LOUISVILLE, KY — Connor Green pitched better than the fate he was issued.
The first run the senior right-hander has allowed in 14.1 innings of relief this season was a costly one as Louisville topped Ole Miss, 4-3, in 10 innings on a walk-off RBI single from pinch-hitter Zach Britton.
Green entered the ballgame shortly after Ole Miss scored three runs in the top half of the seventh inning to crawl out of a 3-0 hole tie the game. Entering the 10th, Green had hurled three scoreless innings in relief of starter Doug Nikhazy and had not allowed a hit. The only base runner that reached on Green’s watch came on a Grae Kessinger error with two outs in the eighth. Louisville leadoff hitter Jake Snider finally solved Green when he sliced an elevated fastball for a one-out triple to put the winning run 90 feet away.
“When you are in that position, with it being 3-3 from the seventh inning on, it is basically like an extra-inning game all the way through,” head coach Mike Bianco said. “He pitched really hard.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BeMsBu60u0
Bianco elected to walk the two and three hole hitter to load the bases with one out. It gave Ole Miss the ability to play the corners in and the middle infield deeper. Depending on where it was hit and how hard, a ground ball could’ve produced an inning-ending double play or led to the lead runner being extinguished at the plate.
Green was tasked with facing Cardinal pinch-hitter Zach Britton. Louisville had quivered at Green’s off-speed stuff for the entirety of the outing, unable to muster productive contact on Green’s changeup. He struck out four of the first seven hitters he faced and five total. After Britton fouled off the first pitch, Green hung one up in the zone and it proved to be fateful. Britton hammered it into right field to end the game.
Green came into the game with 11 innings of service this season and had not allowed a run in six appearances with no walks and 11 strikeouts. Two misplaced pitches in his final inning served up a tough result to swallow for a guy who has been arguably the team’s most reliable reliever so far this season.
“Connor Green is a stud,” Nikhazy said. “That is a really good lineup of hitters there and I think he is going to continue to be good for us.”
Nikhazy would’ve traded his start to the game for Green’s. The freshman lefty allowed a single to Snider to leadoff the bottom of the first inning. Tyler Fitzgerald hammered a fastball over the wall in left-center a batter later to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. To his credit, Nikhazy hunkered down afterward and turned in six innings of five-hit, three-run baseball with two walks and five strikeouts. Louisville added another in the fifth when Fitzgerald dropped down a well-placed bunt that trickled down the third base line for a hit, plating a leadoff base hit.
“I missed pitches early and then battled back to locate without being worried about velocity, to locate the fastball like I needed too,” Nikhazy said. “The off-speed was good pretty much the whole game. The fastball came along later in the game. I was happy with my composure and not let it snowball. I just want to come out stronger next time.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V6YGrZaOpo
Nikhazy’s counterpart, Louisville right-hander Luke Smith, capitalized on the early cushion he was spotted. Smith held the Rebels to just two hits through the first five innings, requiring just 64 pitches. The middle of the Ole Miss order finally got to Graham the third time through, pushing Smith towards an abrupt exit after blitzing him for four straight hits to begin the seventh and tie the game at 3-3.
“I just think it was a good mix of pitches,” Bianco said. “The changeup was our nemesis today. We loaded the lineup with a bunch of left-handers. You have to credit him, really a good mix of three pitches.”
Ryan Olenek laced a leadoff double into the left field corner and Cole Zabowski followed it with a base hit. Kevin Graham pushed across the first run with an RBI double down the right field line. Graham was 2-for-3 with a triple. A wild pitch plated Zabowski, and then a Jacob Adams base hit tied the game at three and ended Smith’s day.
Bianco gave Graham a start at designated hitter last Friday against UAB in an effort to spark the bottom of the lineup. It has been a productive move. Graham is 5-for-10 with 5 RBIs in the team’s last four games. Graham is seeing the baseball well and being thrown a lot of fastballs as a byproduct of what is ahead of and behind him in the lineup. He’s also hitting his way into a larger role offensively for this team.
“I am just looking for pitches I can drive in the air somewhere hard,” Graham said. “I am getting great pitches to hit because of this great lineup, a lot of fastballs to hit. Hitting in front of a guy like Zabowski, with guys like Dillard and Keenan in front of me and Jacob (Adams) behind me, it has helped me attack the fastball.”
Ole Miss’ only base runner in the final three frames came when Tyler Keenan was hit by a pitch with two outs in the 10th and Louisville finally got to Green.
The Rebels will attempt to salvage a game in this midweek series on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 11 A.M.
Jermaine Bibb — Louisville Athletics
