Cardinals Push Past Eastern Kentucky, 5-2

Wednesday, February 25

JIM PATTERSON STADIUM

3:00 PM

University of Louisville

5-3

EASTERN KENTUCKY

3-4

Eastern Kentucky

Louisville

February 25, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 25, 2015

Senior Sutton Whiting had two hits and drove in a run in Wednesday's win.

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

CardsTV Game Highlights

CardsTV Postgame Interviews: Sutton Whiting | Drew Harrington

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Behind solid pitching and timely hitting, the No. 12 Louisville baseball team earned its second midweek victory in as many days with Wednesday afternoon's 5-2 win over Eastern Kentucky at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Four pitchers combined to allow just two earned runs for the Cardinals (5-3) while senior shortstop Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) delivered a fifth inning RBI single to push them ahead of the Colonels (3-4) for good. Freshman Brendan McKay (Darlington, Pa.) added a two-out, two-run single in the seventh to increase the Louisville advantage before pitching a scoreless ninth inning with three strikeouts to earn his first collegiate save.

Whiting finished 2-for-4 overall to maintain a .500 batting average though the first eight games of the season, while freshman second baseman Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.) was 2-for-3 with one RBI, one stolen base and two runs scored for the Cardinals, who defeated Butler in Tuesday's home-opener. Sophomore Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) chipped in with a double and a run scored, while senior third baseman Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.) added an RBI single.

On the mound, sophomore lefty Drew Harrington (Elizabethtown, Ky.) continued his stellar start to the season with 2.1 innings of perfect relief to earn the win and improve to 2-0. Freshman righty Lincoln Henzman (Lexington, Ky.), making his first collegiate start, allowed just one run on five hits in 4.2 innings for a no-decision.

The Colonels started the scoring on Wednesday on outfielder Kyle Nowlin's two-out RBI single to left plate outfielder Shea Sullivan for the 1-0 edge. EKU starter Brian Mroz held that margin until the fourth inning when Lucas sent a 2-2 offering into left center to score McKay and even things at 1-1.

An inning later, Louisville moved ahead after Whiting singled to right center to score Hairston, who walked and advanced to second on a single by senior outfielder Mike White (Salisbury, N.J.) earlier in the frame against Mroz, who dropped to 0-1 with the loss. The margin remained at one until the seventh when McKay singled on a 1-0 pitch from reliever Chris Cervantes to score both Hairston and Solak for the 4-1 cushion.

The Colonels cut the deficit to 4-2 in the top of the eighth inning after Sullivan scored on a RBI double by outfielder TJ Alas. However, the Cardinals pushed the margin to 5-2 in the bottom of the inning on a RBI single to left by Hairston to score freshman Blake Tiberi (Taylor Mill, Ky.).

Up next, the Cardinals are scheduled to open a weekend series with Xavier on Friday at 3 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. Friday's opener with the Musketeers will be aired live on 1450 WXVW while streaming video will be available to subscribers of CardsTV at GoCards.com.

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
? The Cardinals are 63-48-1 all-time against EKU and have won 14 of the last 15 in the series.

? Louisville improved to 2-0 at home this season and is 250-82 all-time at Jim Patterson Stadium since opening its doors in 2005.

? The Cardinals finished with an 8-7 edge in hits on Wednesday and improved to 4-1 this season when out-hitting the opponent.

? Louisville has won 103 straight games when leading after the eighth inning dating back to May 2012.

? Through eight games, Sutton Whiting is 14-of-28 (.500) at the plate with eight walks and five stolen bases.

? In three appearances this season, all out of the bullpen, Drew Harrington is 2-0 with 15 strikeouts and just three hits without allowing an earned run in 10.1 innings pitched.

? Having made three relief appearances this season, Brendan McKay is 1-0 with one save and 12 strikeouts with allowing just two hits and no runs in seven innings.