Cards Win Tourney Opener, Work Left to Do

At the point when I had to turn off the telly and head off to meet some pals for a long scheduled lunch, it seemed like that necessity might save me considerable anxiety.

Surprise starter Kaleb Corbett gave up two to Clemson in the top of the 1st. Caden Grice who knocked four homers in the Purple and Orange’s recent weekend sweep of U of L, had yet another long ball.

“Here we go again” was my immediate fear.

U of L got ’em back in the bottom. A Henry Davis fielder’s choice moved Card runners to 2d and 3d. A Lucas Brown sac fly brought one home; an Alex Binelas two-bagger the other.

Then the Tigers got three more in their half of the 2d.

So, it wasn’t all that frustrating to turn off the radio in the Captain’s Quarters parking lot with Louisville down 2-5.

Just enjoy lunch, catching up, and the bucolic setting, I tried to convince myself.

My peeps are Cardinal fans as dedicated as me, so, waiting for the check, we dared interweb the score.

10-9, Cards.

Hmmmm, a slugfest. Could be worse.

Which school’s bullpen would falter the most, I wondered?

Little did I know the real story to that point.

As I was to learn, leadoff DH Ben Metzinger went yard in the bottom of the 2d. Then again in the 4th, to knot the slugfest at 8.

They happened to be his first two taters of the season.

The second was followed by the second of Henry Davis’s home runs. And Binelas had followed that 1st inning double with one over the fence.

The Cards metal was obviously hot.

So the first post lunch Sean Moth call I hear as I’m waiting for the AC to cool off my Crosstrek, is Alex Binelas’s second four bagger of the long afternoon, giving the Cards some cushion at 13-9. Which was followed by extra insurance on a Levi Usher RBI single.

As if there needed to be an exclamation point to the day U of L’s first baseman was having, Binelas provided one anyway. Homer #3 provided Louisville with it’s final margin, 15-10.

18 hits. A season high. 15 runs. The most Louisville has ever tallied in an ACC game. Seven over the fence in a tourney game, a league record.

Evan Webster picked up the win for U of L.

More important: The performances out of the pen that followed him. Carter Lohman surrendered only three hits and two runs, while punching out 8, in four considerably solid innings of relief. Michael Kirian closed it out with a wobbly but winning shutout 9th.

I don’t pretend any expertise on such matters.

But those who do pay serious attention are of mixed minds. A couple projected fields include the Cardinals. The other two I checked do not.

U of L’s RPI after Tuesday’s victory: #64.

Is that bubblicious or what?

So, despite my status viewing from afar, I say: Beating Georgia Tech is an Absolute Must.

— c d kaplan

 

One thought on “Cards Win Tourney Opener, Work Left to Do

  1. Sounds like a pretty good day – lunch with old pal Card fans at Captain’s Quarters, and still being able to follow a good part of the Cards’ win. Now Birdies, go beat Tech!

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