Louisville Drops Seventh Straight, Secures Sweep at Virginia

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
UL	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	8	1
UVA	3	2	0	1	0	2	0	0	X	8	12	0

W: Brian Edgington (7-3), L: Carson Liggett (7-1)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Playing in their final true road game of the regular season, the Louisville baseball program again found themselves on the wrong end of a loss at the hands of Virginia, falling 8-3 in the series finale Sunday to suffer yet another three-game road sweep.

The loss hands the Cardinals (29-22, 9-18 ACC) their seventh consecutive loss, one short of matching their longest since May of 2011, and clinches their third sweep in ACC play over the past four weekends. Louisville has lost 13 of their last 15 games in ACC play, and 15 of their last 19 overall.

With just one week left in the regular season, Louisville's chances at making the ACC Tournament remain in jeopardy. They are currently 1.5 games behind NC State in the overall ACC standings, who currently hold the 12th and final seed in the field, with the Wolfpack possessing the tiebreaker over the Cardinals. Louisville will face Florida State - who is dead last in the ACC standings and already eliminated from reaching Durham - in their final series of the regular season next weekend.

Like in the opener of the series, the Cavaliers (41-11, 16-11 ACC) set the tone early at the plate, plating five runs over the first two innings. They handed the normally steady Carson Liggett (3.1 IP, 2 K, 3 BB, 8 H, 6 ER) his worst start of the season, as he gave up a career-high in hits and earned runs en route to his first loss of the season.

As the first reliever out of the bullpen, Greg Farone (2.2 IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 3 H, 1 ER) also found himself at the mercy of the UVA hitters. He allowed a fielder's choice RBI in the fourth after replacing Liggett, then an RBI single in the sixth. A fielding error later in the frame would also scratch across a run.

It wasn't until the seventh that Louisville finally got on the board, putting up a three-spot to chip into Virginia's lead. Eddie King Jr. (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), laced a two-run ground-rule double, while Logan Beard (1-3, 2B, RBI) added a groundout RBI.

Kayden Campbell (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 BB) and Evan Webster (1.0 IP, 1 H) each twirled scoreless innings, but the offense was unable to build on their seventh inning momentum. When everything was said and done, Louisville only produced ten baserunners for the game, with King, Jack Payton (2-4) and Haven Mangrum (1-3, 1 BB) being the only Cardinals to reach base multiple times.

Next up for Louisville, they'll return home for their final midweek game of the regular season and host Northern Kentucky. First pitch is slated for Tuesday, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

(Photo of Carson Liggett: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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