Louisville Falls to North Carolina 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
UL	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	0
UNC	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	X	5	11	0

W: Austin Love (7-4), L: Michael Kirian (5-3)

CHAPEL HILL, N. C. - Heading to the Tar Heel state for their final road trip of the regular season, the No. 8 Louisville baseball program had another disappointing late season performance, dropping their opener against North Carolina 5-1 on Friday at Boshamer Stadium.

The Cardinals (26-16, 16-11 ACC) suffered their fourth straight series opener in conference play, and have now lost five of their last eight games. They also drop to 5-6 all-time against the Tar Heels (22-22, 15-16 ACC).

For the third straight start, left-hander Michael Kirian (6.0 IP, 4 K, 8 H, 3 BB, 5 ER) looked shaky out on the mound. He gave up a two-run home run in the second, a solo homer in the third, and a two RBI single in the fifth. Fellow southpaw Evan Webster (2.0 IP, 1 K, 3 H, 1 BB) was able to toss a pair of scoreless innings of relief.

Meanwhile over at the plate, Louisville's batting was silenced by UNC starting pitcher Austin Love. The only offense the Cardinals could muster was a solo home run from catcher Henry Davis (1-3, HR) in the sixth, with outfielder Levi Usher (1-3), designated hitter Dalton Rushing (1-3) and shortstop Christian Knapczyk (1-3) collecting the only other base hits by Louisville.

Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their three-game weekend series at North Carolina with game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, May. 15 at 2:00pm EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra & broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

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