No. 28 Baseball Celebrates Mother’s Day with Series Sweep at Pittsburgh

Sunday, May 13

Pittsburgh, PA

11:00 AM

University of Louisville

37-15, 15-12-0

Pittsburgh

27-22, 11-16-0

Louisville

Pittsburgh

The Cardinals celebrated Mother's Day prior to Sunday's game at Pittsburgh.

No. 28 Baseball Celebrates Mother’s Day with Series Sweep at Pittsburgh

May 13, 2018 | Baseball

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Stowers goes 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs, three stolen bases and four runs scored in 8-5 win

By: Garett Wall

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Josh Stowers matched a career high with four hits, including a two-run homer, to pace the way as the No. 28 Louisville baseball team celebrated Mother's Day by completing a series sweep of Pittsburgh with Sunday's 8-5 victory at Charles L. Cost Field.

Stowers was 4-for-5 with his fifth home run of the season, one double, three stolen bases and a career-best four runs scored for the Cardinals (37-15, 15-12 ACC), who earned their fourth series sweep of the season while also extending their winning streak against the Panthers (27-22, 11-16 ACC) to 11 games. Sunday's win completed a 5-0 week for Louisville, which has won 11 of its last 13 overall.

"This was a great week for a team as we continue to execute in all phases and create momentum in this final stretch of the regular season," said head coach Dan McDonnell of his Cardinals, who had a team batting average of .368 with 52 runs scored in five games. "The offense provided a big lift for our team and our starting pitching continues to give us a chance each time we take the field."

Having reached base safely in a career-long 35 consecutive games, Stowers has lifted his season batting average to .307 to go along with a team-leading 30 stolen bases in 36 attempts. The junior outfielder is tied with Curtis Watson (1985) for seventh on Louisville's single season stolen bases leaderboard and is seventh in career stolen bases at UofL with 54.

Justin Lavey added to the offense for the Cardinals as the sophomore was 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI, one stolen base and one run scored. Drew Campbell was 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and scored once as Louisville piled up 14 hits in the weekend finale. Zach Britton added two hits, was hit by a pitch and drove in two runs.

Righthander Bobby Miller delivered his fifth straight quality start as the freshman had six strikeouts, allowed two earned runs and scattered 10 hits in 6.2 innings to earn the win and move to 5-1 on the season. Junior Bryan Hoeing had three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of scoreless relief before sophomore lefthander Adam Elliott recorded the final two outs of the game for his second save.

The Cardinals started fast on Sunday plating three runs in the top of the first inning against righty starter Blair Calvo. Jake Snider coaxed a one-out walk and moved to third on a double by Devin Mann before scoring the first run of the game on a RBI groundout by Logan Wyatt. Stowers followed by sending a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for his 11th career home run.

The Panthers cut into the margin in the bottom of the first on a two-out, two-run homer by Ron Washington, Jr. Frank Maldonado singled to start the inning and scored after Washington powered a 2-2 offering the wall in left center.

Louisville answered with a two-spot in the second inning to extend the advantage to 5-2. Campbell started the inning with a double to right center and took third on a single by Britton before scoring on Lavey's RBI single up the middle on the first pitch from reliever Chase Smith. After Lavey stole second, Snider drove him home with a two-out RBI double to left center.

The lead expanded to 6-2 in the third inning after Stowers scored from third on a two-out single by Campbell. Stowers reached base with a one-out single and then used a pair of stolen bases to move to third before Campbell drove him home with his base hit to right field.

The Cardinals added their seventh run of the game in the top of the seventh inning after Britton earned a bases loaded walk from Derek West to score Stowers. Pittsburgh cut into the Louisville lead in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out, three-run homer to left field by Liam Sabino. All three runs were unearned after the Cardinals dropped foul popup earlier in Sabino's at-bat.

Louisville plated an insurance run in the ninth inning on a two-out RBI single by Britton. Stowers started the inning with his second double of the game and advanced to third on third stolen base of the day before scoring on Britton's base hit up the middle.

The Panthers had one final chance in the ninth inning loading the bases with two outs before Elliott forced a lineout to left field from Washington for the final out of the game. Calvo took the loss for Pittsburgh and dropped to 1-5 on the season after surrendering four runs on four hits in 1.1 innings.

Up next, Louisville returns to Jim Patterson Stadium where they will conclude the regular season with a four-game homestand. The stretch begins Tuesday at 6 p.m., ET with a visit from Indiana before closing the week with a three-game series against Notre Dame starting Thursday at 6 p.m.

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