Michigan
34-27
Louisville
41-19-1
Louisville Forces Deciding Game with U-M in Regional Action
6/5/2022 7:54:00 PM | Baseball
» Louisville scored four first-inning runs on just two hits to take control early.
» Joey Velasquez homered in the third for U-M's first hit.
» The teams will play a winner-take-all game Monday evening to determine the regional champion.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Top-seeded Louisville forced a deciding game in the NCAA regional championship against Michigan as the host team Cardinals scored early and often Sunday (June 5) in a 20-1 victory over the Wolverines at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The result means that the teams will meet Monday evening again in a winner-take-all championship game at noon.
The game got off to an inauspicious start as two U-M hurlers issued three walks and hit a batter in the first inning as Louisville scored four runs on just two hits. A two-run homer from Ben Metzinger and an RBI double later in the second expanded Louisville's lead to 7-0 before John Torroella gave U-M a clean inning in the third.
For the second day in a row, a UL hurler mastered the U-M offense early as Riley Phillips used a biting slider to carve through the first seven batters before Joey Velazquez took a first-pitch fastball over the centerfield wall in the third inning.
Cameron Masterman answered Michigan in the bottom of the fourth when he took a 1-1 fastball over the wall in left field for a two-run homer. The Cardinals scored three more times in the fifth inning and the game appeared to be out of reach from that point forward as U-M managed just three hits.
Freshman righty Jake Keaser provided quality innings out of the bullpen to keep Louisville off the board in the sixth and seventh innings behind a trio of strikeouts.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Riley Phillips (5-1)
L: Smith, Angelo (1-3)
S: Evan Webster (1)
Batting:
2B: Ben Metzinger 1 ; Dalton Rushing 1 ; Austin Bode 1 ; Cameron Masterman 1 ; Chris Seng 1 ; Isaac Humphrey 1
HR: Ben Metzinger 2 ; Cameron Masterman 1
RBI: Ben Metzinger 5 ; Dalton Rushing 1 ; Jack Payton 1 ; Austin Bode 2 ; Levi Usher 2 ; Cameron Masterman 3 ; Isaac Humphrey 2 ; Logan Beard 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Christian Knapczyk 3 ; Noah Smith 2 ; Ben Metzinger 3 ; Dalton Rushing 4 ; Austin Bode 1 ; Levi Usher 2 ; Tyeler Hawkins 1 ; Cameron Masterman 2 ; Chris Seng 1 ; Logan Beard 1
SB: Christian Knapczyk 1
HBP: Dalton Rushing 2 ; Cameron Masterman 1
Batting:
HR: Velazquez, Joey 1
RBI: Velazquez, Joey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Velazquez, Joey 1
HBP: Fedje-Johnson, Alex 1 ; Velazquez, Joey 1
