Baseball
Patterson Expansion
Fans visiting Jim Patterson Stadium will find a more family-friendly environment and expanded seating. The area beyond the left field fence has been improved to include terrace seating and a children’s playground area. Take along your laptop, pick up a wireless signal and you can even play free online poker between innings.
Curtain Falls on 2008 Season
ATHENS, Ga. - A late rally fell short and the University of Louisville’s 2008 baseball season came to an end as the Cards were edged by No. 8 Georgia in an elimination game of the Athens Regional 9-8 Saturday afternoon at Foley Field.
The number one seeded Bulldogs (36-22-1) loaded the bases with nobody out in the first, and a sac fly to center by Rich Poythress put them up 1-0. Cardinal starter Bob Revesz induced a 4-6-3 double play that ended the inning.
Louisville (41-21) responded in the bottom of the second. Stewart Ijames, Jeff Arnold and Andrew Clark hit consecutive singles to load the bases and a double play ground ball by Phil Wunderlich evened the game at one.
In the bottom of the third, John Dao singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by freshman Josh Richmond, putting the Cards on top. Ijames later doubled home Richmond, extending the Cardinal lead to 3-1.
An RBI groundout by UGA’s Joey Lewis in the fourth cut the lead to one.
Dao singled home an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to regain the two-run advantage, and Wunderlich’s first career home run glanced off the scoreboard in right center, leading off the sixth, and extending the advantage to 5-2 Cards.
Revesz was pulled with two out in the fifth, and allowed two runs on six hits and two walks, fanning one. He was replaced by Zack Pitts, who wriggled out of a fifth inning jam and tossed a scoreless sixth.
> The first two Bulldog batters reached in the seventh on consecutive singles, chasing Pitts.
He was replaced by Rosenberg, who scuffled through a nightmarish seven run inning that was punctuated by SEC Player of the Year Gordon Beckham’s 24th home run of the season, a three-run shot that helped the Dogs to a 9-5 lead.
UGA loaded the bases again in the eighth, but Gavin Logsdon induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat, and he worked a hitless ninth, setting the stage for the Cardinal rally.
Georgia closer Joshua Fields entered and the SEC Pitcher of the Year induced a flyout by Richmond, before McClanahan blistered a double to left, his 26th of the season - the second highest total in school history.
An out later, Ijames worked the count to 2-0 before lifting his eighth home run of the season over the fence in right center, cutting the lead to 9-7. It was the first home run that Fields has surrendered this season.
Senior Derrick Alfonso had entered in the top of the ninth as a defensive replacement, and stepped to the plate with two away and hammered a towering drive just over the fence in left that cut the lead to 9-8, but the Cards could not complete the rally.
Pitts, one of six seniors that played in their final game with the Cardinals, was touched for two runs on four hits and a walk, striking out two in an inning and a third.
Rosenberg (5-5) took the loss, giving up five runs on eight hits in an inning and a third. Gabriel Shaw walked the only batter he faced. Logsdon tossed the final 1.2 hitless innings, walking one.
UGA reliever Dean Weaver (5-1) was the winner, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, striking out one in four innings. Fields was rocked for three runs on three hits, striking out one in an inning of work.
Ijames logged his second career four hit-game, driving in three runs to pace the Cardinal attack.
Pitts was joined on the senior list by Rosenberg, Alfonso, McClanahan, James Belanger and Greg Del George. They leave the Cards as the winningest class in school history, walking off the field winners 151 times. They were part of the first two 40-win seasons in school history, the first College World Series team, the first back-to-back NCAA Regional teams and the first conference champion in school history, winning the 2008 BIG EAST Championship.
A number of Cardinals concluded their careers and seasons on the top 10 lists in the Cardinal record books.
Chris Dominguez is 10th on the career home run list with 36, and places himself tied for 7th in single season home runs, belting 21, tied for 8th in runs with 68 and tied for 6th in RBI with 75.
Alfonso, who homered in his final collegiate at bat completes his career having been hit by a pitch 23 times, tied for 8th on the career list.
Rosenberg is tied for 6th in career appearances (73), 1st in starts (47), 3rd in innings (306.2), 6th in strikeouts (187), tied for 3rd in wins (18) and tied for 7th with nine saves. He is tied for 4th on the single season save list with his nine this season.
Logsdon took the hill for the 72nd time in his career, tying the junior for 8th on the career list, and his 3.20 ERA is 3rd lowest in school history.
Pitts finished his career with 36 starts (T5th), 233.2 IP (10th), 187 K’s (8th), a 4.01 ERA (9th) and 17 wins (T4th).
Sophomore Justin Marks finishes the season with 176 K’s which ties him for 10th, a 2.53 ERA - the lowest in school history, 18 wins, tying him for 3rd. His 89 strikeouts is tied for 6th and his nine wins on the season is tied for fourth on the single season list.
McClanahan finished one off the single season doubles record with 26, and tied for 6th with 97 hits. Jeff Arnold’s 13 HBP’s this season places him tied for 9th on the single season list.
Head Coach Dan McDonnell is 88-45 through his first two seasons as the Cardinals skipper, guiding the team to the two best seasons in school history.
