Louisville Rallies for 14-8 Win over Arkansas State

Saturday, February 21

Emerson, Ga.

2:00 PM

University of Louisville

3-3

Arkansas State

4-2

Arkansas State

Louisville

February 21, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 21, 2015

Corey Ray connected for a three-run homer in the seventh to pull Louisville even at 8-8.

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

EMERSON, Ga. - Scoring the final 13 runs of the game, the seventh-ranked Louisville baseball team overcame a seven-run deficit to earn a 14-8 victory over Arkansas State in the final game of a weekend series at Perfect Game Park South and the LakePoint Sporting Community.

Trailing 8-1 in the middle of the fourth inning, the Cardinals (3-3) plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth, two in the sixth and three more in the seventh to pull even with the Red Wolves (4-2). Louisville finished the comeback with a decisive six-run eighth inning to salvage the second game in Saturday's doubleheader. It marked Louisville's largest deficit overcome for a victory since earning an 8-7 home win over Bowling Green on Feb. 20, 2010 after trailing 7-0 in the first inning.

"I'm proud of our guys for never giving up and showing some heart in the way they battled back today, but the reality of the weekend is that Arkansas State kicked our tails," said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. "They had better starting pitching in all three games and they had more timely hits than we did in the series. We have to get better in every phase of the game."

Sophomore outfielder Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.) led the way going 3-for-5 at the plate, highlighted by a three-run homer in the seventh inning to pull the Cardinals even at 8-8. He added a double and finished with four RBI overall while scoring three times in the win.

Sophomore infielder Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) chipped in going 2-for-4 with one RBI and three runs, while freshman infielder Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.) added his first collegiate home run and drove in three. Senior infielder Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) provided the game-winning two-run double in the eighth while also scoring twice.

On the mound, freshman lefthander Brendan McKay (Darlington, Pa.) struck out a career-best eight and allowed just two hits in four innings of shutout relief to earn his first collegiate victory. He followed freshman righty Lincoln Henzman (Lexington, Ky.), who had one strikeout in 1.2 innings of scoreless work out of the bullpen for the Cardinals.

The Red Wolves controlled the game early scoring four in the second inning against Louisville sophomore lefty Josh Rogers (New Albany, Ind.). Second baseman Joe Schrimpf started the scoring with a RBI single before scoring later in the inning on wild pitch. First baseman Zach George added a two-out, two-run single to double the lead.

After the teams exchanged runs in the third inning, Arkansas State pushed its advantage to 8-1 in the fourth scoring three runs on three hits with two Louisville errors. Outfielder Austin Baker provided a two-run double before scoring later in the frame on a wild pitch by Henzman.

The Cardinals started their rally in the bottom of the fourth when Hairston followed a double off the bat of Ray by sending 1-1 offering from ASU starter Jon Glidewell over the left field fence to cut the deficit to 8-3. Louisville pulled closer in the sixth inning on a RBI single to center freshman catcher Colby Fitch (Rocheport, Mo.) and a RBI sacrifice fly to left by Hairston.

In the seventh inning, Louisville pulled even thanks to a two-out rally, which started with Whiting getting hit by a 1-0 pitch from reliever Derek Birginske. After Solak earned a walk to put two runners on base, Ray crushed a 2-2 pitch over the centerfield wall to tie things up an 8-8.

The Cardinals finally took their first lead of the game in the eighth inning scoring six runs on five hits and two ASU errors with all of damage coming with two outs. The attack started with a two-out double off the bat of junior first baseman Danny Rosenbaum (Lafayette Hill, Pa.). Sophomore outfielder Logan Taylor (Lexington, Ky.) followed with a walk, while freshman Ryan Summers (Westfield, Mass.) loaded the bases by reaching first on a wild pitch on strike three. Whiting followed with a two-run double down the right field line off reliever Chandler Hawkins to push Louisville ahead for good at 10-8. Solak and Ray added RBI singles for the Cardinals, while a pair of errors for the Red Wolves helped plate two more in the inning.

Hawkins took the loss for Arkansas State and dropped to 0-1 on the season after allowing four runs on four hits in less than an inning of relief. Rogers finished with a no-decision for Louisville after giving up seven earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 3.1 innings.

Up next, the Cardinals are scheduled to open their home schedule at Jim Patterson Stadium on Tuesday at 3 p.m., ET against Butler.

Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter (@UofLBaseball) at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.

Louisville Postgame Notes
? Meeting for the first time since 1992, the series between the Cardinals and Red Wolves is even at 3-3 overall.

? With the loss in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, Louisville dropped to 2-3 on the season and fell below .500 overall for the first time since the 2011 season.

? With the win in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, the Cardinals avoided their worst six-game start to a season since 2006.

? Louisville suffered its first non-conference series loss since losing two of three to Xavier on March 18-20, 2011.

? The 14 runs were the most for Louisville since March 29, 2014 when they earned a 15-1 win over Butler.

? The six runs in the eighth inning on Saturday were the most in a single inning for the Cardinals since they had six in the seventh inning against Xavier on March 30, 2014.

? The four RBI and three runs scored for Corey Ray were both career highs, while the three hits equaled a career best.

? Ray has hit safely in all six games this season while leading the team with four multi-hit games.

? Through the first two weeks, Ray is hitting .423 with two home runs, three doubles and seven RBI.

? Sutton Whiting leads the Cardinals in hitting at .429 overall while also earning six walks and two HBPs for a .586 on-base percentage.

? Danny Rosenbaum is the third Louisville player above the .400 mark thus far carrying a .412 average into week three.

? Drew Harrington, who pitched in game one of the doubleheader, has now allowed an earned run and has 13 strikeouts with just one walk and only three hits in eight innings of relief this season.

? In two scoreless relief appearances this season, Brendan McKay has nine strikeouts with just one walk and has allowed only two hits in six innings.