No. 28 Louisville Wins Series Opener at Pittsburgh, 6-3

Friday, May 11

Pittsburgh, PA

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

35-15, 13-12-0

Pittsburgh

27-20, 11-14-0

Louisville

Pittsburgh

Devin Mann's two-run homer in the fifth inning gave Louisville the lead for good on Friday.

Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

No. 28 Louisville Wins Series Opener at Pittsburgh, 6-3

May 11, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Mann, Lavey pace the offense for the Cardinals; Wolf pitches six quality innings in the victory

By: Garett Wall

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Devin Mann's two-run homer in the fifth inning pushed the No. 28 Louisville baseball team ahead for good in Friday night's 6-3 series-opening win over Pittsburgh at Charles L. Cost Field.

Mann's fourth home run of the season capped a three-run fifth inning for the Cardinals (35-15, 13-12 ACC), who won their ninth straight in the series against the Panthers (27-20, 11-14 ACC). The junior second baseman finished 2-for-4 at the plate as Louisville out-hit Pittsburgh 12-4 in the comeback victory.

Justin Lavey also had a strong night for the Cardinals as the sophomore third baseman matched a career-high for hits finishing 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and one RBI. Lavey started Friday's decisive fifth inning with a double and scored the tying run as Louisville overcame a 3-2 deficit with the three-run frame. Drew Campbell chipped in for the road club as the outfielder was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Junior Adam Wolf gave the Cardinals another quality start on the mound as the lefthander allowed three runs on four hits in six innings to register the win and move to 6-2 on the season. Wolf, who improved his career record to 12-2 overall, has surrendered three or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 13 starts this season.

Graduate righthander Austin Conway had three strikeouts in two hitless innings of relief before sophomore righty Shay Smiddy had two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning for his third save. Starter Dan Hammer took the loss for the Panthers as the righty allowed four runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.

The Cardinals opened the scoring with a run in the first inning on a RBI single by Logan Wyatt. Tyler Fitzgerald led off the game with a single through the left side and stole second before scoring on Wyatt's single to center.

Louisville added to the lead in the top of the second inning on a RBI single off the bat of Lavey to score Campbell. After reaching base with a one-out single, Campbell moved to third on a single by Pat Rumoro before scoring on Lavey's base hit to center field for the 2-0 advantage.

The Panthers answered in the bottom of the second with a three-run inning for their first lead of the night. Ron Washington, Jr., led off with a solo home run to left field. Cole MacLaren evened the score with his two-out RBI double down the left field line before Connor Perry pushed Pittsburgh ahead 3-2 with a RBI triple off the left field wall.

The Cardinals regained the lead for good with their three-run fifth inning, capped by the two-run homer from Mann. Lavey started the inning with a double down the left field line before scoring on a RBI double to right center from Jake Snider. Following a pitching change, Mann greeted TJ Pagan by sending a 1-2 offering over the left field wall for a 5-3 margin.

Louisville added an insurance run in the seventh inning after Lavey scored from third on a RBI groundout by Snider. Lavey led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error by the Panthers. After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, Lavey scored his second run of the game on a groundout to second from Snider.

Up next, No. 28 Louisville and Pittsburgh will continue the series on Saturday at 11 a.m., ET before concluding on Sunday at 11 a.m.

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