Chad Green Competing At Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Louisville baseball team completed week four of fall workouts with a pair of quality intrasquad scrimmages last weekend at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The team conducted open scrimmages on Friday and Saturday with fans lining the ballpark as expansion construction continues at Patterson Stadium. On Friday, the Black squad earned a 10-2 win over the Red squad, while on Saturday, the Red earned a 3-2 win over the Black.

“Saturday’s scrimmage was by far the best baseball we played all fall,” said head coach Dan McDonnell, who is in his seventh season leading the program. “It was led by great pitching and our best defensive performance.  The guys made lots of routine plays and even a few great plays. We didn't have a lot of runs to show but had many quality at-bats and hit some balls well. However, the defense was too good. That's how we will have to play to win in the NCAA Championship and advance to Omaha.”

Leading the way for the Cardinals offensively in the two scrimmages last weekend were junior infielder Ty Young, who had a home run and two doubles among four hits, while junior outfielder Adam Engel finished with five hits, five runs scored and four stolen bases. Junior outfielder and newcomer to the program Coco Johnson and sophomore outfielder Mike White had three hits each, while junior outfielder Jeff Gardner added a double and a triple.

On the mound, Louisville had several standout performances during the two days led by junior right-hander Jeff Thompson, who had two strikeouts with no hits or walks in three shutout innings. Junior righty Chad Green (Effingham) had one strikeout and allowed only one hit in three scoreless innings, while junior lefty Cole Sturgeon struck out three in two shutout innings. Junior right-hander Dace Kime had a strikeout and allowed one hit in two shutout innings, junior lefty Cody Ege struck out four in two shutout innings and freshman righty Kyle Funkhouser had two strikeouts in his two scoreless innings of work.

This Week’s Scrimmage Schedule

With two weeks remaining their fall workouts, the Cardinals are scheduled to host a pair of scrimmages this week Thursday at 2 p.m. and Friday at 2 p.m. Louisville is also tentatively scheduled to host the seventh annual Pizza Bowl series on Oct. 10, 12 and 13 at Jim Patterson Stadium. The complete series schedule will be announced in the coming days.

Due to the ongoing expansion construction at Jim Patterson Stadium, fans will only be allowed to watch the weekend scrimmages from the left field berm. Access to the left field berm will be available through the left field gate near Second Street. Fans will not have access to the ballpark through the front gates due to construction.

About Louisville Baseball

Louisville, which won its third BIG EAST regular season title in the last four seasons in 2012, is led by the return of seven of its school record 10 All-BIG EAST performers from last season, including second team outfielders Adam Engel and Cole Sturgeon. Most of the Cardinals’ pitching staff returns for 2013, led by BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and Freshman All-American right-hander Jared Ruxer. Overall, Louisville returns 21 letterwinners from the 2012 team, which finished 41-22 and advanced to an NCAA Regional for the fifth time in six seasons.

Head coach Dan McDonnell enters his seventh season leading the Louisville baseball program. In his six previous seasons, McDonnell is 258-122 with three BIG EAST regular-season titles, two BIG EAST Tournament titles, five NCAA Regional berths, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and one College World Series berth.

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