Louisville powers past IU, 9-7

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the second-straight game, the IU baseball team had a ranked foe on the ropes, only to watch a late surge slap a tally in the loss column.

IU (4-7) fell 9-7 to No. 10 Louisville (12-0) on Tuesday at Patterson Stadium after a strong first start by freshman Casey Smith and a pair of home runs from freshman third baseman Micah Johnson.

The Hoosiers held a 7-5 lead going into the top of the eighth inning. But then Louisville’s Big East Player of the Week Phil Wunderlich struck — again.

Wunderlich, who had already homered off Smith to give Louisville its first lead in the fourth inning, smashed a 1-2 pitch off freshman IU pitcher Mike McKinley over the right field wall, driving in two runs and tying the contest at 7.

As Wunderlich rounded the bases following his second home run, he yelled several times at McKinley, drawing ire of both the IU bench and the umpires. After a short meeting on the third base side of the infield between the umpires and coaches, it appeared both teams were warned against any further action.

Still, IU coach Tracy Smith wasn’t pleased with the talented Louisville infielder’s actions.

“I’m all about guys being excited, being into yourself and in your team,” Smith said of Wunderlich’s taunting. “But it’s a different story when you’re out there jawing at our pitcher the entire way around the bases.

“There’s no place at all in baseball for that.”

Louisville’s Jeff Arnold was hit by a pitch later in the eighth inning before Cade Stallings roped a double to score Arnold and give Louisville a lead it wouldn’t give up.

The Hoosiers’ story Tuesday took on quite the same tone they faced just hours before in a Sunday night contest with now-No. 20 Vanderbilt. Solid pitching and clutch hitting put the Hoosiers in front early before falling at the end.

Two freshman — Smith and Johnson — were the biggest reasons IU had more than just a slim chance against undefeated Louisville.

Smith, who got his first start on the mound as a collegiate player, pitched 5 innings of effective work against a Cardinals team that’s had no problem scoring runs this season.

“With baseball, it’s always the same,” the coach’s son said of pitching against a nationally ranked college program. “You hop on the mound. There’s a hitter. You kind of zone out and then go and compete, no matter who it is.”

Smith allowed just 2 hits and 2 runs against 18 batters. Two particular catches by junior center fielder Sterling Mack — one a diving grab in the first and the other on a ball trailing deep into center in the fourth — helped keep Smith’s pitching performance on track.

At the plate, Johnson’s 2 home runs were the first of his career as a Hoosier. He now has 6 hits and 6 RBI in the last three games.

Even with Smith’s strong first start, pitching still hurt the Hoosiers down the stretch.

Freshman Jonny Hoffman relieved Smith and immediately surrendered 3 earned runs in the sixth.

“We had the game in control today, and then we just kind of went ‘blah’ on the mound,” Tracy Smith said of the late pitching. “We just can’t afford to do that.”