No. 23 Louisville Spoils Chafin's Stellar Pitching Performance, Deals Kent State Loss In Extras
3/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- No. 23 Louisville overcame a two-run ninth-inning deficit to force extras and earn a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Kent State Friday (March 4) at Jim Patterson Stadium.
"We had some opportunities to extend our lead, but Louisville made some really good defensive plays," said seventh-year head coach Scott Stricklin. "We put pressure on them all game long. It's just unfortunate we couldn't close it out at the end."
The loss spoiled a spectacular start by redshirt sophomore lefthander Andrew Chafin (Wakeman, Ohio), who hurled a career-high seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball for the Golden Flashes (5-3, 0-0) and had a no-hitter going through five frames. Chafin fanned a career-best 10 batters and became the first Kent State pitcher to fire 10 or more strikeouts since Robert Sabo recorded 11 in a 9-2 victory over Miami on May 27, 2010, at the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
"It's great to see Andrew back at 100 percent," said Stricklin. "His slider was really working today, and threw a lot of strikes. He was very aggressive in the strike zone. It was good to see him have that kind of outing. We're going to win a lot of games with him out on the mound, no question."
Kent State junior righty Kyle McMillen (North Canton, Ohio) was charged with the pitching defeat in relief for the Golden Flashes after allowing three earned runs on three hits in 2.1 innings. He struck out one and walked one while falling to 0-1 on the season.
Junior right-handed relief pitcher Derek Self picked up the mound triumph for Louisville (6-2, 0-0), working three frames and surrendering one earned run on two hits.
The contest was a classic pitcher's duel between Chafin and Louisville sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Matt Koch, who went eight innings for the Cardinals and gave up one earned run on five hits and struck out two. Chafin sat down seven batters in a row between the third and fifth innings.
Chafin's no-hit bid was broken up by a two-out single up the middle by Louisville junior infielder Ryan Wright in the bottom of the sixth, but Kent State junior third baseman Travis Shaw (Washington Court House, Ohio) struck back with a leadoff home run to left center in the ensuing frame.
Kent State senior right fielder Ben Klafczynski (Granger Township, Ohio) tacked on another run and extended his hitting streak to eight games with a round tripper to left in the top of the ninth.
Louisville refused to quit, though. Freshman infielder Ty Young sparked the comeback with a single back to the mound and scored on a base hit to right center by freshman pinch hitter Ryan Seiz. Senior catcher J.J. Ethel, who was hit by a McMillen pitch following Young's base hit, tied the ballgame courtesy of an RBI sacrifice bunt by senior left fielder Drew Haynes.
The Cardinals completed their rally in the bottom of the 11th when Young drew a one-out walk and then scored on a walk-off double down the left field line by Ethel.
Kent State looks to even the three-game series Saturday (March 5). Kent State senior southpaw Kyle Hallock (Sandusky, Ohio) will start on the hill for the Flashes. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
