Louisville Run Rule Beats Rain -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Thump Cuse 13-5

When you see a final score of 13-5, you might think one team teed off on the other for most of the game. If I told you a team led 5-0, you'd probably say "Yeah, that tracks." What might surprise you is that it was Syracuse who led 5-0, and they did so in the middle of the fifth inning. Louisville scored ten runs in the bottom of the tenth and walked off the game in the bottom of the sixth with a run-rule. The Cards needed those runs, as the game was moved up to beat the rain, and Louisville couldn't afford to extend into the weather or lose a game to Syracuse. The Orange are now just 18-21 (4-13) on the season. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start yesterday, and the ball was flying in Ulmer Stadium. After two quick outs, Zabala gave up a double and a two-run homer followed to give the Orange a lead in the opening frame. The Cards went 1-2-3 in the bottom half and that was that. Louisville had a chance in the second following a one-out double that saw Madison Pickens end up on third when she advanced on the throw. Unfortunately, she lost the race to the plate on the next ground ball when the shortstop came home instead of getting the out at first. Syracuse hit another two-out home run in the top of the third, and Alyssa Zabala's day ended after she got the final out of the inning. 

Louisville followed going down 3-0 with another 1-2-3 inning and things were beginning to look a little grim for the Cards. Anna Wise replaced Zabala in the fourth, but gave up a double to open her day. She got a strikeout and used two ground outs to get out of the inning, but she was relieved after her first batter of the fifth. A single opened the fifth and it was clear that Wise wasn't missing too many bats. Before that, though, Louisville showed signs of life again in the bottom of the fourth. Bri Despines walked to open the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and reached third on a productive ground out. With Pickens at the plate, Syracuse chose to intentionally walk her to give them a double-play opportunity. Jordan Williams obliged, hitting it to the short stop, but Pickens reached second anyway. Despines held at third and Louisville had two in scoring position with two outs. They failed to score once more. 

When Brooke Gray replaced Wise in the top of the fifth, she got off to an inauspicious start as well. A four-pitch walk put runners on first and second with nobody out. A single loaded the bases and a sac fly scored a run. Another walk reloaded the bases and another sac fly made the score 5-0. After a steal put two runners back into scoring position, Gray finally got out of the inning with a strikeout. 

Enter the Louisville offense. The Cards opened the inning with a strikeout, but then proceeded to put ten straight batters on base. Louisville went walk, bunt single, walk, Despines grand slam (5-4), HBP, single, single (5-5), double (7-5), double (8-5), and walk before Syracuse finally got the second out of the inning. You may have noticed a discontinuity in the scoring. That's because Louisville broke the 5-5 tie with a double steal of second and home. They were feeling it. The second out was a sacrifice fly, extending the Cards' lead to 9-5, but they still weren't done. Easton Lotus laid down a bunt single, and then Louisville executed another double steal to make it 10-5. Lotus stole third as well, but Syracuse finally got out of the nightmare inning with a ground out. 

With the lead, Gray settled in and sat the Syracuse batters down in short order, giving up a two-out single but being relatively unbothered. After the offense took over and the pitching let the Orange down a bit, their defense stumbled in the bottom of the sixth. Camryn Lookadoo started the inning with a grounder to first, but it was booted and the error put her on base. Madison Pickens laid down a bunt, which was scored a hit, but Syracuse's 3B tried to get the out anyway and earned a throwing error to move the runners into scoring position. Jordan Williams walked to load the bases with nobody out. Syracuse got the first out of the inning on a foul out, but the game would end on yet another error. Ava Venturelli singled to center to score a pair, and the charging center fielder was unable to come up with it cleanly, allowing Williams to come home as well and completing the run rule. 

Thirteen straight runs is great, but Louisville probably can't depend on that in every game. They'll get another chance to win in a more normal game today when the Cards and Orange compete for game two of the series. That one will be at 1PM on ACCNX. The rain should be done, so head down to Ulmer for Louisville's penultimate home game if you're feeling up for it. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case