Charleston, S.C. – Matt Arnold drew a bases loaded, two out walk in the bottom of the 10th inning as The Citadel topped No. 23 Louisville in 10 innings Saturday afternoon at Riley Park, 1-0. The Bulldogs moved to 4-2 on the season in front of 1,693 fans that also witnessed the unveiling of a permanent memorial for the “Charleston 9” on the center field wall prior to the game in the second day of the Charleston Firefighter Memorial Challenge presented by the Charleston Crab House.

The Citadel (4-2) won their second consecutive 10-inning game behind another strong pitching performance by junior Matt Crim. Crim was not credited with a decision but pitched 8.0 shutout innings and striking out five. Matt Reifsnider (2-0) was credited with the win in a relief appearance for the second straight game, throwing for 1.1 innings and striking out one Cardinal batter.

"Today was a great game,” said Bulldogs head coach Fred Jordan. “They [Louisville] have a tremendous ballclub. It is gratifying to see what Dan McDonnell and Chris Lemonis are doing with their team. We are just an average team trying to get better everyday. We had a great pitching performance today. Matt Crim had tremendous movement and through enough change-ups and breaking balls that he was able to get by with a lot of fastballs at certain times. We brought Matt Reifsnider in and thought he would be the best match-up against their hitters because he is an upper velocity guy and we have a pretty good infield."

Saturday’s win marked at least the third consecutive year that the Bulldogs have upended a ranked opponent in one of The Citadel’s early season tournament. In 2007, The Citadel defeated No. 1 South Carolina, 7-6, and the Bulldogs topped No. 3 Nebraska, 8-5, in 2006.

Louisville (3-2) recorded seven hits off the Bulldogs but failed to score while leaving seven runners stranded throughout the game. UofL’s Justin Marks held the Bulldogs scoreless for 6.0 innings, striking out three and giving up four hits. The Louisville defense forced The Citadel to strand 12 runners throughout the game.

Dean Kiekhefer (0-1) was credited with the loss for Louisville after walking in Matt Simonelli from third in the bottom of the 10th. Simonelli led off the inning with a double to right field. Chris Swauger grounded out to the mound, sending Simonelli to third. Sonny Meade was intentionally walked and then advanced to second based upon the catcher’s indifference as Richard Jones struck out swinging. Kiekhefer intentionally walked Bryan Altman to load the bases for The Citadel and to give the Cardinals the opportunity to get the force out at any base to end the inning. However Keikhefer struggled with finding the strike zone as he walked Matt Arnold on five pitches, sending Simonelli across the plate for the game-winning run.

“It was a great game today,” said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. “It was an intense ballgame with tough pressure and both sides handled the pressure well. I have to tip my hat to the pitchers, both of them pitched a great game. Unfortunately we made a couple of bad pitches in the 10th inning and their leadoff double was huge for them.”

Louisville did not get a runner on base until the fifth inning as Crim pitched 4.1 innings of perfect ball. The Cardinals only put runners in scoring position twice the in the game, including a bases loaded situation with two outs in the seventh in which Crim forced Tyler Mickets to pop up to second.

The Cardinals are led by McDonnell, a 1992 graduate of The Citadel. McDonnell played on the 1990 Citadel team that advanced to the College World Series, the only team ever to reach the College World Series from a military school. McDonnell was also an assistant coach under Fred Jordan. McDonnell’s top assistant is Chris Lemonis, a 1993 graduate of The Military College of South Carolina.

“It was a game of a lot of mixed emotions,” said McDonnell. “Chal Port gave me a chance to play here [at The Citadel] and Freddie [Jordan] gave me my first chance to coach here.”

Prior to the game, The Citadel and Louisville joined Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas, The Citadel Athletics Director Les Robinson and Charleston RiverDogs General Manager Dave Echols for the unveiling of a permanent memorial on the center field wall for the “Charleston 9,” nine Charleston firefighters who lost their lives on June 18, 2007. The ceremony was poignant for The Citadel as Thomas’ son, Trey, is a junior on the Bulldog baseball team and started at designated hitter.

“Today was a tremendous tribute to the ‘Charleston 9,’” said Jordan. “Over 300,000 walk through the gates of Riley Park every season between our games and the RiverDogs and that memorial in center field and it makes me very proud to know that all 300,000 will see that memorial.”

The Citadel closes out the tournament for which Saturday’s tribute was named after as the Bulldogs host NC State in the final game of the 2008 Charleston Firefighter Memorial Challenge presented by the Charleston Crab House on Sunday at 2 p.m. Game five of the tournament will see No. 23 Louisville face North Carolina A&T at 11 a.m.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Baseball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.