Here is your Big East Recap for May 15th. The biggest news was Louisville completing the sweep over South Florida to win the Big East Regular Season title. We spoke with Coach McDonnell during the preseason and you can check out the full interview by clicking here.
Game 1: Louisville 4 South Florida 3
Game 2: Louisville 12 South Florida 1
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Behind a first inning grand slam from sophomore Phil Wunderlich and seven strong innings on the mound from sophomore lefty Bob Revesz, the 23rd-ranked Louisville baseball team earned a 12-1 win over No. 27 South Florida in front of a regular-season record crowd of 3,663 fans at Jim Patterson Stadium to close a three-game sweep of the Bulls and clinch the program’s first ever BIG EAST regular-season title.
Louisville, which also clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s BIG EAST Championship in Clearwater, Fla., improved to 40-14 overall this season for the program’s first ever 40-win regular season, one win better than the 2002 team’s previous school record total of 39 regular-season wins. The 2009 total is also two wins better than the 2007 Cards, which finished with 38 wins before adding nine more victories en route to a College World Series appearance and a top 10 national ranking.
Louisville Recap
South Florida Recap
Villanova 11 UConn 6
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – Seniors Wes Borden (State College, Pa.) and Joe Cotter (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) each homered and drove in four runs and junior Brian Streilein (Staten Island, N.Y.) pitched a complete game on Friday afternoon as Villanova (22-27, 6-19 Big East) rallied for an 11-6 win over Connecticut (32-23, 13-13 Big East) at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.
The Wildcats came back from a 5-1 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and five more in the seventh. Borden hit a three-run double in the fifth-inning rally and Villanova came out of the inning with a 6-5 lead after the Huskies had scored three runs of their own in the top half of the frame.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Borden and Cotter – roommates, along with four other seniors – each hit home runs to put the game away. Borden hit a solo shot with one out against Trent DeLazzer, who then loaded the bases on a walk and a pair of singles. Connecticut brought Robert Van Woert out of the bullpen and he was greeted by a Cotter grand slam off of the scoreboard in left-center field.
Georgetown 5 Rutgers 2
Washington, D.C. – In possibly his best outing of the season, starter Tim Adleman won his team-high fourth game of the year this afternoon as Georgetown (17-33, 8-17 BE) defeated Rutgers (21-31, 7-19 BE), 5-2. The junior right-hander allowed two runs over eight innings and struck out six batters as the Hoyas snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Scarlet Knights and surpassed their BIG EAST win total from last season.
Today’s game marked the fourth- straight start for Adleman in which he struck out at least six batters. Coming into the weekend, he was fifth in the conference with 60 strikeouts. Jared Cohen picked up his second save of the season with a shut-out ninth inning.
The Hoyas struck early with two runs in the first to take a led. Tommy Lee singled through the right side to start the game and advanced to second on a groundout. With two outs, Sean Lamont was plunked to prolong the inning and Sean Baumann made Rutgers pay with a two-run double to center.
Georgetown Recap
Rutgers Recap
Notre Dame 15 St. John’s 8
Senior Jeremy Barnes had a four hit night that included a two-run homer to lead a potent Irish attack past St. John’s by a score of 15-8 in college baseball action Friday night at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Notre Dame slugged its record to 33-20 (15-11 BIG EAST) on the season, while St. John’s moves to 28-20 (15-11 BE) for the year. The Irish have now won seven of their last eight, including four straight. Leading 4-3 after four innings of play, the Irish used a six run fifth to take control of the game and eventually secure the victory.
The Irish continued their recent power tear at the plate with 16 hits, including homers by Barnes (Garland, Texas) and A.J. Pollock (Hebron, Conn.). Barnes went 4-for-6 with a homer and two doubles to go along with three RBI, while Golden Tate (Hendersonville, Tenn.) went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Eight of Notre Dame’s nine starters recorded at least one hit. Pollock, Ryan Connolly (Binghamton, N.Y.), Mick Doyle (LaGrange Park, Ill.) and Cameron McConnell (Bannockburn, Ill.) all had two RBI nights as the Irish produced their highest run total of the season.
Notre Dame Recap
St. John’s Recap
Game 1: Seton Hall 8 Cincinnati 6
Game 2: Cincinnati 6 Seton Hall 5
CINCINNATI, OH. – With the game tied at six entering the eighth inning, sophomore Frank Esposito (Staten Island, N.Y.) ripped a two-out two-run single up the middle to put Seton Hall ahead of Cincinnati for good, 8-6, in game one of a doubleheader Friday afternoon. With the win, coupled with a Pittsburgh win, the winner of game two will clinch the final berth into the BIG EAST Conference Tournament.
Sophomore A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) led off the eighth inning with a double followed by a walk by junior Michael Rogers (Portland, Ore.). With one-out, senior Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, N.J.) delivered a slow roller to the pitcher moving Rusbarsky to third base and Rogers to second before Esposito came through with run scoring hit.
Seton Hall Recap
Cincinnati Recap
Game 1: Pittsburgh 13 West Virginia 12
Game 2: West Virginia 16 Pittsburgh 4
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team rallied in the bottom of the ninth in game one of a doubleheader against West Virginia University to win 13-12, clinching a spot in the Big East Conference Championship Tournament to be held this coming week. The Panthers and Mountaineers split today’s games with Pitt taking the overall series two games to one.
Seniors Morgan Kielty, Matt Litzinger, Ricky Breymier, Chris Tonte and Chris Warner were all honored before game one in their final appearance at Trees Field.
Eight different Panthers recorded a hit and six had at least two in game one as Pitt was forced to rally in the ninth with Joe Leonard driving a bases-loaded single up the middle for the game winner. Chris Sedon tallied a game-high four RBI, going 2-for-5 and notching his 20th home run on the season in the bottom of the third. Breymier (3-0) picked up the win, entering in the eighth and allowing just one run and one hit in two innings of work.
Pittsburgh Recap
West Virginia Recap
