Rogers, Whiting Lead Cardinals to Virginia Sweep

Monday, April 6

Charlottesville, Va.

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

25-7, 14-1

No. 9 Virginia

19-12, 6-9

Louisville

Virginia

April 06, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

April 6, 2015

Josh Rogers allowed just three hits in seven scoreless to improve to 5-1 on the season.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Lefthander Josh Rogers pitched seven dominant innings and Sutton Whiting had a career-best three doubles as No. 5 Louisville completed a series sweep of No. 14 Virginia with a 4-0 win on Monday night at Davenport Field.

With their seventh straight victory, the Cardinals (25-7, 14-1 ACC) also extended their ACC winning streak to 13 games and now hold a three-game lead in the ACC Atlantic Division at the halfway point of the conference slate. The shutout was the fifth of the season for Louisville, including the fourth in ACC games.

Rogers, a sophomore from New Albany, Ind., allowed just three hits and struck out two in 7.0+ shutout innings to win his fourth straight start and improve to 5-1 on the season. After freshman righty Lincoln Henzman (Lexington, Ky.) delivered a perfect inning of work in the eighth, sophomore righty Zack Burdi (Downers Grove, Ill.) registered 99 mph on the stadium radar gun multiple times in a perfect ninth inning to close out the game.

"I was able to work the fastball in and out, commanded all of my pitches pretty well and I got ahead in the count a lot tonight," Rogers said of the performance. "I also got some great defensive plays behind me and it was the best I've felt all year."

Whiting, a senior from New Wilmington, Pa., was 3-for-4, scored twice and drove in a run as the Cardinals finished with a 9-3 edge in hits against the Cavaliers (19-12, 6-9 ACC). Sophomore Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) finished the night 3-of-3 with one RBI, while freshman Brendan McKay (Darlington, Pa.) added a double and one RBI in the win.

The Cardinals found the scoring column first on Monday night when sophomore Will Smith (Louisville, Ky.) delivered a RBI single to center to plate McKay for the 1-0 lead. McKay started things with his fifth double of the season, a one-out ground-rule two-bagger that hopped over the wall in right center.

Louisville added to its lead in the third inning when McKay was hit by a 3-1 offering from Virginia lefty Brandon Waddell with the bases loaded scoring Whiting for the 2-0 edge. Whiting reached base with a one-out double down the left field line and was followed by a single from Solak and senior Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.) being hit by a pitch to load the bases.

"I approach each inning like it's zero-zero, but it's definitely nice to have the lead, especially early in the game," said Rogers. "Our hitters did a great job this weekend of grinding out a lot of good at-bats. Our focus as a team is to simply get better with each game and keep this thing rolling."

Following a scoreless fourth, the Cardinals increased their lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning on a RBI single up the middle by Solak to score Whiting, who led off with a double down the left field line. An inning later, Louisville scored its fourth run of the night when freshman Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.) walked and was driven home on a RBI double for Whiting.

Waddell was charged with the loss for the Cavaliers and dropped to 2-2 on the season after allowing three runs on eight hits in four innings.

Up next, No. 5 Louisville will host Kentucky on Wednesday at 6 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. Tickets for the annual Battle of the Bluegrass can be purchased from the U of L Ticket Office by calling 502-852-5151.

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 14-1 mark in ACC action continues the best conference start in school history for the Cardinals.

? Louisville improved to 17-0 this season when scoring first, including 12-0 in ACC games.

? The Cardinals have played 74 consecutive innings against ACC foes without trailing.

? Louisville has won 10 straight series against nationally ranked opponents dating back to 2011.

? Including a 23-0 mark this season, the Cardinals have won 121 straight games when entering the ninth inning with a lead dating back to May 2012.

? Louisville has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 19 of 32 games this season.

? Through 32 games this season, the Louisville bullpen has a 1.60 ERA with a 12-0 record, 139 strikeouts to just 46 walks in 118.1 innings pitched and opposing batters are hitting just .162.

? Overall, the Cardinals lowered their team ERA this weekend to 2.52 (from 2.61), while in ACC games, the team ERA is just 2.11.

? Sutton Whiting continues to lead the Cardinals in hitting with a .390 average overall in 32 starts at shortstop. In ACC action, Whiting has a .443 average and has reached base safely in all 15 conference games.

? In three-game series against Virginia, Whiting hit .462 (6-for-13) with five doubles, four RBI and five runs scored.

? In his last six starts, Josh Rogers is 5-0 with a 0.94 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 38.0 innings pitched. Opposing batters are hitting just .176 in those games.

? Corey Ray leads Louisville with five home runs, 32 RBI, 15 stolen bases in 18 attempts and 14 multiple hit games.