Louisville Falls to Dartmouth to Even Series

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DU	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	1	6	11	0
UL	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	5	1

W: Cole Roland (1-0), L: Ryan Hawks (1-1)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One day removed from putting on an offensive onslaught in their series opener against Dartmouth, the Louisville baseball program followed that up by stumbling in game two of the weekend series, falling 6-4 Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Unlike the game prior, where the Cardinals (3-3) put up their most runs since 2019 and kept the Big Green (1-1) largely at bay, the bats had a quiet afternoon and the pitching wasn't as consistent. Louisville was just 1-10 with runners on base, while the pitching staff allowed 15 base runners.

Dartmouth, who in the opener played their first game in 726 days, notched their first win since Feb. 23, 2020 against Nebraska-Omaha. Despite being a senior, Big Green starting pitcher Cole Roland had never thrown a pitch in his collegiate career before today.

After spending all of game one trailing, it was Dartmouth who struck first in game two, tallying an RBI in the top of the first courtesy of a fielder's choice. Louisville didn't spend much time behind, with Cam Masterman (1-4, HR, 2 RBI) launching a 384-foot, two-run home run in the bottom of the frame.

The Masterman homer marked the ninth-straight inning in the series in which Louisville scored a run, but that was then followed up by four scoreless frames by the Cardinals hitters. This allowed an opportunity for Dartmouth to tie the game in the fourth thanks to a fielding error, while also chasing starter right-hander Jared Poland (4.0 IP, 4 K, 2 BB, 4 H, 1 ER) out of the game.

Louisville finally broke the tie in sixth, with Isaac Humphrey (1-3, BB) scoring on a passed ball and Logan Beard (2-3, RBI, 2B, SF) sending Levi Usher (0-3, BB) home on a sacrifice fly. But after a couple solid innings of relief from righty Ryan Hawks (2.2 IP, 6 K, 0 BB, 5 H, 3 ER), Dartmouth jumped on him in the seventh, plating three runs to jump back in front.

Right hander Kaleb Corbett (2.0 IP, 1 K, 0 BB, 2 H, 1 ER) came in to secure the final out of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth, but eventually gave up a run himself in the ninth thanks to an RBI double. Left-hander Michael Prosecky (0.1 IP, 1 K) relieved Corbett in the ninth to pitch the final out.

Things didn't exactly get better at the plate, either. After putting up two runs in the sixth, Louisville had eight of their batters retired in order over the final three innings.

Next up for Louisville, they'll conclude their weekend series against Dartmouth with game three. First pitch is slated for Sunday, Feb. 26 at 12:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

(Photo of Alex Galvan: Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)

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