Louisville Falls to USF for First Loss

The Cardinals suffer their first loss of the young season.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
UL	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	4	8	2
USF	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	1	X	8	12	2

W: Brad Lord (1-0), L: Jared Poland (0-1), S: Hunter Mink (1)

TAMPA, Fla. - Continuing on their season-opening weekend down in the Sunshine State, the Louisville baseball program suffered their first setback of their young 2022 season, falling to USF 8-4 Saturday down at USF Baseball Stadium.

Catcher Jack Payton (3-4, RBI, 2B) and outfielder Cam Masterman (2-4) comprised of over half of the Cardinals' eight hits on the day, with infielder Ben Metzinger (1-3, RBI) and outfielders JT Benson (1-4, 2B) and Isaac Humphrey (1-4) each logging a hit.

Despite the Bulls (1-1) tallying eight runs on the day, only two of them were charged to the Cardinals' (1-1) pitchers, thanks to a pair of defensive errors by Louisville. 

Like Louisville's fast start against Charlotte the day before, USF had one equally as fast against the Cardinals. They didn't plate a run in the first inning, but then followed that up with a six-run second. Thanks to two fielding errors, none of the runs were charged to starting pitcher right-hander Jared Poland (2.0 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 7 H), although his day would be done after that inning.

The Cardinals' bats were relatively quiet through the first four innings, but made some noise in the fifth with four runs of their own. Payton started the scoring with an RBI double, a Bulls throwing error sent him and second baseman Logan Beard (0-4) home, then Metzinger delivered an RBI single.

Right-hander Cameron Robinson (3.0 IP, 4 K, 1 BB, 2 H, 1 ER) was the first pitcher out of the bullpen following Poland's brief start, and had a solid outing, save for an RBI single surrendered in the fifth. Fellow righty Will Koger (3.0 IP, 4 K, 0 BB, 3 H, 1 ER) took over in the sixth for his collegiate debut, with the true freshman's lone blemish being an RBI triple in the eighth.

Unfortunately for the visiting Cardinals, their bats didn't give them much of chance down the stretch even with their bullpen putting forth a solid effort. Over the final four innings, Louisville got just three runners on base.

Next up for Louisville, they'll conclude their opening weekend in Tampa Bay with a matchup against UConn. First pitch is slated for Sunday, Feb. 20 at 9:00 a.m. EST, and will be broadcast on 93.9 The Ville but not televised.

(Photo of Jack Payton: Justin Krueger via University of Louisville Athletics)

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