Big Inning Lifts Louisville Past Miami in Opener

Saturday, March 7

JIM PATTERSON STADIUM

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

9-4, 1-0

No. 10 MIAMI

9-5, 0-1

Miami (FL)

Louisville

March 07, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

March 7, 2015

Sophomore Nick Solak had two hits and drove in a pair of runs in Saturday's victory.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Behind a six-run seventh inning, the 11th-ranked Louisville baseball team made its Atlantic Coast Conference debut with a 9-6 win over No. 10 Miami in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Jim Patterson Stadium.

After a two-run double by sophomore infielder Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) pulled the Cardinals (9-4, 1-0 ACC) within a run in the seventh, back-to-back errors by the left side of the infield for the Hurricanes (9-5, 0-1 ACC) plated the final four runs of the inning to push Louisville ahead for good. It was the second time this season the Cardinals have scored six runs in an inning after also accomplishing the feat in the eighth inning of the Feb. 21 win over Arkansas State.

Senior infielder Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) led the Cardinals at the plate finishing 4-for-4 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored, while Solak was 2-of-4 with a double and a run scored to go with his two driven in. Sophomore catcher Will Smith (Louisville, Ky.) doubled, tripled and scored twice, while freshman outfielder Ryan Summers (Westfield, Mass.) added two hits and scored two runs.

On the mound, freshman lefty Butch Baird (Big Prairie, Ohio) struck out Miami's Zack Collins with the bases loaded to end the top of the seventh inning and earn his first career collegiate win. Sophomore lefty Drew Harrington (Elizabethtown, Ky.) finished with four strikeouts in two shutout innings to earn his second save of the season.

The decisive seventh inning for the Cardinals started with a trio of singles from freshman second baseman Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.), Summers and Whiting to load the bases against Miami lefty starter Thomas Woodrey. Solak followed by sending a 2-1 offering down the left field line to score Hairston and Summers and cut the Miami lead to 6-5. After reliever Michael Mediavilla recorded back-to-back outs and issued a walk to load the bases, a throwing error by shortstop Brandon Lopez allowed Whiting and Solak to score for the Louisville lead. Moments later, a throwing error by third baseman George Iskenderian scored McKay and Smith for the final two runs of the game.

The Cardinals struck first in Saturday's opener when Whiting scored from third on a RBI groundout off the bat of sophomore outfielder Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.). Whiting started the inning with a double to left center and moved to third on sacrifice bunt by Solak.

Louisville pushed its lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Summers scored on a RBI single by Whiting. Summers reached base with a one-out single and advanced to second on a balk by Woodrey before scoring.

The Hurricanes answered in the top of the fourth inning with a three-run frame against Louisville righty Kyle Funkhouser (Oak Forest, Ill.). The scoring started with a two-run double by outfielder Willie Abreu before first baseman David Thompson added a RBI double for a 3-2 lead.

The Cardinals evened the score in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out RBI single to left by junior first baseman Danny Rosenbaum (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) to plate Smith, who reached base with a two-out triple earlier in the inning. However, Miami regained command in the fifth with a pair of runs on RBI singles by Abreu and catcher Garrett Kennedy for a 5-3 cushion. Miami added to its lead in the sixth inning when Kennedy scored from third on a bases loaded walk to outfielder Carl Chester for the 6-3 advantage.

Woodrey was charged with the loss for the Hurricanes and dropped to 2-1 overall after allowing seven runs, including five earned, on 11 hits in 6.0+ innings. Funkhouser allowed five runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings for the no-decision for the Cardinals.

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