Louisville Falls at Virginia to Clinch Fifth-Straight ACC Series Loss

The Cardinals' overall losing streak also sits at six games.

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

W: Connelly Early (10-1). L: Tate Kuehner (2-3), S: Jake Berry (5)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Hoping to rebound from their disastrous series opener at Virginia, the Louisville baseball program put together a much more respectable performance in game two of the three-game series, but still fell 4-1 Saturday at Disharoon Park to secure a series loss.

The Cardinals (29-21, 9-17 ACC) continue to sputter towards the regular season finish line. They have now dropped their last five ACC series, and their overall losing streak moves to six games, which is their longest since dropping eight in a row back in May of 2011. Louisville has lost 12 of their last 14 games in ACC play, and 14 of their last 18 overall.

Making his second start of the week after pitching the first two innings of Tuesday's game against Vanderbilt, Tate Kuehner (4.2 IP, 9 K, 3 BB, 4 H, 2 ER) looked solid through the first four innings against Virginia (40-11, 15-11 ACC). He set a new career-high in strikeouts, while only allowing a solo home run in the third and RBI single in the fourth during this stretch.

Then in the fifth inning, Kuehner all but lost his command. He issued three hit-by-pitches in the frame, while a passed ball and a fielding error allowed two runners to score.

Kuehner was eventually pulled after allowing the bases to be loaded, but Kaleb Corbett (3.1 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 H) was able to come in and secure the third out to limit the damage. Corbett then gave Louisville some stability on the mount, pitching a trio of scoreless innings down the stretch while posting a season-high in strikeouts in the process.

While the pitching gave Louisville a chance, the hitting and defense did not. The Cardinals' lone run in the game came in the fourth inning courtesy of an RBI single from Jack Payton (2-4, RBI), while UofL generated only seven baserunners all game. Louisville also committed four errors, three of which came from shortstop Christian Knapczyk.

Next up for Louisville, they'll try and avoid the three-game sweep at the hands of Virginia in what will be their final road game of the regular season. First pitch is slated for Sunday, May 12 at 1:00 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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