Reeling Louisville Falls in Series Finale at Clemson to Secure Sweep

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

W: Caden Grice (5-1), L: Tucker Biven (0-2), S: Ryan Ammons (4)

CLEMSON, S.C. - Hoping to leave Clemson with at least one win under their belt, the Louisville baseball program was instead handed another three-game sweep in ACC play, falling 7-3 in the series finale Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The late season slump for the No. 22 Cardinals (28-18, 9-15 ACC) continues to press onwards, and the threat of missing the NCAA Tournament is only growing larger. Louisville has now dropped 10 of their last 12 games in ACC play, including sweeps by Duke and the No. 18 Tigers (31-17, 14-10 ACC), and are 2-6 in ACC series this season. They've also lost 11 of their last 15 games overall.

Like they had all weekend, the Cardinals struggled to capitalize on several opportunities at the plate. They went just 3-for-17 with runners on base, and struck out 13 times, with 11 of those punchouts coming from Tigers starter Caden Grice.

Louisville and Clemson traded early blows in the first few innings of the game. The Cardinals struck first with an RBI double from Eddie King Jr. (2-4, RBI. 2B) in the opening frame, to which the Tigers responded with two-run home run in the bottom of the first.

Logan Beard (2-3, RBI) tied things up with an RBI single in the next inning, then Clemson jumped back in front in the third thanks to a dropped fly ball in center field by Tyeler Hawkins (1-4). That in turn led to an early exit for UofL starting pitcher Tucker Biven (2.1 IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 3 H, 3 ER).

The Tigers were able to compound their lead through the middle innings. They were able to collect an RBI double in the fifth off of Greg Farone (0.2 IP, 2 H) after chasing out Evan Webster (2.0 IP, 2 K, 1 H, 1 ER), then Will Koger (0.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) allowed a leadoff homer in the sixth.

Later in the frame after Kade Grundy (0.1 IP, HBP) was yanked after a pair of batters, a passed ball from emergency catcher Ryan McCoy (0-3) under Kayden Campbell's (0.2 IP, 2 K) watch led to another run to make it four unanswered by the Tigers.

Christian Knapczyk (2-3, RBI) got a run back in the seventh thanks to a sacrifice fly, but then Clemson got said run right back in the bottom of the frame courtesy of another passed ball. Alex Galvan (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 BB) and Patrick Forbes (1.0 IP, 2 BB) gave Louisville a chance to mount a late comeback, but once again, the attempt fell short.

Next up for Louisville, they'll return to Jim Patterson Stadium and host Vanderbilt for the annual Battle of the Barrel rivalry showdown. First pitch is slated for Tuesday, May 9 at 6:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ESPNU and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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