Louisville Defeats St. John's in Finale to Win Series

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in their first rubber match of the young 2025 season, the Louisville baseball program was able to bounce back from their game two loss to St. John's, winning 6-2 in the Sunday finale at Jim Patterson Stadium to clinch the series.

The Cardinals (8-2) have now won 16 consecutive three-game series against non-conference opponents. Their last such loss came against No. 20 UConn to open up the 2019 season.

Louisville's top two batters in the order, Alex Alicea (2-4, HR, 3 RBI) and Lucas Moore (2-4, 2 RBI, 2B), did the majority of the damage at the plate for against the Red Storm (1-8). They combined for four of Louisville's eight hits and five of their RBIs, with Alicea launching his first home run of the season. Nate Earley (1-1, RBI, 2B) also drove in a run for the Cards.

Right-hander Peter Michael (5.2 IP, 6 K, 1 BB, 4 H, 1 ER) put together not only his best start in a Louisville uniform, but arguably his best outing in college overall. The San Diego and Northwestern transfer took a no-hitter into the fourth inning, set a new career-high in strikeouts, and posted the longest scoreless stretch of his collegiate career prior to allowing an RBI single in the sixth with two outs.

Backing Michael up, Louisville put up a couple crooked numbers in the early innings. Alicea hit a 365-foot, three-run home run in the third inning to get the scoring started, then Moore collected a two-run double in the fourth.

St. John's threatened to do some serious damage in the sixth and take a significant chunk out of Louisville's lead. Michael was pulled after his two-out RBI single in favor of left-hander Casen Murphy (0.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 HBP), who then was yanked two batters later after he loaded the bases. Fellow southpaw Ethan Eberle (1.0 IP, 1 K, 2 H, 1 ER) was able to get the final out of the frame and strand the bases loaded.

However, the Red Storm were still able to get a run off of Eberle, collecting a two-out RBI single in the seventh to run him out of the game. But like Eberle in the frame before, right-hander Brandin Crawford (1.1 IP, 2 K, 1 H) was able to come in an get the final out of the seventh.

Crawford followed that up with a scoreless eighth, then Earley added some insurance in the bottom of the frame with a pinching-hitting RBI double. Lefty Wyatt Danilowicz (1.0 IP, 3 K) was tasked with closing out the game, and tossed a perfect ninth by striking out the side.

Next up for Louisville, they'll host Morehead State for a midweek matchup. First pitch is slated for Tuesday, Mar. 4 at 3:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 970 WGTK.

(Photo of Peter Michael via University of Louisville Athletics)

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