Louisville Falls to Miami in Series Opener

(Photo of Louisville Players: William Caudill via University of Louisville Athletics)

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
UM	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	2	1	6	10	0
UL	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0

W: Spencer Bodanza (2-0), L: Evan Webster (1-1)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kicking off the final three-game series of the regular season, the No. 18 Louisville baseball program welcomed Miami to town, but dropped the series opener to the tune of 6-1 on Thursday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The Cardinals (27-19, 16-14 ACC) have now lost eight of their last twelve games since the cancellation of the Pitt series in late April, and currently possess the No. 5 seed in next week's ACC Tournament.

Louisville got the scoring started in their final series opener of the regular season, thanks to outfielder Trey Leonard (2-3, R). He led off the second with a single for the Cardinals' first base hit, got to third base on a groundout and fly out, then scored thanks to a wild pitch.

Taking over as the 'ace' thanks to shuffling of the pitching staff, left-hander Luke Seed (3.2 IP, 5 K, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 ER) delivered some strong innings for Louisville, giving up only one run. However, he would have to exit the game in the fourth due to what appeared to be an elbow injury in his throwing arm.

Head coach Dan McDonnell decided to insert fellow southpaw Evan Webster (3.0 IP, 1 K, 4 H, 2 ER) in relief of Seed. He delivered solid innings through middle of the game, but Miami caught onto him in the seventh. The Canes led off the inning with a solo home run, then a triple, with that runner stealing home.

A third southpaw in Garrett Schmeltz (2.1 3 K, 3 H, 3 ER) entered the game in the eighth, and he met a similar fate to Webster. He surrendered a two out, two-run home run in the eighth, then a solo home run in the ninth.

Other than giving up the long ball, the issue for Louisville in this game, is that the bats once again fell ice cold. Leonard had two of the Cardinals' four hits on the day, with shortstop Christian Knapczyk (1-3) and catcher Henry Davis (1-3) collecting the others. By game's end, Louisville's hitters had collectively struck out fourteen times, including ten times looking.

Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their weekend series vs. Miami with game two. First pitch is slated for Friday, May. 21 at 6:00pm EST, and will be televised on ACC Network & broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

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