Louisville Clinches Series with 11-1 Win at Duke

Sunday, April 12

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

27-8, 16-2

Duke

22-15, 5-13

Louisville

Duke

April 12, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

April 12, 2015

Brendan McKay matched a career-high with three RBI in Sunday's road victory at Duke.

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. - Freshman Brendan McKay reached base four times and drove in three runs to lead the fifth-ranked Louisville baseball team to an 11-1 series-clinching victory against Duke on Sunday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

With Sunday's triumph, the Cardinals (27-8, 16-2 ACC) clinched their sixth straight Atlantic Coast Conference series win while extending their Atlantic Division lead to five games. Louisville also improved to 8-2 in true road games this season.

McKay (Darlington, Pa.) doubled, singled and walked twice while matching a career-high with three RBI as Louisville reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time this season. Senior Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) drove in four runs with two singles and scored once, while Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) chipped in with a double, two RBI and two runs scored.

On the mound, sophomore lefty Josh Rogers (New Albany, Ind.) finished with seven strikeouts and allowed just one run while scattering seven hits in five innings to win his fifth straight start and improve to 6-1 on the season. He was followed by freshman righties Sean Leland (Orland, Park, Ill.) and Kade McClure (Mentor, Ohio) and sophomore lefty Drew Harrington (Elizabethtown, Ky.), who combined for six strikeouts in four shutout innings of relief.

Louisville struck first on Sunday when sophomore Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.) launched his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot over the 400-foot sign in centerfield for the 1-0 lead. The homer, which came on a 1-0 offering from Duke righty Bailey Clark, was the third of the season in ACC play for Ray.

The Cardinals added to their advantage in the fourth plating three runs on just one hit while taking advantage of two Duke (22-15, 5-13 ACC) errors for the 4-0 lead. The inning started with a one-out walk to freshman Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.), who advanced to third on a throwing error by Blue Devils reliever Luke Whitten. Moments later, Hairston used a nifty slide around the glove of Duke catcher Mike Rosenfeld to score on a RBI fielder's choice to the shortstop by Whiting.

Later in the inning, Solak replaced Whiting at first on a fielder's choice grounder and then advanced to second following an error by Blue Devils third baseman Jack Labosky on groundball off the bat of Ray. After stolen bases from both Solak and Ray, McKay singled up the middle on a 2-2 pitch from Whitten to score both runners for the 4-0 cushion.

The Blue Devils broke through for their first run of the day in the fifth on a RBI infield single by Labosky to score Rosenfeld, who doubled and moved to third on a deep flyout to center earlier in the inning. However, Louisville answered in the sixth on a two-out RBI double to right by McKay to score Solak for the 5-1 advantage.

The Cardinals added three runs in the seventh on a RBI single by Whiting and a two-run double by Solak before plating the final three in the eighth on a bases loaded walk to Hairston and a two-run single from Whiting.

Up next, No. 5 Louisville will remain on the road for a midweek visit to Ohio State on Tuesday at 7 p.m., ET. The game will be televised by Big Ten Network and will be aired on radio by 93.9 The Ville.

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