The University of Louisville baseball season came to an end following a 4-3 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Cardinals marched into the College Station super regional as the 12th ranked team in the nation, coming off of a dramatic regional win the weekend prior.
The Aggies came in as the 5th ranked team and took a much different path to the super regional. They breezed through their regional with a clean record of 3-0.
Game one recap
The Cardinals picked up where they left off from regional weekend. The offense had generated a quick three runs thanks to an RBI single from Logan Beard and a sac-fly from Ben Bianco. Louisville was off and running with a 3-1 lead after the second inning.
Jared Poland put up a gutsy five inning performance on the mound. He battled through Texas heat, A&M fans, and not having his best stuff. However, despite all this he fired off more than 100 pitches and left the game with a 3-2 lead.
A Ben Metzinger RBI double gave the Cards a 2-run lead heading into the seventh inning before Jordan Thompson tied the game up for the Aggies with a two run shot off of Tate Kuehner.
The Cardinals would not score a run for the rest of the evening as the pair of Joseph Menefee and Jacob Palisch were able to shut the door out of the pen.
The Cardinals closer, Michael Prosecky came out of the bullpen in the eighth inning to work out of a jam, but could not escape the Aggie offense in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Texas A&M catcher, Troy Claunch, lined a single to right field, giving the Aggies a game one win.
Despite taking a 5-4 loss, it could have been much worse. Louisville pitchers walked or hit a combined ten batters from Texas A&M. Every pitch felt as though it was a high stress pitch. A&M had the bases loaded in five of the nine innings and left a total of 17 runners on base. That is an ugly number for both teams. All things considered, the Cards were down but certainly not out heading into game two on Saturday.
Game two recap
Louisville jumped out to the early lead on behalf of a Dalton Rushing two run shot, his 23rd of the season. The Aggies got those two back in the third inning and the score held at 2-2 until the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Jack Payton came up with the Cardinals only two-out hit with runners in scoring position from the weekend.
With their season on the line, Dan McDonnell turned to Riley Phillips with the start on the mound. Phillips came off of a career start last weekend where he threw five innings against Michigan, striking out eleven. The lefty sophomore did all that you could ask for against a hot Texas A&M lineup. He went five innings, striking out five, and gave up three runs.
The lead did not last long. A Ryan Targac home run and a Dylan Rock sac-fly would give the Aggies a 4-3 lead that they did not relinquish. The Louisville baseball offense battled in the ninth, but fell short of a comeback, ending their season while Texas A&M goes to Omaha for the seventh time in program history.
Offensive struggles
Dan McDonnell and the Louisville Cardinals knew that they were in for a tough battle. Going into the hostile environment of College Station and take on the Aggies. The key to a win this weekend was the offense continuing to do what they did all season. The bats did show up in the sense that the Louisville offense put up 23 hits on the weekend. However, it was a lack of clutch hitting that did the Cardinals in.
The Cards were just 1-14 with runners in scoring position and two outs, a stat that is hard to overcome against a team like Texas A&M.
It just felt as though nothing was going in favor of the Cardinals at the plate.
Despite this, there are still positives to take away from this weekend. The pitching staff put up some gutsy performances in a very hostile environment, something that we have not seen all the time this season. Poland, Phillips, and the bullpen came through when they were most needed.
End of season results
Coming into the 2022 season, no one outside of the city of Louisville thought that this team would accomplish what they did this season.
Originally picked to finish 4th in the Atlantic division in the ACC, the Cardinals took home the division title and finished with an overall record of 42-21-1. On top of this, the team played in their ninth super regional in school history, all coming under the guidance of Dan McDonnell.
On a personal accolade level, the team put forth eight All-ACC team selections and Levi Usher was named the conference defender of the year.
A season that fell just short of Omaha, provided numerous exciting moments, and reset the standard for Louisville baseball.
A look ahead to 2022-23 for Louisville baseball
The college baseball season may be over, but this will still be a busy summer for the guys. Summer ball is on the horizon. The crop of Louisville summer players will be headlined by a group of five sophomores heading to the Cape Cod League. Christian Knapczyk, Isaac Humphrey, Jack Payton, Logan Beard, and JT Benson will all be playing in the prestigious league for the next two months.
As always, the Major League draft is an exciting time for Louisville baseball fans. 4
This year’s draft prospects are led by Dalton Rushing who could hear his name called in the first round. Other players to watch for are; Michael Prosecky, Ben Metzinger, Jared Poland, Cameron Masterman, and Levi Usher. This year’s draft will be from July 17th-19th.
Be on the lookout for a full draft preview in the coming weeks.
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