Louisville Prevents Sweep, Takes Series Finale at NC State

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

W: Carson Liggett (6-0), L: Dominic Fritton (1-1)

RALEIGH, N.C - Capping off their weekend set at NC State, the Louisville baseball program was able to avoid getting swept in the three-game series, winning the finale 6-1 Sunday at Doak Field.

The No. 11 Cardinals (21-6, 4-5 ACC) narrowly avoid suffering their first sweep since the end of 2021 regular season, when Miami took all three games from them at Jim Patterson Stadium. It marks the second weekend in a row that Louisville has had to win the series finale in order to dodge a road sweep, also doing so at Notre Dame last weekend as well as against the Wolfpack (20-8, 5-7 ACC).

Louisville got yet another good performance from their starting pitcher for the weekend, this time from Carson Liggett (5.1 IP, 4 K, 2 BB, 4 H, 1 ER). He only allowed seven batters to reach base, with the only run surrendered under his watch coming via a groundout RBI in the fourth inning.

The Cardinals hadn't been very efficient at the plate or in the field against NC State all weekend, but were able to put together a more consistent offensive and defensive performance in the finale.

Jack Payton (2-4, HR, RBI, BB) and Patrick Forbes (1-5, HR, RBI) each launched solo homers in the fourth, then a throwing error in the fifth allowed both Gavin Kilen (1-3, BB) and Isaac Humphrey (0-2, RBI, 2 BB) to scamper home. Louisville capped off their scoring efforts with bases loaded walks from Humphrey and JT Benson (0-3, RBI, BB) in the eighth.

Unlike in the first two games of the series, the bullpen was able to shut the door on NC State and stave off any attempt of a comeback. After Liggett's day was done, Riley Phillips (2.2 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 H) and Tate Kuehner (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 H) combined to keep the Wolfpack off the scoreboard in the final three-plus innings.

Next up for Louisville, they'll return to Jim Patterson Stadium and kick off an eight-game home stand against Lipscomb. First pitch is slated for Tuesday, Apr. 4 at 7:00 p.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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