University of Louisville
37-6
TOLEDO
14-29
No. 2 Cardinals Cruise Past Toledo, 11-1
April 29, 2017 | Baseball
Ellis homers for the eighth time in the last nine games; McClure earns 18th career victory
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Drew Ellis hit his fourth home run of the week and Kade McClure twirled seven strong innings to guide the No. 2 Louisville baseball team in Saturday afternoon's 11-1 win against Toledo at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Ellis finished 2-for-3 with his team-leading 13th home run of the season and two RBI as the Cardinals (37-6) clinched their 10th series victory of the season and won their sixth straight game. Along with hitting four long balls in four games this week, Saturday's home run was the eighth in the last nine games for Ellis, who is hitting .548 with 16 RBI during that span. Overall, the junior infielder has a .397 batting average and team-high 44 RBI this season.
"I'm feeling good at the plate and I have a lot of confidence right now. I'm trying to stay with the approach of hitting the ball hard but not trying to do too much," Ellis said after the game. "One through nine in our lineup, everyone can hit a home run and everyone can hit the game-winning single if they need to. Everyone in the lineup believes in one another."
McClure had six strikeouts without issuing a walk and surrendered only one run on six hits in seven innings to improve to 5-1 on the season and 18-2 in his collegiate career. The 18 wins move the junior righthander into a tie for ninth in career victories at Louisville equaling the total achieved by Drew Harrington (2014-16), B.J. Rosenberg (2004-08) and Brian Halford (2003-06). McClure combined with junior lefty Rabon Martin, who had two strikeouts in a perfect eighth inning, and senior righty Shane Hummel, who added one strikeout in a 1-2-3 ninth, to retire the final 15 Toledo (14-29) hitters in the game.
At the plate, senior Logan Taylor was 3-for-5 with a double, one walk, three RBI and one run scored as the Cardinals finished with a 13-6 advantage in hits. Devin Hairston added two hits with one RBI and one run scored, while Tyler Fitzgerald chipped in with a two-run single and scored once. All nine players in the Louisville starting lineup reached base in Saturday's win, including eight of those with hits.
The Cardinals gained control early with three runs on two hits in the second inning. Each of the first four batters reached base, starting with a leadoff walk to Brendan McKay and a bunt single from Ellis. Devin Mann was hit by a pitch from Ross Achter to load the bases before Colin Lyman was also hit allowing McKay to score the first run. After Achter was replaced on the mound by Nate Haugh, Fitzgerald delivered a two-run single to right field to score Ellis and Mann for the 3-0 lead.
Louisville doubled the lead in the fourth inning scoring three runs on three hits. Ellis started the inning by crushing a 3-1 offering from Haugh sending it over the left field berm for his 16th career home run. Later in the inning, Taylor delivered a two-out, two-run double to right center to score Lyman and Josh Stowers for the 6-0 cushion.
The Rockets broke through for their only run of the game in the fifth as Malave Bettinger scored from third on a RBI sacrifice fly to left center by Brad Boss. The Cardinals answered an inning later scoring three runs in the sixth for a 9-1 advantage. Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to start the inning, moved to second on a single by Taylor, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on a balk by Alex Wagner. Taylor added the lead when he stole third and then scored on a throwing error by catcher Corey Tipton. Ellis drove in the final run of the inning with a RBI fielder's choice to send Hairston home.
The Cardinals extended the lead to 10-1 in the seventh inning on a RBI sacrifice fly to center from Hairston to plate Justin Lavey. The 11th and final run of the game scored in the eighth as Mann was driven home on a bases loaded walk to Taylor.
No. 2 Louisville and Toledo will conclude the 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.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McClure, Kade (5-1)
L: ACHTER, Ross (3-4)
Batting:
2B: HANSEN, Matt 1
RBI: BOSS, Brad 1
SH: BENNETT, Antonio 1
SF: BOSS, Brad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BETTINGER, Malave 1
CS: ADOLPH, Ross 1
Batting:
2B: Taylor, Logan 1
HR: Ellis, Drew 1
RBI: Taylor, Logan 3 ; Hairston, Devin 1 ; Ellis, Drew 2 ; Lyman, Colin 1 ; Fitzgerald, Tyler 2
SF: Hairston, Devin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor, Logan 1 ; Hairston, Devin 1 ; McKay, Brendan 1 ; Ellis, Drew 2 ; Mann, Devin 2 ; Lyman, Colin 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1 ; Fitzgerald, Tyler 1 ; Lavey, Justin 1
SB: Taylor, Logan 1 ; Hairston, Devin 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1
HBP: Mann, Devin 1 ; Lyman, Colin 2 ; Fitzgerald, Tyler 1
