University of Louisville
9-4, 2-2
Boston College
9-3, 2-2
No. 9 Cardinals Open Weekend with 7-3 Victory
March 12, 2021 | Baseball
Louisville defeated Boston College in the opener Friday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Michael Kirian improved to 3-0 on the season, allowing just three unearned runs over five innings while striking out a career-best seven. Adam Elliott took care of the final four innings, giving up just one hit to earn his first save of the year.
Louisville (9-4, 2-2 ACC) found itself in an early hole due to its own defensive miscues. An error in the first and two more in the second had the Cardinals down 3-0 through an inning and a half.
The Cardinals responded offensively in their half of the second though. Cameron Masterman jumpstarted the offensive attack, lining a home run over the right field wall with one away. Luke Brown followed with a triple down the left field line and scored on a double by Lucas Dunn.
Trey Leonard kept the line moving with a single to left and Dunn scored the tying run on a wild pitch. Cooper Bowman pushed the Cardinals in front, singling home Christian Knapczyk to give them a 4-3 lead.
Kirian settled in over the next three innings, striking out six while holding the one-run lead.
Before the Cardinals handed the ball to Elliott, they added another run to the board in the bottom of the fifth with Dunn drawing a bases loaded walk. Elliott then took care of the rest keeping Boston College (9-3, 2-2) off the board for the final four innings.
Louisville added insurance runs in the eighth, with Luke Brown scoring with some help from a throwing error and Knapczyk singling home Dunn to give the Cardinals their final margin.
Dunn was 2-for-2 at the plate on Friday, reaching base four times, driving in two and scoring twice. Brown scored a pair of runs as well, while Knapczyk was on base three times.
The series continues on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kirian, Michael (3-0)
L: Pelio, Mason (2-2)
S: Elliott, Adam (1)
Batting:
2B: Baldelli, Dante 1
3B: Frelick, Sal 1
RBI: Frelick, Sal 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dempsey, Brian 1 ; Morissette, Cody 1 ; Leary, Cameron 1
SB: Morissette, Cody 1
CS: Galland, Chris 1
HBP: Jimenez, Ramon 1
PO: Galland, Chris 1
Batting:
2B: Dunn, Lucas 1
3B: Brown, Luke 1
HR: Masterman, Cameron 1
RBI: Bowman, Cooper 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Dunn, Lucas 2 ; Knapczyk, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Binelas, Alex 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Brown, Luke 2 ; Dunn, Lucas 2 ; Knapczyk, Christian 1
SB: Usher, Levi 2 ; Binelas, Alex 1 ; Knapczyk, Christian 1
HBP: Brown, Luke 1
