Louisville Takes Down Wake Forest in Series Finale to Prevent Sweep

The Cardinals dropped the first two games against Demon Deacons before winning in the finale.

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The University of Louisville baseball team got back into the win column on Saturday with a 7-3 victory at No. 14 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C.

 

Louisville (15-9, 2-4 ACC) snapped a four-game conference losing streak with the win.

 

The series finale got off to a slow start for the Cardinals as Wake Forest (16-7, 4-5) plated a pair of runs in the first inning and held a 2-0 lead through four.

 

Luke Napleton led off the fifth inning with a double off the top of the wall in right-centerfield and scored Louisville’s first run of the game on a wild pitch.

 

JT Benson then tied the game up with one swing in the sixth, hitting a ball over the right-center wall to tie it at two.

 

The Demon Deacons answered with a run in the bottom half of the sixth the regain the lead, but the Cardinals had a response of their own in the seventh.

 

With a pair of runners in scoring position, Logan Beard singled into left field to drive home one and tie the game once again. Two batters later, Zion Rose delivered a two-out, two-run single that gave Louisville its first lead of the day.

 

Tucker Biven worked a perfect seventh but ran into some trouble with consecutive two-out walks in the eighth. However, the right-hander picked up a huge strikeout to strand the tying runs.

 

Searching for insurance runs in the ninth, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two away. Benson then hit a hot shot that the shortstop couldn’t handle allowing two more runs to come across the plate.

 

Biven then finished things off with a scoreless ninth to secure the victory.

 

Biven (2-0) struck out five and did not allow a hit as he pitched the final 3.1 innings of the game. Ty Starke added 1.2 innings of relief work, giving up just an unearned run.

 

Riley Phillips made the start on Saturday for the Cardinals. The southpaw gave up the two first inning runs but shut it down from there over his four-inning outing.

 

Beard and Isaac Humphrey each went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Cards, with Humphrey scoring two of the seven runs.

 

Louisville will now return home to take on Cincinnati on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.

(Photo of Lucas Moore: Jeff Faughender - Courier Journal / USA

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