Xavier falls 8-7 in back-and-forth battle with Louisville in Regional Final

Courtesy of GoXavier.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –  Xavier baseball’s season came to a close after a back-and-forth battle with No. 1 seed Louisville, falling 8-7, in the Regional Final at Jim Patterson Stadium on Sunday evening. The Musketeers took the lead on three occasions, including taking a 7-6 advantage into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Louisville answered each time the Musketeers jumped in front to advance to the NCAA Super Regional.

Xavier finishes the season at 34-27 after collecting a second-straight BIG EAST Championship and advancing to the Regional Finals for the second-straight year.

XU ON THE MOUND

• Greg Jacknewitz pitched four complete innings in his 14th appearance of the season, holding the Cards scoreless until the fourth inning when Louisville jumped ahead with a three-run homerun. The senior left hander faced 19 batters, striking out two while allowing only three hits, three walks and three earned runs.
• Matt Kent came on for the fifth inning, stranding a pair in a scoreless inning after Louisville ran into a double play on a line drive to center field. Kent returned for the sixth, facing a pair before being relieved with two on and no outs. Kent’s final line was one complete inning with two runs, one earned and a pair of walks in seven batters faced.
• Brad Kirschner came on with two on and no outs in the sixth and closed out the game for the Musketeers. The senior lefty faced 16 batters in three complete innings, striking out a pair and allowing three runs on seven hits. Kirschner finished the season with a record of 4-3.

XU AT THE PLATE

• The Musketeers finished with seven runs, the most the Cardinals have given up since the regular season finale against Florida State, an 8-2 loss for Louisville.
• Seven Musketeers recorded hits as Xavier posted 11 for the game, only the 11th time Louisville has allowed more than 10 hits by an opponent this season.
• After going 4-of-4 in the first game of the day, Rylan Bannon went 2-of-5 with an RBI against the Cardinals to bring his average to .563 (9-of-16) in the four games of the Louisville Regional.
• For his career, Bannon is batting .455 in NCAA Tournament play with three home runs, and 12 RBIs in eight games.
• Conor Grammes went 3-of-5 against Louisville to bring his average for the Louisville Regional to .400 (6-of-15, 3R). Grammes closed the season with an 18-games on-base streak.
• Nate Soria (2-of-4, 3 RBI) picked up a three RBIs on a pair of hits to finish the NCAA Regional with a team-leading six RBIs.
• Joe Gellenbeck (1-of-4, R) finished his senior season 12-for-12 on stolen bases after his steal in the fourth inning.
• Will LaRue (1-of-4, R, RBI) finished the Louisville Regional with five hits in 14 plate appearances for four runs and a pair of RBIs. LaRue’s steal in the seventh inning was his 26th in 32 attempts on the year.
• After the Musketeers fell behind 3-2 in the fourth inning, Ethan Schmidt (1-of-2, R, RBI) crushed the ball out of the park through left center field for his third homerun of the season. Schmidt went 4-of-10 at the plate for the Regional, collecting three runs and two RBIs.

HOW XU SCORED

FOURTH: Joe Gellenbeck led off the inning with a single through the right side, taking second with his 12th stolen base of the season. With one out, Mitch Gallagher singled to right field, taking second on the throw to hold Gellenbeck. Nate Soria singled to center field, picking up a pair of RBIs as Gellenbeck and Gallagher scored to give Xavier the 2-0 lead.

 

FIFTH: After a three-run frame for the Cards in the bottom of the fourth, Ethan Schmidt led off the fifth by smashing the ball beyond the outfield bleachers for his third homerun of the year, tying the game, 3-3.

 

SIXTH: Will LaRue singled to get aboard with one out, getting to third after a pick-off attempt rolled into foul territory on the right field side. After a strikeout, Soria bunted down the third base line, beating the throw to first as LaRue came home to put the Musketeers ahead 4-3.

 

SEVENTH: Chris Givin led off the inning with a walk, sending Louisville to its bullpen. After the change, Conor Grammes singled to through the right side to send Givin to second. With two on and no outs, Rylan Bannon singled to left center to bring Givin home, cutting the Cardinals’ lead down to one, 6-5.

With Grammes and Bannon in scoring position, Louisville went to its pen again. Gellenbeck worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. Will LaRue hit a bouncer to the shortstop, scoring Bannon to tie the game, 6-6. On the play, after getting Gellenbeck at second on a fielder’s choice, a throwing error to first on the attempt for the double play allowed Grammes to score, putting the Musketeers back ahead, 7-6, with one out.