Cards Lose Tough One in ACC Championship Game
Poor defense, and inconsistent pitching ultimately doom Cardinals in ACC Championship.
They will await the NCAA tournament committee to decide their seeding fate.
Louisville baseball has ridden hot bats to a great finish, but it was their pitching and fielding that cost them their first ACC Tournament title on Sunday.
Florida State: 11-11-0
Louisville 8-11-3
Florida State has won back-to-back ACC Tournament championships, and will almost certainly have home field advantage through the Super Regionals.
The Cards defense was a huge issue throughout the game, starting in the first inning. Freshman starter Bobby Miller came out a bit too pumped up, and it led to some inconsistent pitching. The Cards fell behind right away after Miller walked two and the Seminoles plated a pair of runs off of only one hit.
Miller only made it 2 1/3 innings, as he threw far more balls than strikes, and left the game after allowing 3 runs. This gave way to stretch pitcher Bryan Hoeing, who’s wild pitch in the third plated another run for the Seminoles. The Seminoles plated two more runs off of a 2-run single to go ahead 5-1.
The Cardinals fielding was shaky as well. All in all, the Cards committed three errors, had two wild pitches, and allowed the Seminoles to stay in the game with some unforced mistakes.
However, as bad as the defense was at times, it was counteracted by excellence at the plate. For the thirteenth consecutive game, Louisville scored 5 or more runs. The Cards played small ball in the second, and Logan Wyatt’s RBI ground out put them on the board. Then, down 5-1, the offense went to work, scoring seven straight.
Devin Mann started the fireworks with a two run dinger over the “blue monster” at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Then in the fourth, Josh Stowers kept the mojo going with a nearly identical ball. Two no-doubters in back-to-back innings brought the Cards within 5-4. Catcher Zach Britton gave the Cardinals the lead when he crushed a 3-run jack to right field, and the Cards added to the lead on a Logan Wyatt single.
https://twitter.com/meyer_presley/status/1000793389443493889
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The Cards scored runs in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings, but ultimately it was that poor defense that surrendered 3 more runs. An unforced error in the sixth led to another unearned RBI for the Seminoles, and then the Cards had another mental collapse, as poor defense, and bad decision making led to a tie game.
The seventh, eighth, and ninth innings provided a lot of excitement, as both teams had chances with runners in scoring position to score the go-ahead run, but both failed to get the winning run across, forcing the game into extra innings.
In the tenth, FSU put two runners on base with no outs, and when Michael McAvene- who did a fantastic job in relief- was pulled, Shay Smiddy came in and loaded the bases, and then allowed a 2-run double to allow FSU to go up 10-8. The next at bat, a slow roller from FSU allowed a run to score from third, and FSU went ahead 11-8 heading to the bottom of the 10th.
Louisville had a chance to rally in the tenth, but went down in order.
The Cards run to the Championship game was a bit unexpected, as they have not had success in the past in the ACC tournament. Since the start April, the Cards’s bats have been hot, and their pitching has become increasingly consistent. However, the fielding has continuously been an issue- as it was today- and that accompanied with the inability to find the strike zone did Louisville in.
Louisville now awaits their fate from the NCAA to find out if they will host a regional in the NCAA tournament. The selection show is noon tomorrow, May 27th on ESPNU.
Regardless of the result on Sunday, Louisville will be a team that is a tough out in the tournament. Their chances of making their fifth trip to Omaha in 11 years are high. They are peaking at the right time on offense, and are led by solid starting pitching, and a strong bullpen.
If the Cards can limit the errors, and keep the bats hot, their journey could end at the College World Series.