Top Five Conference Tournament Performances in the Dan McDonnell Era
Under normal circumstances, right about now the University of Louisville baseball program would be preparing for the 2020 ACC Baseball Championship down in Charlotte, NC, which was originally set to begin on Tuesday, May 19.
Unfortunately, these are less than normal times as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic halted the 2020 college baseball season barely one month into the schedule, resulting in the remainder of the season to be cancelled, as well as the ACC Baseball Championship, NCAA Tournament, and College World Series.
We'll never know how Louisville (13-4) would have performed down in Charlotte considering the Cards only played one ACC, so instead we'll be taking a look back and ranking the five best conference tournament performances in Dan McDonnell's 14-year tenure as the Cardinals' skipper.
The one prerequisite to be considered for this list was to make the All-Tournament Team. Since McDonnell's hiring in 2007, 16 student-athletes and have amassed 20 All-Tournament selections, most of which came from Louisville's days in the Big East.
No. 5: Andrew Clark - 2009 Big East Tournament
First baseman Andrew Clark is one of only two players in program history to be named the MVP of a conference tournament, doing so all he way back in 2009 when Louisville was still in the Big East. Over 5 games en route to helping the Cards repeat as Big East champions, Clark hit .500 while driving in eight RBI, most of which came in the latter two games. He went 3-4 with three RBI in the semifinal over Notre Dame, and finished 2-5 with an RBI in title game against UConn.
No. 4: Justin Marks - 2008 Big East Tournament
The lone pitcher on this list, left-hander Justin Marks had just as big of a role in winning the 2008 Big East title as his position player teammates. In the second game of the tournament, Marks put up a quality start against Villanova, tossing 6.0 innings and striking out seven while only allowing three runs in the win. In the championship game vs. Cincinnati, he came in as a reliever in the seventh and the score tied, and proceeded to strike out three over 1.2 innings to earn his second win of the tournament.
No. 3: Josh Stowers - 2018 ACC Championship
2018 was a "down" year according to program standards, but it also marked the first time Louisville had reached the ACC Championship's title game. Outfielder Josh Stowers played a large part of it, as he batted .412 with a pair of home runs and 10 RBI over four games. In the opener of the tournament against Wake Forest, he went 3-4 and was just a single away from the cycle, driving in six RBI in the process. He also homered in the title game vs. Florida State.
No. 2: Chris Dominguez - 2008 Big East Tournament
One of the biggest factors in Louisville's first ever conference title was the play of third baseman Chris Dominguez. He was a model of consistency, coming away with a pair of base hits in each of the four games, and three RBI in each of the first three, finishing the tournament with a pair of home runs and nine RBI. Both of his homers were tape-measure caliber blasts, with one completely leaving Bright House Field in Clearwater, FL.
No. 1: Justin McClanahan - 2008 Big East Tournament
While the consistency earned Dominguez the MVP nod in the 2008 Big East Tournament, second baseman Justin McClanahan actually had a better performance when purely compiling all the stats. He batted .571, driving in two home runs and a then-tournament record 12 RBI and 24 total bases in the process. Most of his production came in the semifinal vs. Villanova, where he went 5-6, hit both his home runs and drove in seven RBI.
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