Adam Engel slides back into first base safely. He would steal a base in the 14th inning and score the winning run against Alabama when Cole Sturgeon got a bases-loaded walk.
Adam Engel slides back into first base safely. He stole second in the 14th inning and scored the winning run against Alabama when Cole Sturgeon got a bases-loaded walk, giving UofL a 4-3 win in the first game of a three-game series.

Fourteen innings of baseball in 40-degree temperatures (wind chill of 30) on Friday were a severe test for hardened University of Louisville baseball fans who endured a 14-inning marathon against Alabama.

Seats in the sun were prized possessions for individuals among the 1,659 spectators. The new right and left field seating sections, which featured sunshine, were packed, with entire sections of empty seats under the roof. When the sun moved, the fans followed, moving higher up to catch a semblance, any semblance, of warmth.

As the game went into extra inning, the sun disappeared, and the lights came on, many of the fans headed for their vehicles, swearing that the game would never end. The faithful few, a couple of hundred, were rewarded with a 4-3 win over the Crimson Tide when Alabama pitcher forced in the winning run on a bases-loaded walk to Cole Sturgeon.

Louisville starting right hander Chad Green pitched seven full innings, giving up three runs (none of them earned) on a couple of errors in the second inning. Kyle McGrath was on the mound when the game finally ended. Relievers Anthony Kidston and Nick Burdi each provided three innings of solid relief.

Sixty degree temps expected for Saturday’s 1 p.m start.

Share this

By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.