Louisville Holds Off Dayton to Complete Sweep

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

W: Riley Phillips (1-0), L: Ryan Packard (0-3), Kayden Campbell (1)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Capping off their final non-conference weekend series of the regular season, the Louisville baseball program was able to finish what they started against Dayton, winning 5-1 Sunday to pull off the three-game sweep.

Like in the previous game, the win by No. 4 Cardinals (14-1) was powered mostly by the pitching staff, who did a good job of bending but not breaking. While Louisville did allow 14 combined walks and hits, it only resulted in a single run on the afternoon, and the five arms to see action tossed 14 strikeouts.

Offensively, J.T Benson (2-3, 2 3B, HBP), Jack Payton (2-4, HBP) and Christian Knapczyk (1-3, RBI, 2 HBP) led the charge against the Flyers (3-11). Each player reached base three times, and Benson was the first Cardinal to collect two triples since Alex Binelas did so against Western Kentucky on Mar. 23, 2021. Louisville also swiped seven bases for the first time since Mar. 30, 2021 at Cincinnati.

Carson Liggett (2.0 IP, 2 K, 1 BB, 3 H) kept Dayton off the scoreboard during his start, but was forced to make an early exit after taking a comebacker off his back in the second inning. Tucker Biven (3.0 IP, 3 K, 3 BB, 3 H, 1 ER) was inserted in relief, then proceeded to twirl three more scoreless innings after Liggett's brief outing.

The strong pitching made up for a slow start at the plate for the Cardinals. Despite getting nine runners on base in the first five inning, the only run scored during this time came in the second thanks to a throwing error that plated Eddie King Jr. (1-4, 2 SB).

Louisville avoided major damage in the sixth inning. Biven had to be yanked after allowing the first three Dayton batters of the frame to reach base, with Riley Phillips (2.0 IP, 5 K, 2 BB, 1 H) inheriting a bases loaded jam with no outs. Fortunately, Phillips was able to steady the ship, and the Flyers only scratched across a single run in the inning.

This handed the Cardinals an opportunity to pull ahead, which they promptly took advantage of. Benson scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, Knapczyk and Patrick Forbes (1-3, RBI, BB) both collected RBI singles in the seventh, then Tyeler Hawkins (1-1, RBI, 2 SB) did so in the eighth.

Dayton certainly wasn't going to go down swinging, and the Flyers gave Louisville a bit of a scare down the stretch. They chased Phillips out in the eighth after he allowed the first two batters to reach base, then Kaleb Corbett (0.0, BB) got yanked after one batter after loading the bases.

Kayden Campbell (2.0 IP, 4 K) became the second reliever to face the bases loaded/no out jam of the game, but he stepped up to the challenge. He would not only strand the bases loaded in the frame, but went on to toss a scoreless ninth as well to earn his first career save.

Next up for Louisville, they have one more game before the start of conference play, and will host Miami (Ohio) for a midweek matchup. First pitch is slated for Wednesday, Mar. 15 at 11:30 a.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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