Box Score May 2, 2017 Box Score
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a promising start to the evening, Miami University's baseball team was unable to hold off a late charge from the University of Louisville, falling, 6-5, in 10 innings Tuesday evening at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The RedHawks (19-27) took advantage of three Louisville errors to build a 5-0 lead halfway through the game before the second-ranked Cardinals (39-6) scored six late runs off the Miami bullpen.
On the first at-bat of the night, senior designated hitter Tyler Harris reached second on an error in right field, eventually moving to third on a wild pitch. With two outs in the frame, the RedHawks got on the board as freshman second baseman Landon Stephens dropped in a single to shallow left-center to make it 1-0. In the bottom half, a pair of walks placed the Cardinals on base, but they were unable to score on a dropped third strike as sophomore catcher Hayden Senger threw the inning-ending out to first in time.
After Miami was retired in order in the top of the second, Louisville led off with a double, but the lead runner was stranded at third following a caught base stealer and ground-out. In the third, Harris reached again on a one-out single, followed by a walk to junior first baseman Ross Haffey. Two batters later, Stephens once again brought home Harris on a bloop single with Haffey scoring on a throwing error to extend Miami's lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Cards looked to threaten with a two-out single to right, but RedHawks starter Bailey Martin picked off the runner to close out the frame. Haffey extend the top of the fifth with a double down the left field line, but was stranded on a strikeout. Following a pair of walks in the bottom half, Martin was replaced by sophomore reliever Andy Almquist, who retired two Cardinals to keep the score at 3-0.
With two outs in the sixth, the Red and White challenged again as freshman catcher Cal Elvers took advantage of a Louisville misplay by stretching a triple and sophomore center fielder Dallas Hall reached on a walk. Freshman shortstop Will Vogelgesang capitalized with a two-run single to right, bringing the tally to 5-0 RedHawks.
The Cardinals finally broke through in the bottom half with a one-out double and subsequent RBI single. Later in the inning, they narrowed the margin to 5-2 with a RBI single through the left side, but left two on with a fly-out to right field.
Freshman righthander Grant Hartwig entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and retired the first two batters before yielding a solo homer to center, making the score 5-3. Two batters later, the Cardinals tacked on another run, but a 7-4 putout ended the inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Louisville placed runners on first and third with one out, leading to senior lefthander Ryan Marske entering the contest. A wild pitch from Marske tied the game at 5, but he was able to leave the bases loaded by inducing a pop-up.
In the top of the ninth, Hall led off with a double, but was stranded at third. In the bottom half, Louisville's leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and replaced by a pinch runner, but Marske got a clutch a strikeout to send the game into extra innings. After the RedHawks went down in order in the top of the tenth, freshman righthander Spencer Mraz took the mound. With two outs, the Cardinals sealed a comeback victory by beating Senger's tag at the plate.
Martin threw 4.1 innings of two-hit ball, striking out three Cardinals, while Almquist, Hartwig and Marske combined for 4.2 innings, with Almquist and Hartwig allowing two and three runs respectively. Mraz was credited with the loss, dropping his record to 0-2 on the season.
The RedHawks return home for a weeknight encounter with Butler University on Wednesday, May 3 at 6 p.m. at McKie Field at Hayden Park. A live stream of the game will be available to subscribers of Miami College Sports Live.
