Home Runs Lift No. 8 Louisville in Extra Innings at No. 13 Clemson

Sunday, April 7

Clemson, SC

Noon

University of Louisville

24-8, 10-5

Clemson

24-8, 11-4

Louisville

Clemson

Lucas Dunn hits against James Madison at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Photo by: Jermaine Bibb | Louisville Athletics

Home Runs Lift No. 8 Louisville in Extra Innings at No. 13 Clemson

April 07, 2019 | Baseball

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The Cardinals scored three in the 11th to win the series finale 7-4.

By: Stephen Williams

CLEMSON, S.C. – Eleventh inning home runs by Alex Binelas and Drew Campbell helped send the eighth-ranked Louisville baseball team to a 7-4 victory over No. 13 Clemson on Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

In its longest game by innings in over two years, Louisville (24-8, 10-5 ACC) entered the 11^th inning with the game knotted up at four apiece. With one down, Binelas hammered the first pitch he saw over the wall in right for his team-leading fourth homer of the year to put the Cardinals in front. Two batters later, Drew Campbell lined the first pitch just over the right field wall to stretch the margin to two.

Lucas Dunn, Jake Snider and Tyler Fitzgerald kept the offense rolling with consecutive singles, the last of which brought the third run of the inning across the plate. For the inning, the Cardinals sent nine men to the plate, getting three runs on five hits.

Clemson (24-8, 11-4) wouldn't go quietly in the bottom half though. Michael Kirian retired the first two hitters of the inning, but allowed a single and double to bring the tying run to the plate. Kirian ultimately slammed the door shut, freezing the hitter to close out the win.

Kirian (2-0) grabbed his second victory of the season with three innings of scoreless relief. The lefty struck out a pair while giving up three hits.

The Louisville bullpen was excellent on Sunday, with four pitchers combining for 7.1 innings without allowing a run. Jared Poland recorded a scoreless frame, with Adam Elliott striking out the only batter he faced in the fifth. Michael McAvene then carved up Clemson hitters, striking out six in three hitless innings.

The top three in the Cardinal order led the way offensively for the Cardinals, going 9-for-15 with three runs, three RBIs and five stolen bases as a group on Sunday. Dunn was 3-for-6 with a pair of runs and stolen bases, while Snider added a 3-for-5 day and Fitzgerald went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two driven in.

The Cardinals jumped on the board early in the series finale, plating three runs in the first three innings. Dunn singled home Justin Lavey to get the scoring started in the second inning, and Zach Britton added a sacrifice fly in the third. Henry Davis followed the sac fly with a massive solo home run to left to up the lead to 3-0.

Clemson answered right back though, getting three runs of its own in the bottom of the third to even the game up. The Tigers then took the lead on a two-out single in the fourth.

The game held at 4-3 in Clemson's favor until the seventh when the Cardinals got back in the scoring column. Dunn led off with a single and moved to second on Snider's sacrifice bunt. Dunn then stole third and scored on Fitzgerald's fly to right.

Louisville returns home for a midweek contest with Northern Kentucky on Tuesday on Bark at the Park Night at Jim Patterson Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., ET.