CARDINALS

U of L rallies past Kennesaw State with 3-run eighth

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj

Perhaps "squeeze" was the word of the night Friday, and the rest of the world just didn't know it.

The University of Louisville baseball team squeezed every last pitch out of ace righty Kyle Funkhouser — 120 of them, to be exact.

It squeezed in the tying run — on a suicide squeeze from catcher Kyle Gibson.

And it squeezed past upset-minded Kennesaw State 5-3 when freshman Nick Solak followed up with a two-run double in Game 1 of the NCAA Tournament super regional before a school-record crowd of 5,351 at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The teams will tangle again tonight, with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPNU. U of L (49-15) can clinch its second consecutive trip to the College World Series with a second straight win.

Friday's victory was one to savor for the Cardinals, and it came with tension and patience.

"It's something we live, sleep and breathe every day, to win in this situation," closer Nick Burdi said.

Gibson — who would argue that he's the team's best bunter, ahead of bat-handler extraordinaire Cole Sturgeon — dumped a gentle one to the left side of the infield as Grant Kay hustled home.

The ball died on the first bounce, landing in a crevice of grass in front of the mound. That made it impossible for Kennesaw State reliever Justin McCalvin to even try to catch Kay at home plate or Gibson at first base.

That run tied it at 3 and it shattered the squeamish ambience that had swept through the ballpark. Before that inning, U of L had wasted seven runners in scoring position.

The frustration peaked when Jeff Gardner, the Cards' star outfielder and best hitter, struck out on a check swing. He stood in disbelief when plate umpire Jeff Henrichs called him out, and he shared some of his thoughts as he returned to the dugout.

But Solak's two-run double to the gap gave the Cards a chance to release their frustration. Solak stood at second base, his head turned back toward the home dugout, and bellowed out a primal scream.

"We tell our players not to look at the score," coach Dan McDonnell said. "You can't be afraid to lose."

U of L fell behind 3-1 after Funkhouser lost his early-inning mojo. The sophomore, whose 13 victories lead Division I, retired the first nine batters, but three walks, two hits and a just-missed double play turned the Cards' 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit in the fourth inning.

In the fifth, Funkhouser walked the leadoff batter, speedster Cornell Nixon, who eventually scored on Funkhouser's wild pitch and a throwing error by Gibson, who was trying to nail Nixon as he dived toward third base.

"We were getting something out of (Funkhouser)," Owls coach Mike Sansing said in his thick Georgia accent. "We weren't hitting him, but we were getting something out of him."

But Funkhouser, who gave up all three runs and three hits while walking five and striking out seven, rediscovered his moxie in the sixth and seventh innings.

In previous years McDonnell rarely started a sophomore to open a big series, and he couldn't name another one who has played that role for a full season. That, he said, speaks volumes of Funkhouser's ability.

"I don't know if he hit a little bit of a wall," McDonnell said, "but he hit a second wind. I was proud that he fought through that."

U of L avoided Kennesaw State ace Travis Bergen on Friday night, and for a while it looked like the Cards' season might have been on the line when the nine-game winner took the mound on Saturday.

Instead, Kennesaw State will need the sophomore lefty to save its season. Nixon said after the game that the Owls would be back today with a lingering feeling that they'd let a victory slip away.

"We will be back as well," Gibson said.

Reach Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_CJ).

Saturday's Game 2

Kennesaw State at Louisville

7 p.m., Jim Patterson Stadium, ESPNU