Baseball Takes Series Finale at 28th-Ranked Louisville 12-8

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 22, 2008) — The University of Connecticut baseball team defeated 28th-ranked Louisville 12-8 in 10 innings in the BIG EAST Conference series finale on Saturday afternoon at  Patterson Stadium.

The Huskies opened up today's scoring in the top of the first inning, as they did in both games against Louisville prior to today's match-up. The opening inning featured a Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa) RBI single to centerfield to put the Huskies on the board early. Freshman Pierre LePage (Wolcott, Conn.) scored on the play as he singled up the middle to reach base then stole second to get into scoring position.

UConn was able to add another run in the third to take a 2-0 lead as Matt Burnett (Endicott, N.Y.) earned a walk then was hit home by a Mahoney double, earning his second RBI and hit of the game. In the fourth, the Huskies put up three more runs to extend their lead to 5-0. Sophomore Peter Fatse (Hampden, Mass.) led off the inning with a walk then advanced on a single by Mike Nemeth (Washington, N.J.). Freshman Joe Pavone (Rochester, N.Y.) knocked Fatse home with a single before LePage hit a two-out single to centerfield to post two more runs for the Huskies.

Louisville battled back in the bottom of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings as they added a total of four runs to close the score to within two. With a 6-4 lead going into the seventh, UConn extended its lead back up to three. The seventh inning showcased a triple by Fatse who was able to score freshman Mike Olt (Branford, Conn.) from first after he reached base on a lead-off walk.

After the Huskies added a run in the top of the ninth, the Cardinal tied the game up with four in the bottom of the inning. UConn was not deterred and put up four of their own in the top of the tenth, with the big blow being a two run single by junior Matt Burnett (Endicott, N.Y.).

Freshman Elliot Glynn (Los Alamitos, Calif.) started on the mound for the Huskies as he went five innings, allowing four hits, four earned runs and four walks while striking out four on the afternoon.

With the victory, the Huskies improve to 8-10 overall and 3-3 in BIG EAST play while Louisville drops to 11-6 on the year and 2-1 in the conference.

UConn will return to action on Monday as they host Massachusetts in the Huskies' 2008 home opener. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. The game will feature a live video webcast at Huskies All-Access, which can be found at www.UConnHuskies.com.

 -UCONN-