Clock Strikes “MidKnight” On Baseball’s Winning Streak
By Leopard Nation
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Published
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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Baseball team was swept by the St. Thomas Aquinas Knights in a double header at LHS Saturday. Louisville dropped game one 9-4 and also game two 5-2. The losses snapped the Leopards 9-game winning streak as they fall to 10-7 on the year.
Game 1: St. Thomas Aquinas 9, Louisville 4
The Knights pulled out to a 9-0 advantage through 5 1/2 innings keyed by a 6-run fourth inning. The Leopards never gave up as they produced four runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 9-4.
Stephen Kerzan doubled home Joe Crank to break the goose egg for Louisville. Kerzan reached third base via a passed ball and then came home when Jake Adams reached base on error. Adam Nyland followed by cracking his second hit of the game with a double down the left field line. This left runners on second and third with still nobody out.
Dalton Deckerd was up next and cracked a sacrifice fly to centerfield which drove in Adams. Two batters later, Reis Rankin’s infield single scored Nyland to make the score 9-4.
That was as close as the Leopards would get as they could not overcome the Knights 9 runs on 11 hits. Seven different St. Thomas batters drove in runs during the game. Lead-off hitter Danny DiGiambattista finished 2-for-4 at the plate with 3 runs scored and Rob Kostiuk went 2-for-5 with a double & scored 2 runs to lead the Knights. Evan Vernier also had a multi-hit game.
On the hill, DiGiambattista earned the win for Aquinas by pitching the first 6 innings, giving up just 2 earned runs on 5 hits, and striking out 4. The victory was the Knights first over the Leopards since 1996. LHS had previously won the last 7 battles for Louisville, but this was the first meeting between the two squads since 2001.
Game 2: St. Thomas Aquinas 5, Louisville 2
In game two, the Leopards fell behind 2-0 before knotting the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth. This rally was short-lived though, as St. Thomas scored 3 runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-2 lead and eventually the game.
Louisville managed just 5 hits during the game. Their only runs came via Adam Nyland scoring on a wild pitch and Reis Rankin’s RBI single bringing home Paul Howard from third.
Aquinas was again led by the bat of Danny DiGiambattista who went 3-for-4 at the plate, scored 2 runs, and drove in another run. Michael Greene & Evan Vernier also tallied 2 hits a piece for the Knights. Aaron Hoffman earned the win on the rubber for St. Thomas by pitching the first five frames, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, and striking out 3. Daniel Piero also worked 2 scoreless innings in relief to earn the save.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next travel to Lake to take on the Blue Streaks on Monday, April 27 at 5:00 PM. JV & Freshman will host Lake at the same time.
base via a passed ball and then came home when Jake Adams reached base on error. Adam Nyland followed by cracking his second hit of the game with a double down the left field line. This left runners on second and third with still nobody out.
