In a four-hour, see-saw contest, the Louisville Cardinals slugged past the Tennessee Volunteers 13-10 on a three-run homer by Louisville right fielder Josh Richmond in the 11th inning.
The highlight for the Vols was the play of second baseman Cody Grisham, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. With the team down 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Grisham hit a two-run home run just over the left field porch in to bring the Vols within one run. His slicing flare to right field, a double, tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth.
The game was bittersweet to UT head coach Todd Raleigh, who said it showed weaknesses in the team but also the team’s ability to rally.
“Down to our last out, last strike, we come back, we kept coming back all day,” Raleigh said. “They’re pretty good. I guess the outcome’s tough, but I’m proud of the fight. We gave them too many runs today. We didn’t play good defensively.”
The team had four errors on the day.
“We didn’t play as good as we have, but our fight was great,” Raleigh said. “I think the biggest thing was starting pitching the last two days has not gotten us very deep. When you start a freshman, that’s what happens. ... Just got to our bullpen too quick.”
After UT starter Steven Gruver was chased from the game with Louisville leading 6-3 in the third, UT right-handed pitcher Aaron Tullo shut down the Cardinals until the 8th when he gave up a solo home run to Louisville left fielder Phil Wunderlich and Richmond hit a double down the third-base line.
“Partly I need to focus a little better,” Tullo said. “I need to keep the ball down. The ball got up on me, the changeup. I feel like the team (Louisville) was starting to recognize my pitches.”
Then UT pitchers Bryan Morgado and Danny Wiltz combined to allow three more to score in the inning, including the inherited runner, to give the Cardinals a 10-8 lead.
The Vols battled back once again, though. After right fielder Josh Liles singled up the middle in the bottom of the eighth, stole second and advanced to third on an error by the Louisville catcher, center fielder Kentrail Davis singled him home to trim the Louisville lead to 10-9.
Then in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a 1-2 count, the ball off designated hitter Jeff Lockwood’s bat found the gap in right center field, resulting in a double. Then Grisham hit an RBI single to tie the game.
“I was looking for a fastball, and I got a fastball,” Grisham said. “He (Louisville reliever Thomas Royse) missed with a curve ball on the first pitch, so I knew he wasn’t going to go back to it. He was going to try to get ahead. He didn’t want to get down so I was just looking for that, and he left it up.”
With Liles batting, Grisham stole second to put himself in scoring position, but he was stranded when Liles struck out. The game headed to extra innings.
In both the ninth and tenth innings, the Cardinals stranded a runner on third, which could have ended the game prematurely. However, the big hit would come for the Cardinals in the eleventh with the three-run homer off pitcher Matt Ramsey