Chris Dominguez went deep yet again and the Cardinal offense exploded for nine extra base hits as Louisville romped to a 14-3 victory over Villanova in a game that was called in the seventh inning due to the mercy rule.

The victory moves the Cards into the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament, where they await the winner of today's elimination game between Seton Hall and Villanova. Louisville will take on the victor at 10 a.m. tomorrow, and will have two chances to advance to Saturday's championship game.

The Cards lead from start to finish on Wednesday, jumping out to an early 6-0 lead and chasing Wildcat starter Jordan Ellis in the third inning. Freshman Stewart Ijames supplied the biggest blow of the early barrage when he blasted his seventh home run of the season onto the berm beyond the fence in right center field.

Photo courtesy of the Big East Conference

'Nova plated a pair of runs in the home half of the third, but a five-run Cardinal fifth highlighted by consecutive doubles from John Dao, Josh Richmond and Justin McClanahan quashed any thoughts the Wildcats may have been entertaining of pulling off their second upset in as many days.

With the game still well in hand in the seventh, Dominguez decided it was the appropriate time for an exclamation point. The co-Big East Player of the Year took a hanging breaking ball on a 3-2 pitch and drove it clear of the confines of Bright House Field for his 19th jack of the season. The bomb put the Cards ahead by 11, and Big East Tournament rules state that a game will be called if one team leads by ten or more runs after seven innings.

Justin Marks picked up his eighth victory of the season, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out seven over six innings. Closer B.J. Rosenberg was brought in for the seventh, and ended the game in style by striking out the side.

Louisville has now started the Big East Tournament 2-0 in all three of its seasons as a member of the conference. The Cards were defeated in the championship game by Notre Dame in 2006, and lost twice to Rutgers in the semifinal round a year ago.

Tomorrow marks the first of (potentially) a pair of enormous days for the Cardinal Nine.

Other Big East Tournament Results:

5) Seton Hall 12, 1) St. John's 6 (St. John's eliminated)
7) West Virginia 13, 3) Notre Dame 6 (Notre Dame eliminated)
2) Cincinnati 11, 6) South Florida 1

Today's Schedule:

5) Seton Hall vs. 8) Villanova (4 p.m./elimination game)
6) South Florida vs. 7) West Virginia (7 p.m./elimination game)

Well, it appears that's that.

There is a chance that Caracter could take a year off, get his grades in order, and then return to the team for the 2009-2010 season, but that would certainly take far more self-discipline than he's exhibited to this point. The next few months are enormous for Derrick, and all we can do is hope that he does the best thing for himself, whatever that may be.

There's plenty more to talk about here, but unfortunately I've got to jet for the evening. So until tomorrow, talk amongst yourselves.

While Louisville could have used a win over 18th ranked St. John's to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume, Villanova's surprising 12-0 romp over the top-seeded Red Storm made the best case scenario of the Cards capturing the Big East's automatic bid much more realistic.

To notch the upset, 'Nova rode a strong effort from starting pitcher Brian Streilein, the only Wildcat hurler who gave Louisville problems over a three-game series in April. St. John's falling into the loser's bracket also means that the Cards will avoid having to face the newly crowned Big East Pitcher of the Year in George Brown. You add in the fact that U of L still has top starters Justin Marks and Zack Pitts fresh and ready to go for today and tomorrow, and the Cards suddenly look like as good a bet as any to take home the tournament title.

On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Cincinnati rolled over West Virginia 11-5, while host South Florida upset No. 3 Notre Dame 9-3. The tournament is set up so that two groups of four teams play a pair of double elimination tournaments, and the two group winners meet in the championship game. So basically, we don't need to worry about any of the teams on the other side until/unless we win our group.

But no game is more important than the next one, and the likelihood of Louisville still having a season after this week hinges greatly on how they perform this evening. It's the Cards and the Cats for a spot in the group one finals.

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (38-19) vs. VILLANOVA WILDCATS (29-26)

Game Time: 5 p.m.

Site: Bright House Field: Clearwater, Fla.

Season Series: Louisville leads 2-1

Starting Pitchers

LOUISVILLE

Dan McDonnell's plan at the beginning of the week was to send sophomore ace Justin Marks (7-1, 2.08 ERA) to the hill in game two, and to my knowledge nothing has changed. Marks has been one of the most effective pitchers in the country over the last month of the regular season, picking up victories in five pf his last six starts, and allowing just seven runs over his last 41.2 innings of work. He was brilliant against the Wildcats when he faced them in April, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out nine over eight innings as Louisville rolled to a 12-1 victory.

VILLANOVA

Villanova will try to make it two upsets in as many days behind the right arm of senior Jordan Ellis (3-5, 4.95 ERA). Ellis has a lively arm, but control that embarrasses Ebbie Calvin LaLoosh. Over 13 starts and 76 1/3 innings he's walked 47 batters, thrown 14 wild pitches, and plunked seven more hitters. Ellis picked up the loss against Louisville on April 15 when he surrendered nine runs (three earned) on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. McDonnell loves his teams to be aggressive at the plate, but it might behoove the Cardinals to make the opposing pitcher work a tad bit more than usual this evening.

Probable Starting Lineups

LOUISVILLE

1. John Dao (SS), .357
   
2. Josh Richmond (LF), .276
   
3. Justin McClanahan (2B), .356
   
4. Chris Dominguez (3B), .366
   
5. Stewart Ijames (RF), .345
   
6. Jeff Arnold (C), .335
   
7. Andrew Clark (1B), .316
   
8. Derrick Alfonso (DH), .269
   
9. Drew Haynes (CF), .282

1. Joe Cotter (CF), .298
   
2. Ryan Arcadia (2B), .222
   
3. Derek Shunk (SS), .372
   
4. Dan Terpak (1B), .278
   
5. James Dolbier (RF), .304
   
6. Wesley Borden (C), .264
   
7. Dain Hall (3B), .282
   
8. Joe Rosati (DH), .260
   
9. Justin Bencsko (3B), .226

The winner of tonight's game will advance to Friday morning's 10 a.m. group one final, and will have two opportunities to earn a spot in the league title game. The loser will be forced into an elimination game with Seton Hall (which knocked top seed St. John's out of the tournament this morning) tomorrow at 4 p.m.

John Dao went 4-for-5 with a home run, and Chris Dominguez drove in three runs as Louisville pounded Seton Hall 12-3 in the first round of the Big East Tournament in Clearwater, Fla.

The Cards jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, scoring runs on a Dominguez ground out, a Stewart Ijames double, and then plating the final run when Derrick Alfonso - who started at designated hitter - was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. U of L added three more in the second, as Josh Richmond, Justin McClanahan and Dominguez drove in solo runs.

The support was superfluous for sophomore starter Matt Lea, who allowed just one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. Reliever Gavin Logsdon spelled Lea in the sixth, and stayed clean through the end of the game.

Adding to the day's positive vibe was the fact that Louisville did all this damage against one of the league's best, Seton Hall lefty Corey Young. The Cards touched Young, a first team All-Big East honoree, for seven runs on 11 hits over five innings.

The win sets up a possible showdown between Cardinal left-hander Justin Marks (7-1, 2.08 ERA), and the Big East's Pitcher of the Year, George Brown (9-0, 2.73 ERA) of St. John's. The Johnnies - who started senior Matt Tosoni - are in the middle of a game with eighth-seeded Villanova. U of L will face the winner at 5 p.m. tomorrow evening.  

A victory over the 18th ranked Red Storm would do wonders for Louisville's at-large prospects, although a date with the Wildcats would pave a much clearer path for an automatic bid. Your call.  

I'm aware that there are some of you out there who are eager for the U of L baseball season to end simply so that you don't have to read anymore about it on here, and that's fine.

Just know that while you're enjoying your breakfast of croissants and macarons or plotting your next terrorist attack, I'll be taking the LIBERTY of exercising my RIGHT TO VOTE. And then when I get home, I'm going to enjoy a nice slice of APPLE PIE and wash it down with a cold BUDWEISER, which will help me on my quest to become EXTREMELY OBESE. And sorry if I don't help you and your lads organize your Champions League Final party for Wednesday's "futbol" match, I'll be too busy popping OXYCONTIN and TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY TO LOCATE INDONESIA ON A WORLD MAP.

Keep waiting for that rhythmic gymnastics update, it ain't comin' comrade.

4) LOUISVILLE (37-19, 16-11) vs. 5) SETON HALL (30-23, 15-12)

Site: Bright House Field: Clearwater, Fla.

Time: 10 a.m.

Season Series: First Meeting

Starting Pitchers

LOUISVILLE

Dan McDonnell will gamble and send sophomore righty Matt Lea (4-0, 2.93 ERA) to the hill. Lea, a transfer from Mississippi State, will be starting against a Big East opponent for the first time. He won non-conference starts against Butler, Morehead State and Ball State, and also picked up the win in relief against Kentucky. Lee has not worked more than five innings in any of his starts, so expect to see either Gavin Logsdon (0-1, 4.09 ERA) or Thomas Royse (3-0, 3.12 ERA) called upon at some point in the middle of the game. Seton Hall ranking next-to-last in the Big East in batting average and runs scored likely played a heavy role in McDonnell's decision to save Justin Marks for tomorrow's game, and Zack Pitts for Thursday's.

SETON HALL

The Pirates will counter with one of the better starters in the league in first team All-Big East performer Corey Young (8-3, 2.91 ERA). Young, a left-handed junior, finished second in the conference in wins and strikeouts (77), and fourth in ERA and opposing batting average (.219). He was named conference Pitcher of the Week twice this season.

Probable Starting Lineups

LOUISVILLE (37-19, 16-11)

1. John Dao (SS), .343
   
2. Drew Haynes (CF), .277
   
3. Justin McClanahan (2B), .351
   
4. Chris Dominguez (3B), .363
   
5. Stewart Ijames (RF), .343
   
6. Jeff Arnold (C), .335
   
7. Andrew Clark (1B), .316
   
8. Josh Richmond (LF), .277
   
9. Phil Wunderlich (DH), .267

1. A.J. Rusbarsky (SS), .295
   
2. Matt Smedberg (LF), .269
   
3. Chris Affinito (1B), .298
   
4. Greg Miller (RF), .338
   
5. Mark Pappas (2B), .291
   
6. Chris Spagnuolo (DH), .329
   
7. Sean Gusrang (3B), .256
   
8. Matt Skopak (C), .209
   
9. Dan Lopez (CF), .263

--Dan McDonnell has used a wide variety of starting lineups in recent weeks, so what you see above is nothing more than an educated guess. He's had a particularly hard time settling on who should bat second, so don't be surprised if Drew Haynes isn't the guy today.

--Catcher Derrick Alfonso returned to the starting lineup on Saturday for the first time since breaking his hand against Kentucky on April 8. He is available to play today, and could get the start either behind the plate or as the designated hitter. Jeff Arnold has played very well in Alfonso's place, and would almost certainly move into the DH slot if McDonnell chooses to start Alfonso at catcher.

--Shortstop John Dao suffered a concussion in the West Virginia series, but started both game one and game two against Rutgers last weekend. Though he went a combined 0-for-8 in the two games, the junior should still be the guy both at short and in the leadoff spot this morning.

--Catchers Matt Skopak and Frank Esposito have split the starting duties for Seton Hall, as have third basemen Sean Gusrang and Chris Fontenelli. Whom head coach Rob Sheppard will choose to start at either position today is still unknown.

What Happens Next

The winner of today's game will face the winner of the St. John's/Villanova game at 5 p.m. tomorrow. The loser will face the loser of the same game at 10 a.m. tomorrow in an elimination tilt.

Louisville third baseman Chris Dominguez was named co-Big East Offensive Player of the Year yesterday, and was also the lone unanimous selection onto the All-Big East first team.

In his sophomore season, Dominguez led the conference in home runs (18) and total bases (151), finished second in slugging percentage (.677) and RBI (65), and finished fifth and tenth in hits (81) and batting average (.363), respectively.

Dominguez - who is the first U of L player to be named Offensive POY - shared the honor with Cincinnati second baseman Josh Harrison, who hit .495 over the final 33 games of the regular season.

Joining Dominguez on the league's first team were pitcher Justin Marks and catcher Derrick Alfonso, who was honored despite missing 24 games with a broken hand. First baseman Andrew Clark was named to the second team, while right fielder Stewart Ijames, second baseman Justin McClanahan and closer B.J. Rosenberg were third team honorees.

West Virginia shortstop Tyler Kuhn was also a first team selection, despite not having a single hit in the 2002 PRP Fall League. People don't forget.

St. John's lefty George Brown was chosen as the league's Pitcher of the Year, and Red Storm skipper Ed Blankmeyer of St. John's was named Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

I'm not feeling creative or motivated or talented enough to compose anything that might alleviate the pain of having to exist on the Monday of the first of many new Office-less weeks, but I did take a rather exclusive course on copying and pasting over the weekend, and thus am able to bring you this video of Samardo Samuels - the focus of an ESPN.com feature piece released today - repeatedly scoring two points during last August's Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic in New York.

So we've got like two weeks until the first exhibition, right?

Louisville fell to Rutgers 13-5 yesterday in its regular season finale, but a Seton Hall loss means that the Cardinals will still go into this week's Big East Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Action in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament will begin in Clearwater, Fla. on Tuesday when the Cards take on the fifth-seeded Pirates at 10 a.m.

The schedule for the first day of play (rhyme time) looks like this:

Cardinal aces Justin Marks and Zack Pitts put forth a pair of monster efforts as the Louisville baseball team swept a doubleheader with visiting Rutgers on Friday.

Marks (7-1, 2.08 ERA) was nearly unhittable once again in the series opener, striking out eight and allowing just two hits and one run over eight innings. The sophomore hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in a start since surrendering four in a loss to St. John's on April 5.

Rutgers struck first in the top of the sixth, scratching out their only two hits and pushing the first run of the game across home. Louisville answered in the home half of the inning, as a Justin McClanahan double, a Chris Dominguez RBI single, and a two-run home bomb from Stewart Ijames put the Cards on top 3-1.

That was all the help Marks needed, as he and closer B.J. Rosenberg combined to face the minimum over the game's final three innings.

It was the reigning Big East Pitcher of the Year's turn in the nightcap, as Pitts (6-5, 4.50 ERA) surrendered just four hits and two runs over seven innings on the way to picking up his sixth win of the year.

A bases loaded double by Phil Wunderlich in the fourth drove in three runs, and proved to be the difference in the game. Amazingly, Louisville finished the night with twice as many runs (4) as hits (2).

Rosenberg again came on in the ninth and picked up his eighth save, the sixth-highest single season total in U of L history.

Louisville's two wins moved it a half game ahead of fifth-place Seton Hall, and within a half game of third-place Notre Dame. Both teams have two league games remaining.

The Cards will close out the regular season against the Scarlet Knights today at noon. Seniors Derrick Alfonso, James Belanger, Greg Del George, Justin McClanahan, Zack Pitts and B.J. Rosenberg will be honored before the game.

If Louisville completes the sweep, it will finish the regular season at 38-18, the exact same record the '07 Cards finished with. That team went 2-2 in the Big East Tournament, and went into the NCAA Tournament at 40-20...and then won some more games from there.

Football. Seriously. Come on.

Your ability to correlate bad news with basketball's good news is simply uncanny. Help yourself out here and just throw us something, anything, positive. Give me a solid day in the weight room, someone playing a clever, but still lighthearted and harmless practical joke, some special teams guy is secretly a really good chef, anything.

Anyway, Kragthorpe announced today that running back George Stripling has been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules.

Stripling had been suspended for all of spring practice.

The good news (it's a start) is that if the Cards could afford to lose a player at any position, it'd be running back. With the return of Bilal Powell and Brock Bolen, as well as the spring emergence of Vic Anderson and the eligibility of Dale Martin, touches were likely going to be hard to come by for Stripling in his senior season anyway.

We all had pretty high hopes for George after the shows he put on at the end of blowouts when he was a freshman and the stellar first half of his sophomore season, but he was never the same player after Petrino punished him for losing the ball a couple of times against Kansas State and Middle Tennessee State in 2006. He didn't play at all in the monumental win over West Virginia, and carried just twice a week later against Rutgers. He appeared far less quick and far more unsure of himself throughout his junior season, and ran for only 258 yards as U of L's third-string tailback.

We'll always have Miami, George...and your highly overrated self on NCAA Football 2008.  

I will miss the dreads.