Louisville Drops Series Opener at Duke

Ethan Eberle struck out 15 in the loss.

Louisville baseball left-hander Ethan Eberle | University of Louisville Athletics

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

DURHAM, N.C. – The University of Louisville baseball team lost 6-3 in the series opener at Duke on Thursday night in Durham, N.C.

Louisville (18-12, 4-6 ACC) got one of its best strikeout performances in the last 25 years from Ethan Eberle on the mound, but it wasn’t enough on Thursday.

The Cardinals threatened in the opening frame, getting a walk and hit by pitch to start the night. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up and an intentional walk loaded the bases. However, back-to-back strikeouts kept the Cards off the board.

Eberle started his night with three strikeouts sandwiched around a two-out double, a foreshadowing of the rest of his night.

Duke (20-12, 6-7) got three consecutive hits to begin the second, the last of which was a two-run single to open the scoring. Eberle followed with three more strikeouts to limit the damage.

In the third, the Blue Devils cashed in a leadoff hit by pitch for the third run of the game before Eberle punched out three more.

The southpaw worked his first clean inning of the night in the fourth, striking out two more in the process.

Kade Elam went deep to straightaway centerfield leading off the fifth inning for Louisville, his second of the year. However, Duke got the run back with a solo shot of their own in the bottom half while Eberle tallied three more strikeouts.

Eberle finally exited the game with two outs in the sixth, but not before picking up his 15th strikeout of the night. The lefty finished the night with five runs allowed on seven hits in the loss.

Eberle became just the fourth Cardinal to strike out at least 15 since 2000, joining Brendan McKay in 2017 and Reid Detmers in 2019 and 2020.

Louisville got a run-scoring single from Lucas Moore to make it a three-run game and had the tying runs on base with two outs in the seventh. The Cards were unable to cash in though, popping up on the infield to strand all three runners.

Duke then tacked on another run in its half of the seventh for extra insurance.

Moore hit a two-out homer in the ninth, but it was too little and too late for the Cards.

Moore, Elam and Zion Rose had two hits apiece in the loss. Jake Schweitzer allowed just an unearned run in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen.

Louisville and Duke play again on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and will be televised on the ACC Network.

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(Photo of Ethan Eberle via University of Louisville Athletics)