Louisville Clinches Series Victory Against Clemson

The Cardinals plated five runs in the eighth inning of a tie game.

Louisville designated hitter Zion Rose (32) celebrates his RBI-double against Vanderbilt during the first inning at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, May 7, 2024. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team secured an 11-6 victory over Clemson on Saturday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Louisville (25-18, 9-11 ACC) plated five runs in the eighth inning to break a six-all tie to help clinch the win.

Clemson (26-18, 6-14) hit a pair of homers in the top of the first on Saturday to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Ethan Eberle settled in after that, putting five consecutive shutout innings together after the first.

Meanwhile, the Louisville offense got cranked up.

Ben Slanker singled home Jimmy Nugent for the first run in the second inning. Nugent would then lead off the fourth with a solo homer, his fourth of the year.

Later in the fourth, Lucas Moore sent a flyball into left-centerfield that was misplayed by the left fielder allowing Kade Elam and Kyle Campbell to score and give the Cards a 4-3 advantage.

Alex Alicea and Zion Rose kept the offensive run going in the sixth, tallying run-scoring singles to stretch the margin out to three.

Clemson got back on the board in the seventh with Eberle out of the game, scoring three times to tie things up at six.

The Cardinals left a pair of runners on in the seventh, but Jack Brown put a zero on the board in the top of the eighth to set up Louisville’s late surge.

Alicea and Moore started the inning with consecutive walks before Rose singled to right to plate Alicea with the go-ahead run. After another walk, Bayram Hot and Nugent each drove in runs to make it a three-run game.

Slanker drew the fourth walk of the inning and Elam put a ball in play for a run before a throwing error brought home the fifth and final run.

Aaron England came on in the ninth and struck out the side to slam the door shut.

Eberle allowed three runs over six innings and got a no-decision. Brown (4-2) earned the win with his two-inning relief stint.

Nugent was 3-for-4 on the night as part of a 13-hit effort from the Cardinals. Rose, Slanker and Elam all tallied two hits apiece.

Louisville will go for the sweep of Clemson on Sunday with first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.  

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(Photo of Zion Rose: Andrew Nelles - The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK)