University of Louisville
20-7, 10-1
No. 28 GEORGIA TECH
17-9, 5-6
Cardinals Run Past Yellow Jackets, 8-3
March 28, 2015 | Baseball
Corey Ray matched a career-high with four RBI while stealing a career-best four bases.
CardsTV Postgame Interviews: Dan McDonnell | Corey Ray
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Corey Ray drove in four runs and finished with four stolen bases as the sixth-ranked Louisville baseball team clinched a series win against No. 28 Georgia Tech with Saturday afternoon's 8-3 victory at Jim Patterson Stadium.
A sophomore outfielder from Chicago, Ray was 3-for-5 overall and scored once while matching a career high with the four RBI. The four stolen bases for Ray were the most for the Cardinals (20-7, 10-1 ACC) since Adam Engel's four against Notre Dame on March 30, 2013. Louisville, which extended its ACC winning streak to nine and has won nine of its last 10 games overall, finished with a season-high eight stolen bases as a team, the most since swiping eight against Morehead State in 2013.
On the mound, freshman lefthander Brendan McKay (Darlington, Pa.) struck out seven while allowing two earned runs on four hits in seven innings to improve to 4-0 on the season. In each of his three starts, McKay has worked seven innings while earning wins in two of those. Freshman righty Sean Leland (Orland Park, Ill.) finished with two strikeouts and did not allow a hit or a walk in two innings of shutout relief to close out the victory.
Louisville found the scoring column early on Saturday plating three runs in the first inning against Georgia Tech starter Cole Pitts. Senior Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) started things with a leadoff walk and after moving to second on a groundout, scored on a RBI single to right by Ray for the 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, the Cardinals pushed their lead to 3-0 on a two-run double down the right field line by freshman Colby Fitch (Rocheport, Mo.) to score Ray and senior Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.).
An inning later, the lead doubled for Louisville after its second straight three-run frame at the plate. Ray started the scoring with a two-run single to right sending senior Mike White (East Orange, N.J.) and Whiting home. Sophomore Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.), who finished the game 2-for-4 with one RBI and one stolen base, scored from third on a wild pitch for the 6-0 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets broke through in the third inning with a pair of runs against McKay. Grant Wruble put the first run on the board when he scored on a wild pitch before Wade Bailey added run-scoring single to plate Daniel Spingola and cut the Louisville advantage to 6-2.
In the fifth inning, the Cardinals pushed the lead to 7-2 after White reached base and took second on a dropped pop-up by shortstop Connor Justus, advanced to third on a groundout and later scored on a RBI single to right by Solak. Georgia Tech drew back to within four runs in the top of the seventh inning on a RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Thomas Smith. However, they would get no closer as a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh by Ray scored Solak for the final margin.
Pitts took the loss for Georgia Tech and dropped to 0-3 on the season after allowing five runs on two hits and five walks in 1.0+ inning of work. Five additional pitchers for the Yellow Jackets combined to complete the final eight innings on the mound.
The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets will conclude their weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m., ET and admission is free.
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 improved to 14-3 at home this season and are 262-85 all-time at Jim Patterson Stadium since its opening in 2005.
? Louisville moved to 4-1 all-time in the series against Georgia Tech.
? In 11 ACC games, the Cardinals have a 2.31 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 109.0 innings.
? Including two shutout innings on Saturday, the Louisville bullpen has a 1.71 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 105.0 innings of work.
? The Cardinals have won 116 straight games when entering the ninth inning with a lead dating back to May 2012.
? Through the first two games of the series with the Yellow Jackets, Corey Ray is 4-for-9 with five RBI and 6-of-6 on stolen bases.
? Saturday marked Ray's 11th multiple-hit game of the season, which equals Sutton Whiting for the team lead.
? Ray leads the Cardinals with 23 RBI and 11 stolen bases (on 14 attempts).
? Whiting's 10-game hitting streak was halted on Saturday but he has reached base safely in all 11 ACC games thus far.
? Following Saturday's performance, Brendan McKay has 49 strikeouts in 33.0 innings pitched and opposing batters are hitting just .128 against him.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McKay, Brendan (4-0)
L: Cole Pitts (0-3)
Batting:
2B: A.J. Murray 2
RBI: Wade Bailey 1 ; Thomas Smith 1
SF: Thomas Smith 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Daniel Spingola 1 ; A.J. Murray 1 ; Grant Wruble 1
CS: Wade Bailey 1 ; Thomas Smith 1
PO: Wade Bailey 1
Batting:
2B: Fitch, Colby 1
RBI: Solak, Nick 1 ; Ray, Corey 4 ; Fitch, Colby 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Whiting, Sutton 2 ; Solak, Nick 2 ; Ray, Corey 1 ; Lucas, Zach 1 ; White, Mike 2
SB: Solak, Nick 1 ; Ray, Corey 4 ; Lucas, Zach 1 ; White, Mike 2
