University of Louisville
13-6, 4-1
BOSTON COLLEGE
5-11, 0-5
McKay Dominant as Louisville Sweeps Doubleheader
March 14, 2015 | Baseball
Freshman Brendan McKay had a career-best nine strikeouts while earning his third win.
CardsTV Postgame Interviews: Dan McDonnell | Nick Solak
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Freshman Brendan McKay pitched seven dominant innings while sophomores Nick Solak and Corey Ray paced the offense as No. 8 Louisville swept its Saturday doubleheader against Boston College with a 13-0 win in the nightcap at Jim Patterson Stadium.
McKay (Darlington, Pa.) struck out a career-best nine while allowing just three hits in seven shutout innings in his first collegiate start for the win for the Cardinals (13-6, 4-1 ACC), who go for the series sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m. Making the longest outing of his young career to improve to 3-0 on the season, McKay has not allowed an earned run in eight appearances on the mound and has 30 strikeouts to just six walks in 19.0 innings pitched.
At the plate, Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) was 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored, while Ray (Chicago, Ill.) finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs. Freshman infielder Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.) added a pair of doubles and drove in two, while freshman catcher Colby Fitch (Rocheport, Mo.) had two hits, two RBI and scored twice for Louisville, which had season highs with 15 hits and seven doubles.
The Cardinals wasted little time getting on the scoreboard against the Eagles (5-11, 0-5 ACC) scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Louisville, which doubled on each of its three hits in the inning, plated its first run when Solak, who reached base via a one-out double to right-center field, scored off an RBI double by Ray. Moments later, Ray scored when senior infielder Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.) doubled on a deep shot to left field to increase the lead to 2-0.
Following a scoreless second inning, Louisville added to its lead in each of the next five innings removing any doubt in the final result. With the bases loaded and only one out in the third inning, Fitch scored Solak and Ray with a RBI single to right field. Hairston followed with a RBI double off Boston College starter John Gorman to score McKay and Fitch for the 6-0 lead. Gorman took the loss for the Eagles and dropped to 1-2 on the season after allowing seven runs on 10 hits in four innings pitched.
The Cardinals added a run in the fourth inning on a RBI groundout by McKay to plate senior infielder Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.). An inning later, Louisville added a trio of runs in the fifth on a two-run single by Solak to score Fitch and senior outfielder Mike White (East Orange, N.J.) and a RBI single by Ray to plate Whiting for the 11-0 edge.
The final two runs of the game came in the seventh inning on a RBI single off the bat of junior Jimmy Faul (Louisville, Ky.) and a RBI groundout by sophomore Michael Bollmer (Lexington, Ky.). On the mound, the final six outs of the game for the Cardinals were recorded by sophomore righty Jake Sparger (Eau Claire, Wis.), who scattered a pair of hits and had one strikeout in the scoreless relief appearance.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McKay, Brendan (3-0)
L: John Gorman (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Blake Butera 1
Batting:
2B: Solak, Nick 2 ; Ray, Corey 1 ; Lucas, Zach 1 ; Hairston, Devin 2 ; White, Mike 1
RBI: Solak, Nick 2 ; Ray, Corey 2 ; Lucas, Zach 1 ; McKay, Brendan 1 ; Faul, Jimmy 1 ; Bollmer, Michael 1 ; Fitch, Colby 2 ; Hairston, Devin 2 ; White, Mike 1
SH: Lucas, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whiting, Sutton 2 ; Solak, Nick 2 ; Ray, Corey 2 ; Taylor, Logan 1 ; Lucas, Zach 1 ; McKay, Brendan 1 ; Rosenbaum, Danny 1 ; Fitch, Colby 2 ; White, Mike 1
HBP: Whiting, Sutton 1 ; White, Mike 1
