Louisville Falls to Pitt in ACC Baseball Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Louisville baseball program's run in the ACC Baseball Championship is over before it really had a chance to begin.

Tasked with taking on Pitt in the opening round, the Cardinals went one-and-done in the conference tournament, getting blasted by the Panthers 16-8 on Tuesday night at Truist Field.

Sporting an RPI ranking of just 83rd entering the game, 11th-seeded Louisville entered the ACC Baseball Championship needing to win it all if they were to make the NCAA Tournament. Their upset loss to 14th-seeded Pitt (31-23, 11-19 ACC) thus brings their 2026 season to an end, and the Cardinals finish with a 30-27 overall record (including 13-17 in regular season ACC play).

As you can imagine, Louisville's pitching staff struggled to throw quality strikes for most of the night. On top of giving up 12 base hits to Pitt, three were home runs while five went for extra bases, and they also allowed nine walks.

When it comes to their own efforts at the plate, the Cardinals did more than enough to give themselves a chance to win. Despite striking out 13 times and only drawing four walks, they did collect 10 base hits.

First baseman Tague Davis (1-4, 2 RBI) and outfielder Zion Rose (3-5, 3 RBI) drove in multiple runs, while shortstop Alex Alicea (2-4, RBI) joined them in logging multi-hit nights. Outfielder Griffin Crain (1-3, RBI, BB) and third baseman Bayram Hot (0-4, RBI, BB) also drove in runs.

Wyatt Danilowicz (3.1 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 6 H, 7 ER) earned the start for Louisville after getting some rest this past weekend, and the left-hander had a nightmare beginning to his outing. He allowed the first five batters of the game to reach base, which included a two-run single and a three-run home run to give Pitt a five-spot in the opening frame.

However, the Cardinals had a counterpunch, putting up a five-spot of their own in the second. Alicea, Davis and Rose all had RBI singles, while Crain and Hot collected fielder's choice RBIs.

Following his worst case scenario opening frame, Danilowicz started to find his groove, putting up zeroes in the second and third innings. However, after giving up a two-run homer in the fourth, he would be pulled in favor of right-hander Brandon Shannon (0.2 IP, 3 BB, 1 H, 4 ER). The Panthers immediately jumped on the pitching change, adding a grand slam off of Shannon to put up a six-spot in the fourth.

Lefty Ty Starke (0.2 IP, 1 K, 3 BB, 3 ER) was inserted in the fifth to try and get Louisville back on track, but was pulled after allowing the bases loaded with two outs. Once again, Pitt jumped on the pitching change, collecting a three-run RBI double off of righty Jack Brown (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 H). The Panthers then added one more run thanks to a fielding error, giving them a quartet of runs in the frame.

Brown and southpaw Aaron England (2.1 IP, 2 K, 3 H, 1 ER) combined to put up a zero in the sixth, then the latter went out and twirled a perfect seventh. A fielder's choice RBI from Davis in the seventh was enough to stave off the run-rule.

England allowed a fielder's choice RBI in the eighth, but Rose smacked a two-run single in Louisville's half of the frame to again hold them off from getting mercy ruled. Right-hander Zane Stahl (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 H) cruised through the ninth, but the Cards could not mount the miracle comeback in the bottom of the inning.

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