University of Louisville
30-9, 14-6
Miami
27-13, 11-9
No. 7 Louisville Rallies to Take Series over No. 22 Miami
April 20, 2019 | Baseball
The Cardinals erased a six-run deficit for a 9-6 victory in the finale to win the series.
Louisville (31-9, 15-6 ACC) has now won 19 of its 24 home series in ACC play since joining the league in 2015. The Cardinals are also 39-7 in series finales during that span and 12-4 in rubber games.
Friday's second game of the weekend was suspended in the bottom of the sixth inning with rain falling. The Cardinals were down 10-3 when the game resumed and were able to get within four at 10-6, but ultimately came up short in a 16-11 offensive shootout.
Miami's momentum continued into the series finale, with the Hurricanes plating six runs in the top of the first inning.
Tyler Fitzgerald got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning with a groundout that scored Trey Leonard. However, the game was still 6-1 in favor of the Canes through the first three innings.
Louisville's comeback started in the fourth inning with Logan Wyatt doubling down the right field line to leadoff the inning. Zach Britton and Henry Davis each took four-pitch walks to load the bases, and Drew Campbell worked a walk of his own to force home a run. Justin Lavey was hit on the very next pitch to bring home a second run and Jake Snider brought the Cardinals back within two with another walk.
In the fifth, Wyatt drew a leadoff walk but found himself standing on third with two outs in the inning. The junior took matters into his own hands, taking off for the plate on a 1-1 pitch and avoiding the tag to cut the deficit down to just one.
The game seesawed in the favor of the Cardinals in the sixth. Campbell reached base on a wild pitch to start the inning and Lavey put runners on the corners with a single through the hole on the right side. Leonard knotted the game up at six with a sacrifice fly and Fitzgerald pushed UofL in front with a run-scoring single to centerfield.
Lavey added an insurance run with a sac fly in the seventh and Fitzgerald tacked on the final tally with a double in the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Louisville pitching staff held Miami (27-14, 11-10) scoreless over the final eight innings to secure the victory. After giving up six runs in the first, Nick Bennett settled in and pitched the next 3.2 innings without allowing a run.
Michael McAvene (2-0) worked three innings with just two runs allowed to pick up his second win and Michael Kirian retired all four batters he faced to tally his second save of the season.
Wyatt was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to wrap up a series in which he went 8-for-14 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. Fitzgerald was 2-for-5 in the finale with three RBIs of his own to give him five straight multi-hit games.
Louisville will head on the road on Tuesday for a midweek contest at Cincinnati. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., ET.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: JP Gates (1-1)
L: Elliott, Adam (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Raymond Gil 2 ; Alex Toral 1
HR: Alex Toral 1
RBI: Jordan Lala 1 ; Anthony Vilar 1 ; Freddy Zamora 1 ; Adrian Del Castillo 1 ; Raymond Gil 3 ; Tony Jenkins 1 ; Michael Amditis 1 ; Alex Toral 4 ; Gabe Rivera 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jordan Lala 1 ; Anthony Vilar 1 ; Freddy Zamora 2 ; Adrian Del Castillo 3 ; Raymond Gil 2 ; Tony Jenkins 2 ; Michael Amditis 1 ; Alex Toral 2 ; Gabe Rivera 2
HBP: Jordan Lala 1 ; Tony Jenkins 1
Batting:
2B: Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Fitzgerald, Tyler 1 ; Wyatt, Logan 1 ; Britton, Zach 1
3B: Binelas, Alex 1
HR: Wyatt, Logan 2
RBI: Fitzgerald, Tyler 1 ; Wyatt, Logan 6 ; Britton, Zach 1 ; Campbell, Drew 2 ; Pinkham, Zeke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dunn, Lucas 1 ; Snider, Jake 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Fitzgerald, Tyler 2 ; Wyatt, Logan 2 ; Binelas, Alex 2 ; Oriente, Danny 1 ; Leonard, Trey 1
SB: Lavey, Justin 3
CS: Masterman, Cameron 1
HBP: Fitzgerald, Tyler 1
