Rogers, McKay Shine in Series-Clincher Against Xavier

Sunday, March 1

JIM PATTERSON STADIUM

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

7-4

XAVIER

4-6

Xavier

Louisville

March 01, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

March 1, 2015

Sophomore Josh Rogers finished one strikeout shy of equaling his career high in Sunday's win.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sophomore Josh Rogers struck out nine in 6.2 innings of shutout work while freshman Brendan McKay was 3-for-4 with an RBI and pitched a scoreless ninth in the 12th-ranked Louisville baseball team's 2-1 series-clinching win over Xavier on Sunday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Rogers (New Albany, Ind.) finished one strikeout shy of matching his career high and allowed just two hits with two walks in his longest outing of the season earn the win and improve to 1-1 overall. The lefthander struck out six of the first nine batters he faced and surrendered only a pair of singles in the third and sixth innings before departing with two outs in the seventh.

After a trio of Louisville (7-4) pitchers combined to record the next four outs against Xavier (4-6), McKay (Darlington, Pa.) struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning to lock down his second save in as many days and his third of the season. At the plate, he connected for a trio of singles, including one in the eighth inning to drive in an insurance run for the Cardinals.

With the pitchers controlling most of the action on Sunday afternoon, Louisville broke through for its first run of the game in the fourth inning when freshman infielder Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.) delivered a two-out, RBI single to left to score senior infielder Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.) for the 1-0 lead. Lucas started things with a two-out walk from Musketeers lefty Trent Astle and advanced to second with his third stolen base of the season before Hairston drove him in.

The score remained that way until the eighth inning when McKay drove a 3-2 offering from reliever Zach Johnson into centerfield to score senior infielder Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) from third. Whiting led off the inning with a walk and after moving to second with his seventh stolen base of the season, advanced to third on a balk.

Astle suffered the loss for Xavier and dropped to 0-1 on the season after allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

Up next, Louisville is scheduled to return to the road for a midweek matchup at Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday at 3 p.m., ET in Richmond. The Cardinals earned a 5-2 victory over the Colonels last Wednesday in Louisville in the first matchup between the two programs.

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 35-20 all-time against Xavier, including a 13-4 mark under the guidance of Dan McDonnell.

? Louisville improved to 4-1 at home this season and is 252-83 all-time at Jim Patterson Stadium since opening its doors in 2005.

? The Cardinals have won 105 straight games when entering the ninth inning with a lead.

? Brendan McKay had an outstanding week on the mound and as a hitter. The talented two-way player started four games (two at 1B, two at DH) going 6-for-12 with a double, four RBI, four runs scored and five walks at the plate. On the mound, he earned three saves and finished with eight strikeouts in three shutout innings of relief.

? After 11 games and three weeks of baseball, Sutton Whiting leads the Cardinals every day players with a .432 average, a .588 on-base percentage and 12 walks.

? Whiting has reached base safely in all 11 games this season and in 14 games overall dating back to 2014.

? Corey Ray leads Louisville with 10 RBI, four doubles, two home runs, eight runs scored and is hitting .333 overall.

? Devin Hairston is second on the team with nine RBI and the freshman has driven in at least one run in each of his five starts this season.