University of Louisville
38-16, 16-12
NOTRE DAME
24-26, 12-16
No. 25 Cardinals Walk Off Irish on Britton’s Ninth Inning Single
May 17, 2018 | Baseball
Wyatt goes 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs; Stowers reaches base five times in the win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Zach Britton's RBI single in the ninth inning scored Devin Mann from third and lifted the No. 25 Louisville baseball team to a 5-4 walk-off win against Notre Dame in Thursday night's series opener at Jim Patterson Stadium.
After loading the bases with one out in the ninth on a single up the middle by Mann and walks to Logan Wyatt and Josh Stowers, Britton sent a 1-1 pitch into left field to score Mann and give the Cardinals (38-16, 16-12 ACC) their third walk-off win of the season. The result extended Louisville's winning streak against the Fighting Irish to 14 games, including all 11 since the Cardinals joined the ACC.
Britton finished 1-for-2 at the plate after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. Mann finished 2-for-5 with a triple and scored two runs, while Stowers reached base five times finishing 3-for-3 with two walks and two stolen bases. Logan Wyatt was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs and Pat Rumoro chipped in with two hits and one RBI.
On the mound, graduate righthander Austin Conway had three strikeouts in 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory and move to 3-1 on the season. Junior lefthander Adam Wolf did not figure into the decision despite allowing just one run on three hits with eight strikeouts in seven strong innings. Andrew Belcik took the loss for Notre Dame (24-26, 12-16 ACC) after surrendering one run on one hit with two walks in one inning of relief.
The Fighting Irish opened the scoring with a run in the first inning. Jake Johnson walked with one out and moved to second on a walk to Nick Podkul before scoring on RBI single from Matt Vierling. Notre Dame went on to load the bases with two outs before Wolf struck out Eric Gilgenbach to end the inning.
The Cardinals tied the score at 1-1 in the second inning on a RBI single by Rumoro. Stowers started the inning with a bunt single, advanced to second on a balk and took third on a bunt single by Drew Campbell before scoring on Rumoro's base hit to center field.
Louisville garnered its first lead of the night in the third inning on a two-run homer off the bat of Wyatt. Following a one-out triple to right center by Mann, Wyatt launched a 2-2 offering from Scott Tully into the trees beyond the right field wall for the 3-1 lead.
The advantage increased to 4-1 in the fifth inning on a RBI single from Wyatt. Jake Snider started the inning with a double down the right field line before scoring on Wyatt's one-out single to center field.
Notre Dame used a three-run eighth inning to even the score at 4-4. Following singles by Cole Daily and Podkul, Vierling drove both players home with his triple down the right field line off freshman lefty Michael Kirian. After a two-out pitching change, Vierling scored the tying run on a wild pitch by Conway on a 0-2 pitch to Alex Kerschner.
Conway bounced back from the wild pitch by twirling a perfect ninth inning, capped by back-to-back strikeouts. Thursday's result marked the fifth time this season Louisville has won in its final at-bat.
The Cardinals and Fighting Irish will continue their series on Friday at 2 p.m., ET, before concluding the regular season with Saturday's series finale at 1 p.m. First pitch for Friday's game is four hours earlier than previously scheduled due to potential inclement weather later in the evening.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Conway, Austin (3-1)
L: Andrew Belcik (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Bryce Gray 1
3B: Matt Vierling 1
RBI: Matt Vierling 3
SH: Cole Daily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jake Johnson 2 ; Nick Podkul 1 ; Matt Vierling 1
SB: Eric Gilgenbach 1
Batting:
2B: Snider, Jake 1
3B: Mann, Devin 1
HR: Wyatt, Logan 1
RBI: Wyatt, Logan 3 ; Britton, Zach 1 ; Rumoro, Pat 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Snider, Jake 1 ; Mann, Devin 2 ; Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1
SB: Stowers, Josh 2 ; Lavey, Justin 1
HBP: Snider, Jake 1
