AP News, June 6th, 2007
Boomer Whiting took a second and let the moment soak in.
Standing on the grass at Jim Patterson Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, the senior outfielder watched as members of the Louisville support staff scattered about the stands, power washing seats and pointing to where they expect the 2,000 temporary bleachers to be on Friday when the Cardinals (44-21) host Oklahoma State (41-19) in the best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals.
It was a scene Whiting could hardly have imagined as a freshman, when Louisville played in crumbling Cardinal Stadium in front of dozens of friends and family and thousands of empty seats.
"It seemed like nobody was there," Whiting said while being flanked by reporters, a rarity for a program that's long toiled in the shadow of football and basketball.
The fans are here now. The Cardinals have already sold out the 1,500-seat grandstand at gleaming Patterson Stadium and expect as many 4,000 to pack the temporary bleachers and the berm that rims the outfield for the biggest series in school history.
Not bad for a program that had never won an NCAA tournament game entering this season and featured a new coach in Dan McDonnell who had to convince 10 seniors to buy into his system quickly.
During his first meeting with the team last fall, McDonnell didn't talk to his players about rebuilding. Looking at a roster full of talented veterans who didn't have a year to adjust to McDonnell's style, he challenged them to not wait to have the breakthrough season they've been waiting for.
"The seniors are very mature. This is it, this is their last go-round," McDonnell said. "I just tried to make it clear to them, to get them to believe in me ... that we didn't have to wait."
Led by Zack Pitts, the Big East Pitcher of the Year, and an offense that almost never stopped hitting, Louisville put together one of the best regular seasons in school history. The Cardinals went 40-20, losing twice to Rutgers in the Big East tournament, setbacks that put an almost certain NCAA tournament berth in jeopardy.
The hours waiting out the selection show were nerve-racking. The Cardinals didn't have a tradition-rich history to rely on, only a solid if not spectacular resume. When their name flashed up on the screen during the tournament selection show, the pressure eased.
"From the moment it was announced that we were going to a regional, I think the world was off our shoulders," McDonnell said.
Maybe, but the weight seemed to come crashing back down in Louisville's tournament opener against Miami (Fla.). The Cardinals found themselves down 7-3 to the mighty Hurricanes when McDonnell made a trip to the mound in an effort to calm his squad down. Miami had the bases loaded with one out, and McDonnell knew this could be the defining moment of his team's season.
"I just challenged our kids not to get too high or too low," McDonnell said. "This is a point where you could get too low. I said 'Let's get out of this. Let's get a double-play ground ball and we're going to score our runs today.'"
Just as McDonnell predicted, the Cardinals got the double-play then needed. Jorge Castillo followed with a three-run homer the next inning and Louisville ran away with a 13-7 win.
The rest of the regional was much of the same. Except for a 7-5 loss to Missouri in the second game, the Cardinals kept raking. They nipped Miami 8-7 in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon, then followed it up later that night with a 4-3 win over the Tigers.
In Monday's winner-take-all rematch with Missouri, the Cardinals played as if they were tournament regulars instead of a team treading in uncharted waters. Louisville pounded out 21 hits in a 16-6 win, setting off a euphoric celebration that didn't stop on the bus ride home when word came that the Cardinals were hosting the Cowboys with a trip to the College World Series at stake.
"We were watching 'Entourage' and the coaches told us we were hosting and it was crazy," outfielder Chris Dominguez said. "Louisville is kind of known for basketball and football, now they can include baseball."
McDonnell, who played at the Citadel, knows one season doesn't make a program. But as he watched his players conduct interviews as the school's latest stars, he couldn't help but smile.
"This was coming," McDonnell said. "Was it going to happen this year, I don't know, but this time was coming."
