No. 3 Louisville Needs Late Comeback to Escape Xavier

Tuesday, February 25

Louisville, Ky.

3 PM ET

Xavier University

2-5

Louisville

5-3

Xavier

Louisville

Photo by: Rooted Media House

No. 3 Louisville Needs Late Comeback to Escape Xavier

02.25.20 | Baseball

Box Score

Xavier takes a three-run lead into the seventh but falls late

By: Mark Leopold, Xavier Athletics Communications

LOUISVILLE, KY - Xavier baseball nearly came away with a win on the road against top-5 Louisville, but a late Cardinal comeback gave them an 8-5 victory.

A chaotic first inning saw Xavier single on their first three plate appearances and score on a wild pitch, just to see Louisville counter with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. However, in the 4th, Lane Flamm tied the ball game with a home run to right center. Later, Housinger hit an RBI double, and a couple of Louisville defensive miscues allowed Xavier to take a 5-2 lead. Trevor Olson was incredible despite traffic on the base paths, as he only allowed two runs over an efficient six innings of work. Ultimately, Louisville was able to capitalize on the bullpen and score six runs in the final two innings to survive the Musketeer upset bid.

Xavier's next battle will be in South Carolina for a three-game road trip against the College of Charleston this weekend. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET

XU AT THE PLATE

Natale Monastra went 2-5 including a run in the 5th to help pad Xavier's lead.
Luke Franzoni scored twice on a 1-4 day as the leadoff man.
Lane Flamm hit a crucial home run in the fourth (his second of the season) to tie the game at 2-2 and swing momentum in favor of the Musketeers.
Jack Housinger hit a clutch RBI double to extend the Xavier lead in the 5th as part of a 1-3 day at the plate.
Ryan Altenberger went 1-4 as he got the start at short this afternoon.

XU ON THE MOUND

Trevor Olson was sharp in his first start of 2020, going six innings and throwing only 73 pitches. He struck out two and only allowed two runs to score while scattering eight hits.
Ethan Bosacker struck out one in the 7th and Trey Schramm struck out one in the 8th.

HOW THEY SCORED

1ST INNING | After three-straight singles to start the game, Franzoni scored on a wild pitch to give Xavier an early lead.

4TH INNING | Lane Flamm led off the inning with a homer to deep right-center to tie the ball game at 2-2.

5TH INNING | Jack Housinger gave Xavier the lead with an RBI double down the right field line to score Altenberger. Later in the inning, Monastra scored on a passed ball to double the Musketeer advantage.

6TH INNING | A Lousiville error allowed Franzoni to cross the plate again, giving Xavier their biggest lead at 5-2.