Wondering who is going to pitch?

By Eric Jones

By no means do I have any insight, so I will say that up front. As a fan, I am looking at our cumulative stat sheet in the after-glow of Richie Goodenow's longest career outing. While Corbs, DJ and Josh Holliday are relaxing in a sequestered area in downtown Louisville talking about real options.

Coach Corbin didn't tip his hand much at all in the post-game press conference when asked who he thought he would start tomorrow. For the record, every pitcher says they are ready to pitch. In lite of how the Cardinals bats were silenced, the knee-jerk reaction would be Grayson Garvin. Garvin threw 73 pitches in a dominating 4.1 innings of relief on Friday, so you have to ask, could he be as dominating against the UL lefty powerhitters on three days rest? The same could be said for Taylor Hill whose groundball tendencies didn't translate on Friday when he threw 76 pitches, but might be perfect for a big game. Then there is Chase Reid who threw three shutout innings after Hill and Garvin on Friday expending just 50 pitches. Sure, Chase threw an inning and a third today to help eliminate Illinois State, but needed just 23 pitches and that curveball would be nice to throw against good fastball hitters. Will Clinard is another guy that has thrown twice in the Regional, most lately today using 26 pitches in one inning.

Then again, Navery Moore and Russell Brewer haven't seen action at all in the Regional and would appear to be prime candidates for match-ups in the later innings. Brewer is chomping at the bit to try for his 19th career save to tie former Commodore Ryan Rote for the top spot. Navery Moore threw against Louisville in Nashville back on May 11 striking out three Cardinals in 1.1 innings. His fastball-curveball combination has never looked better than it did that long 17-inning night.

Everybody is geeked up about tomorrow's game, so naturally guys like promising Sam Selman and even the walking wounded in Corey Williams and "Cowboy" Mark Lamm are apt to throw their names in the hat. Everyone will want the ball tomorrow. We will all just have to see for ourselves who answers the bell.

Louisville announced tonight that there will be several hundred bleacher tickets that will go on sale tomorrow at the Louisville box office at 8am central time. They don't take phone orders, so you'll have to be here in person to buy. It should prove to be a tremendous showdown between two teams who both badly want to go to Omaha. Cue the Rocky III, "Eye of the Tiger" theme. It's going to be a streetfight.