Louisville Takes Series-Opener vs. Dayton; Dan McDonnell Earns Win No. 700

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

W: Ryan Hawks (4-0), L: Anthony Hattrup (0-1), Evan Webster (1)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Dayton for a three-game weekend series at Jim Patterson Stadium, the Louisville baseball program overcame their largest deficit of the young season, winning the series-opener 11-7 Friday.

The victory by the No. 4 Cardinals (12-1) was a milestone one for head coach Dan McDonnell, as it gave him the 700th win in his career. McDonnell becomes the 33rd active Division 1 head coach to reach the 700-win mark, with his winning percentage of .708 being the highest amongst the 33 coaches. His overall record now stands at 700-288-1.

Pitcher Ryan Hawks (5.1 IP, 3 K, 2 BB, 8 H, 5 ER), who has had an incredible first month of the season, struggled immensely early in his start against Dayton. After allowing just one earned run in three starts all season up to this point, he allowed five in the first two innings - two in the first and three in the second. Entering the matchup, the Flyers (3-9) were averaging only 3.3 runs per game.

After a quiet four innings at the plate, Louisville exploded in the fifth inning, flipping a five-run deficit into a four-run lead with a nine-spot in the frame. It was their most runs in a single inning since the Cardinals plated the same amount in the eighth inning of a Mar. 27, 2022 matchup at Boston College.

Patrick Forbes (1-3, RBI BB), J.T. Benson (0-3, RBI, BB) and Logan Beard (1-3, RBI, BB) each drew bases loaded walks; Eddie King Jr. (2-4, RBI) and Gavin Kilen (2-3, RBI, BB) collected RBI singles; Christin Knapczyk (1-4, RBI) had a groundout RBI; and Jack Payton (2-3, 3 RBI, 2B, BB) tallied both an RBI double and two-RBI single.

Kilen made it double digits in the seventh inning, scoring a run following a pair of throwing errors on a Knapczyk fly ball. Their final run came in the eighth courtesy of a Tyeler Hawkins' (1-1, RBI) RBI single.

Following a rocky pair of innings out of the gate, Hawks settled in for the final three innings of his start to put up zeroes through the middle innings. Evan Webster (3.2 IP, 3 K, 3 H, 0 ER) then went on to have good outing out of the bullpen after relieving Hawks in the sixth. He tossed a trio of scoreless innings with no earned runs, only allowing up a sacrifice fly and RBI single in the ninth following a fielding error.

Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their weekend series against Dayton with game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, Mar. 11 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 970 WGTK.

(Photo of Logan Beard: Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)

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