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Morehead State baseball beats Louisville in historic victory
(Logo: Morehead State Athletics (msueagles.com); Photo: MGN)

Morehead State baseball beats Louisville in historic victory

MOREHEAD, Ky. (BVM) — The Morehead State Eagles baseball team had a slow start to its 2021 season. After starting the campaign with five straight losses, the Eagles picked up their first win against Ohio University on Feb. 26 prior to a game against one of the nation’s top teams, the Louisville Cardinals, in Louisville.

While the 1-5 Eagles may have seemed like a pushover coming into the game for the perennial powerhouse and Perfect Game’s No. 1-ranked team, Louisville, Morehead gave the Cardinals everything they had during the March 2 matchup. By game’s end, it was the underdog Eagles who were victorious with a 5-2 win. The victory marked the first win in program history over a top 10 opponent and the first win over Louisville since 2000.

“It was great, I’m thrilled for our players and hopefully it’s something we have an opportunity to build on,” Morehead State head coach Mik Aoki said. “To knock off a team as good as Louisville is a pretty big deal for anybody but particularly for a mid-major like ourselves.”

The game was not without its battles though. The Eagles, using a platoon of eight pitchers, kept the Cardinals’ explosive offense in check by only surrendering an RBI grounder in the fifth inning and a run after a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning. Down 2-0 with two innings left, the Eagles would rally in the eighth frame to put their team within striking distance of victory.

Fifth-year senior Ryan Layne started the rally as the first batter in the inning when he was hit by Louisville pitcher Carter Lohman on the 1-0 pitch. After a strikeout, senior catcher Jack Gardner ripped a single to advance the runners before freshman shortstop Cole Becker coaxed a walk to load the bases.

Senior outfielder Arthur Sells would pinch hit in the next at-bat and would get the scoring started with an RBI single to right field on his first hit of the year. During the next at-bat, Lohman would again misplace the ball, hitting senior outfielder Peyton Dilligham and tying up the ball game 2-2. Freshman infielder Jackson Feltner broke the tie with an RBI single to left field to bring the score to 3-2 before junior infielder Bryce Hensor provided insurance runs with a two-run single to the right side.

“I’m really excited about [our group] honestly,” Aoki said. “You’ve got a guy like Hensor who’s been around for a while who gets that big hit and Sells who also gets a big hit for our guys who’ve been around and been in the college game for a while. Then you have Feltner who is a freshman and he also got a big hit in that thing and you can’t say enough about Grant Herron.”

Following the scoring outburst, the Eagles were faced with stopping the Cardinals potent offense for two innings. The responsibility fell upon the shoulders of freshman pitcher Herron. While Louisville was able to get a couple of runners to second and third with two outs, Herron stopped the rally short of the plate by striking out the next batter. In the ninth, the Cardinals were again threatening with two men on, but Herron answered once more forcing a fly out and striking out the game’s last batter to give the Eagles the decisive win.

“The kids were fired up as they should be,” Aoki said. “You don’t get a chance to come from behind on Louisville very often with the arms they have and the level of defense they play. … [They] were thrilled, excited, whatever superlatives you can throw up there is applicable.”

Herron was electric for the Eagles down the stretch, pitching for 2.2 innings with five strikeouts and only two hits. The freshman would also earn the win for the Eagles, marking his first collegiate victory.

“[Herron] was there by virtue of the fact that he’s been a kid who’s come in, thrown strikes, who hasn’t been overwhelmed by the moment whether against Ohio U and nailing down a win there or against Louisville and nailing down a win there,” Aoki said. “For a true freshman to go do that, it takes courage. It really does.”

Aoki sees his freshman pitcher’s performance as a perfect lesson to teach the rest of his team. He wants his team to go out and play their best and, as he likes to say, “let it rip.”

“It’s sort of the embodiment of everything that we’re trying to talk to all of our guys about regardless of what year of school they are,” Aoki said. “Go let it rip. You can’t play this game, or the game of life, being afraid of failure and [Herron]’s done that.”

In total, the Eagles eight pitchers would strike out 10 Louisville batters while surrendering nine hits and the two runs.

The win was also a historic one for the Ohio Valley Conference as it marked just the third time in conference history that a team defeated a top ranked program, with Austin Peay beating top-billed Vanderbilt in 2019 and Jacksonville State defeating Georgia in 2009. The victory also gave Aoki only his second victory over U of L as Eagles head coach.

“I’ve been telling people that it makes me about two and a thousand against Louisville,” Aoki said with a laugh. “It’s great, no doubt. Coach McDonald and Coach Williams have just built a powerhouse over there. They never have to rebuild, they just keep reloading. … It’s a gratifying deal, but believe me when I tell you I don’t have a hell of a lot to do it. The kids have to go out there, throw pitches and swing the bat and for one night at least we did that at a tick higher than they did.”

While the season may not have started the way the Eagles had hoped, regardless of how it ends, the members of the team will always have one special memory. Following the game, Aoki still feels all of his team’s goals are still in front of them.

“I feel good about our team,” Aoki said. “I think this is now four straight games where we’ve pitched at a very high level. Our hitting isn’t exactly where I think it can be or where I think it will be, but we’re pitching. That gives me a great deal of confidence that when it’s all said and done we’ll be where we want to be competing for an OVC Championship.”

Though it may not be of any major significance or consequence for the team from Louisville, for the team from Morehead, the win is one for the ages.