Louisville Rocked at Clemson in Series Opener
(Photo of Lucas Dunn: William Caudill via University of Louisville Athletics)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
CU | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 11 | 9 | 1 |
W: Mack Anglin (2-2), L: Michael Kirian (5-1)
CLEMSON, S.C. - Playing their first competitive baseball in ten days after last weekend's series vs. Pitt was cancelled, the No. 4 Louisville baseball program saw their three-game win streak snapped at the hands of Clemson, falling 11-3 on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Cardinals (23-12, 14-7 ACC) have now lost six of their last eight against the Tigers (19-18, 13-12 ACC), but still lead 10-9 in the series since joining the ACC in 2015. Clemson leads the overall series 15-10 thanks to six seven-inning wins from the early 1970's.
While Louisville plated the first run of the game thanks to an RBI double from catcher Henry Davis (2-3, RBI, 2B, BB) in the first inning, Clemson quickly took control after that, plating eleven unanswered runs.
Starting pitcher left-hander Michael Kirian (4.0 IP, 4 K, 6 H, 3 BB, 8 ER) gave up three home runs in the first three innings, including two from designated hitter Caden Grice - one of which was a grand slam.
Even when Kirian was chased out in the fifth inning, and replaced with right-hander Cam Robinson (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 H 2 BB, 1 ER), Grice continued to feast at the plate and immediately launched a three-run homer - falling a two-run shot shy of the "home run cycle".
The Tigers also scratched across a run in the fifth thanks to a fielding error, as well as another in the seventh thanks to a bases loaded groundout off right-hander Jack Perkins (1.0 IP, 1 K, 2 BB, 1 ER). Left-handers Evan Webster (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) and Michael Prosecky (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 H, 2 BB) each had scoreless outings.
By game's end, only Davis, outfielder Luke Brown (2-3) and designated hitter Dalton Rushing (1-3) collected base hits. The Cardinals ended up striking out eleven times, mostly to Tigers' starting pitcher Mack Anglin. They made things interesting with two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but eventually fell short.
Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their three-game weekend series with game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, May. 1 at 3:00pm EST, and will be televised on the ACC Network & broadcast on 1450 WXVW.
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