Some games, mostly the winning outcomes, are more memorable than others. Just ask Eddie King, Jr., the University of Louisville outfielder, who waited until his senior year in college to record his first ever walk off run batted in. It could not have come at a better time for Louisville baseball, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 win over Kentucky in the 10th inning.
A hardy crowd of 3,680 braved the 40-degree temperatures at Jim Patterson Stadium, most of them still around at the end. Not just any college baseball game, a rivalry game between two programs who don’t want to let down their fans under any circumstances.
It was an Eddie King, Jr. night. The player who got off to a slow start this season, coming on strong of late. He would would have two hits in four at bats, with two runs batted in. His first hit, a single, driving in Jake Monroe who had tripled in the second inning.
But the one he will remember in this game was his last at bat in the 10th inning. Lucas Moore earned a walk, Garrett Pike singled up the middle to put the tying and winning runs on base. Jake Munroe would hit the first pitch off a relief pitcher to drive Moore home, tying the game.
Eddie King, Jr. was 0-2 in the pitch count, tense, tense, tense. No problem, got his eye on the ball, driving a singer up the middle over second base. Pike will score the winning run. And Eddie King, Jr. is the guy that every UofL fan loves forever. It was his fourth home run of the season, improving his batting average to 333 for the year.
Eddie and company hit the road for three games at North Carolina State this weekend. First game Friday at 6 p.m.
