Ohio St. defeats Wright St. with a 9th inning rally.

 

UofL defeats Western Michigan 6-1 behind Kyle Funkhouser with 8.0 IP. Looked sharp other than a few walks. 2 DP in the 1st 2 innings helped make sure things stayed under control. Drew Ellis with a 2 out 2 run double and Blake Tiberi with a 2 R HR to add insurance. Cards did not capitalize on all their opportunities, but did enough to move on.

 

Wright St. v. Western Michigan tomorrow at Noon at JPat. W. Mich. apparently has their ace set to start. Could be interesting, but Wright St. should be favored.

 

OSU v. UofL at 4:00PM tomorrow at JPat. McKay wll go for UofL. Go Cards! Beat Buckeyes!

Wright St. eliminates Western Mich. in Game 3

 

UofL punishes Ohio St. 15-3 in a game with a couple of rain delays. Cards started with McKay striking out the side in the top of the 1st and hitting a 2 out 2 R HR in the bottom half of the inning. They then put up 8 in a huge 3rd inning, many of them before any out was recorded, before cruising to a 15-3 win.

 

McKay was lights out before any rain delay, solid but a little wild after the 1st short rain delay (which was in the middle of that long bottom of the 3rd, so a much longer layoff) and did not return after the 2nd longer rain delay. Pitched 5.2 and was followed by Hummel to clean things up without using any more bullpen.

 

Cards have ACC Pitcher of the Year Harrington to face winner of the rematch between Wright State and Ohio State. Not sure how deep their staffs are, but Cards have the advantage of not playing at Noon and playing 1 less game. Would definitely like to avoid a MON game and win it tomorrow.

Wright St. gets revenge on OSU in Game 1 yesterday.

 

Cards defeat Wright St. 3-1 in Game 2 to win the Regional.

 

Harrington was not as sharp as usual, but gave up 0 runs over 7.1. Burdi gives up a couple of hits and a run but is still fun to watch over the final 1.2. Solak with the big 2 R HR after Will Smith beat out a grounder to the SS.

 

Lots of missed opportunities for the offense with at least 3 runners on 3rd with less than 2 outs and didn't get them home. That would have been a problem if the pitching and defense had not been soooo good.

 

Great atmosphere at JPat on SAT & SUN. Looking forward to either Xavier or UC Santa Barbara coming in for the Super Regional this weekend. Some speculation that games might be SAT, SUN & MON (if needed) given the Ali funeral on FRI.

 

I think you see McKay, Harrington and then Funkhouser regardless. That said, Funkhouser gave McDonnell something to think about with his last few outings. Problem is, McKay and Harrington were both just as good. Great problems to have.