Louisville Walks Off Georgia Tech in ACC Opener

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

W: Tate Kuehner (1-0), L: Terry Busse (0-1)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Georgia Tech for a three-game weekend series to kick off Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Louisville baseball program was able to pull off a come-from-behind victory, walking off their visitors 8-7 Friday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Trailing by two through six and a half innings, the No. 2 Cardinals (16-1, 1-0 ACC) scored three unanswered runs in the final three frames to pull off the comeback. Haven Mangrum (0-3, RBI) collected an RBI groundout in the seventh, then Patrick Forbes (1-4, 4 RBI, 3B, BB) drew a game-tying, bases loaded walk in the eighth.

Jack Payton (3-6, RBI) delivered the game-winning hit the bottom the ninth, striking a two-out single to center field and bring home Logan Beard (1-3, 2 BB). It marked the first walk-off win for the Cardinals since they won 6-5 over North Carolina in 14 innings back on Apr. 10, 2022.

Louisville moves to 9-0 all-time in ACC openers, snap a four-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets (13-5, 2-2 ACC), and extend their overall win streak to 11 in a row. It's tied for the fourth-longest active win streak in Division I, and it's Louisville's longest streak since opening up the 2018 season with 14 consecutive wins.

Payton and Gavin Kilen (2-5, 2B) both logged multi-hit days, Forbes set a career-high in RBIs, and Ryan McCoy (1-1, HR, RBI 4 BB) was the first Cardinal to draw four walks since Christian Knapczyk did so on June 5, 2022 against Michigan.

The Cards struck first with a three-spot in the third inning, with Forbes delivering all three runs in the frame off of a bases-clearing triple. Christian Knapczyk (1-4, RBI, BB) following that up with an RBI single in the fourth, then McCoy added to the Cardinals' lead in the fifth with a solo home run.

Ryan Hawks (5.0 IP, 7 K, 7 H, 4 ER) was on the way to putting together another quality start, keeping Georgia Tech off the scoreboard through the first five innings, but then the Yellow Jackets woke up in the sixth. He allowed a bases clearing triple and RBI single before getting pulled in favor of Will Koger (1.2 IP, 2 K, 3 H, 1 ER), who also gave up a two-run single.

Fortunately, the Cardinals got good support from the bullpen as their offense mounted the comeback. While Koger did go on to also give up a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh, Riley Phillips (1.2 IP, 2 K, 1 H) and Tate Kuehner (0.2 IP, 1 K) combined to keep the Jackets off the board in the final two frames.

Next up for Louisville, they'll attempt to clinch the series against Georgia Tech in game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, Mar. 18 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

(Photo of Jack Payton: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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