University of Louisville
42-16
Duke
40-15
No. 24 Cardinals Defeat No. 10 Duke, Advance to ACC Semifinals
May 25, 2018 | Baseball
Wolf allows just one earned run in 7.0 innings for the win; Mann goes 2-for-4 with three RBIs
DURHAM, N.C. - Adam Wolf twirled seven strong innings and Devin Mann had two hits with three RBIs as the No. 24 Louisville baseball team clinched its first ACC Championship semifinal berth with Friday's 9-2 win over No. 10 Duke in the Pool D finale at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The No. 5 seeded Cardinals (42-16) will face 12th-seeded Pittsburgh (29-25) on Saturday at 1 p.m., ET in the first of two ACC Championship semifinals. The game will be televised on the ACC's Regional Sports Network (including Fox Sports South in Louisville) and 93.9 The Ville will have radio coverage. The Panthers advanced to the semifinal round with victories against Georgia Tech and No. 6 North Carolina to win Pool A. Louisville registered a three-game road sweep versus Pittsburgh on May 11-13.
An All-ACC Second Team selection, Wolf had nine strikeouts and allowed just one earned run on eight hits to move to 7-2 on the season and 13-2 in his collegiate career. The junior lefthander has surrendered two or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 15 starts this season, including four of the last five. Along with his strong win-loss record, Wolf has a 2.26 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 15 starts and 95.2 innings this season. The 105 strikeouts ranks as the ninth highest single season total in school history.
Mann was 2-for-4 overall with a double, two runs scored and a stolen base to go with his three runs driven in for the Cardinals, who had a pair of four-run innings in Friday's triumph. Jake Snider matched a career high for hits finishing 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored, and Zach Britton singled and was twice hit by pitches to go with two RBIs. Josh Stowers reached base safely for the 41st straight game with his two-run single in the first inning.
The Cardinals started fast on Friday scoring four runs in the first on a pair of two-run singles from Stowers and Britton. Louisville loaded the bases on a single by Tyler Fitzgerald and walks to Mann and Wyatt before Stowers sent a 2-1 offering from Mitch Stallings into left center allowing both Fitzgerald and Mann to score. After Drew Campbell was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, Britton pulled a 2-2 pitch into right field scoring Wyatt and Stowers for the 4-0 cushion.
The Blue Devils (40-15) plated their first run of the game on a two-out RBI single up the middle by Zack Kone in the third inning. Duke had the tying run at the plate after the single by Kone, but Wolf struck out Griffin Conine to end the inning.
Louisville followed Wolf's inning-ending strikeout by erupting for another four-run frame, this time in the fourth inning. After loading the bases with one out, Mann connected on a three-run double to left center scoring Justin Lavey, Fitzgerald and Snider. After moving to third with his 13th stolen base of the season, Mann scored on a RBI sacrifice fly to center field by Wyatt.
The Cardinals extended the margin to 9-1 in the top of the fifth inning on a RBI groundout off the bat of Lavey. Danny Oriente was hit by a pitch to start the inning, moved to second on a single from Campbell and took third on a deep fly out before scoring on Lavey's ground ball to the right side. Duke used an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth for the final run of the game.
Louisville went to the bullpen for the final six outs as sophomore righthander Shay Smiddy had three strikeouts in two scoreless innings of relief to complete the victory. Stallings was charged with the loss for the Blue Devils after allowing eight runs, all earned, on seven hits in 3.1 innings.
Saturday's second ACC semifinal is set for a 5 p.m., ET first pitch and will feature No. 2 seeded Clemson against the winner of Friday night's NC State-Florida State game.
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at @UofLBaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wolf, Adam (7-2)
L: Mitch Stallings (3-5)
Batting:
2B: Snider, Jake 1 ; Mann, Devin 1
RBI: Mann, Devin 3 ; Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Stowers, Josh 2 ; Britton, Zach 2 ; Lavey, Justin 1
SF: Wyatt, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fitzgerald, Tyler 2 ; Snider, Jake 1 ; Mann, Devin 2 ; Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Stowers, Josh 1 ; Oriente, Danny 1 ; Lavey, Justin 1
SB: Mann, Devin 1
HBP: Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Oriente, Danny 1 ; Campbell, Drew 1 ; Britton, Zach 2
PO: Snider, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Jimmy Herron 1
RBI: Chris Proctor 1 ; Zack Kone 1
SF: Chris Proctor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jimmy Herron 1 ; Michael Rothenberg 1
CS: Jimmy Herron 1
HBP: Michael Rothenberg 2
PO: Jimmy Herron 1
