Big East: Closing the Gap

By Grant Tunkel - May 25, 2007

Louisville isn't going down without a fight.

Successive 2-out doubles by Chris Cates and Boomer Whiting cut the deficit from 5 runs to 3, chasing reliever Jason Downey from the game in favor of lefty Matt Patterson. He hit Logan Johnson and walked Daniel Burton to load the bases for Isaiah Howes before being relieved by Kevin Lillis.

Before Lillis could even throw a pitch to Howes, who came into the at-bat 2-3 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI, the reliever balked in a run, cutting the deficit to 2 and putting the tying runs in scoring position. Rutgers head coach Fred Hill was immediately out of the dugout to argue the call, but to no avail. Lillis ran the count full before getting Howes to look at a called strike to end the inning.

One inning left to play, and Rutgers still leads.

12-10 Scarlet Knights, end of 8.