in a run on a groundout in the fifth, followed by a bases loaded walk by outfielder Luke Brown (2-4, RBI, 2B, 2 BB) in the seventh. Catcher Henry Davis (2-5, 2B, BB) and outfielder Trey Leonard (2-2, R) joined Brown in logging a multi-hit day.
While the clutch hitting suffered, the bullpen struggled just as mightily. Out of the eight relievers that entered the game after Seed's day was done, four of them were replaced mid-inning after working themselves into a jam.
The Eagles finally took advantage of these changes when they put up a five-run eighth inning to take the lead for good, coming at the expense of left-hander Carter Lohman (0.1 IP, 1 K, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 ER) and right-hander Jack Perkins (0.2 IP, 1 K, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER).
Right-hander Seamus Barrett put up the best performance out of the bullpen, tossing 1.2 innings with three strikeouts and retiring all batters he faced.
Next up for Louisville, they'll head on the road for the first time season for a three-game weekend series at Georgia Tech. First pitch for Game 1 is slated for Friday, Mar. 5 at 4:00pm EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra & broadcast on 1450 WXVW.
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:
Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp