BOZICH | As Louisville's season ends, Dan McDonnell questions U of L's commitment to baseball | Louisville Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The University of Louisville baseball team is supposed to play elimination games in Omaha, Nebraska, at the College World Series.

Or maybe on the first or second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Just not on the third Saturday in May at Jim Patterson Stadium. Not three days before the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

But that was the situation that unfolded Saturday for coach Dan McDonnell's struggling team during the Cardinals' final home game this season.

McDonnell's full postgame comments can be viewed below:

Louisville had to defeat Florida State, the worst team in the ACC. Pittsburgh had to lose at North Carolina State in Raleigh.

Nothing else mattered.

It didn't happen. The Cardinals' season ended with a surrender, not a surge. Beaten 7-4 by Florida State on Friday night, Louisville spit out a 1-0 lead and lost again to the Seminoles, 6-2.

There will be no trip to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in McDonnell's career. Heck, there will be no trip to the ACC Tournament for the first time in McDonnell's career. Louisville finished 31-24, 10-20 in the ACC. Twelve teams will advance to the ACC Tournament. U of L and Florida State will not.

Instead, there will be questions about the arc of the program. Louisville will miss the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.

Specialty publications like Baseball America have linked McDonnell to the opening at Alabama, which fired its coach earlier this month after an investigation into a gambling scandal. Other warmer weather jobs are likely to open. They always do.

I asked McDonnell if he expected to be the Cards' coach next season. Understand that McDonnell took the blame for the Cardinals' underachieving season. He said that everything in his program should be reviewed, including his performance. In an outfield discussion with his players, McDonnell told them he let them down.

But his answer was more interesting than the game.

"I always expect to be here," he said. "But I'm not going to shy away from (his recent concerns about facilities). I've been very vocal. Right? The past few years.

"We got back from Texas A&M. You can listen to my interview on the radio, on 93.9 (FM). I was very vocal. If you came to my lead-off banquet and you re-watch (the video), there were some clear messages in that lead-off banquet.

"I'm not going to get into it now but I've been very vocal and challenging over the last 12 months. Just look at the writing on the wall.

"Look at where this program has been and you walk around. You walk through the dugouts. You walk under the stadium. You see what differently have we done since 2000-whatever.

"So, it's, you know, we want to be here. We love it here. But, again, I want to work for people and be with people and in a group that want to win as well.

"And don't tell me you want to win. Show me you want to win. That's all I asked for, and I think our fans asked for that. I think our players asked for that.

"I've been recruiting these kids. They've been committed since their eighth-, ninth-, 10th-grade year. Well, they showed up on campus they haven't seen a whole lot different.

"They said it was going be different. We promised them it would be different, but it's not different.

"So, you know, as my phrase was at the lead-off banquet, 'Are you interested or are you committed?'

"I just I want to be at a place that's committed when it's all said and done. Because the kids were recruited to be at a place that's committed. And, ultimately we're trying to get to Omaha and win a national championship. And ain't gonna happen unless we make a full commitment."

Better indoor facilities to pitch and hit as he said he was promised several years ago. Improved dugouts. Better stadium concourse. More suite seating. The bells and whistles that McDonnell sees at other programs around the ACC and Southeastern Conference.

Over 17 seasons, McDonnell has never endured a season like this season. Once 16-1, the Cardinals lost 23 of their last 38 games. After winning their first five and 18 of their first 20, Louisville was unable to win three straight games after April 12.

They fell out of the top five, out of the top 10, out of the top 25 and out of consideration for the NCAA Tournament.

What happened?

Injuries were certainly a factor, especially injuries to catcher Jack Payton and shortstop Christian Knapczyk. The offense stalled. In ACC play, the Cards ranked last in batting average (.240), last in home runs (22) and last in total bases.

The pitching was average. Louisville ranked seventh in the league in earned run average and fifth in home runs allowed. But that was not enough to carry an offense or a defense that ranked tied last in the league in fielding percentage.

Close games crushed the Cardinals. Their record in one-run games in the ACC was 3-8. They lost their last five one-run decisions, including three in one weekend at Duke, which was the series that locked McDonnell's team in the wrong direction.

On Saturday Louisville was simply bad. A runner was picked off first base. Another guy was doubled off first on a soft fly ball to right field.

The first baseman, third baseman and center fielder all failed to make plays that led to FSU runs. The pitching staff gave up four doubles, a triple and four walks.

Simply not good enough — to beat a Florida State team that came to town 21-30 overall and 7-20 in the ACC.

"Today is a culmination of kind of how it's gone," McDonnell said. "We just fell short and kind of had to play perfect baseball."

The baseball was not perfect. And neither is the vibe around the program as Dan McDonnell begins a strangely early off season where he will have a decision about his future to make.