Eighth Inning Single Lifts No. 5 Cardinals Past Wake Forest
April 03, 2021 | Baseball
Luke Brown broke a seven-all tie with a two-run single in the eighth inning.
Louisville (18-7, 10-3 ACC) appeared to be on cruise control, leading 7-1 heading into the eighth inning. However, the Demon Deacons plated six runs without an out to start the inning, including a game-tying grand slam.
The Cardinals had the answer in the bottom half though. Levi Usher and Cooper Bowman each drew walks and moved to second and third on a wild pitch with two outs. Brown then delivered a single back through the middle to score both runners on what would turn out to be the game-winning hit.
Adam Elliott then worked a scoreless ninth, improving to 4-1 on the season and helping the Cardinals capture the weekend series.
Louisville scored in six of the eight innings on Saturday, getting a two-out home run from Henry Davis in the first inning to get the scoring started. Levi Usher added a run-scoring single in the second and Cameron Masterman went the opposite way for his sixth home run of the year in the fourth. Christian Knapczyk doubled home a run in the fourth as well to give UofL a 4-0 advantage.
Lucas Dunn and Trey Leonard had run-scoring hits of their own in the fifth and Knapczyk turned in his second run-scoring double of the day in the sixth.
While the offense went to work at the plate, Luke Seed was dealing on the mound for the Cardinals. The southpaw allowed just one run on four hits across a career-best seven innings.
Brown led the offensive attack with a 3-for-5 showing at the plate on Saturday. Dunn and Knapczyk each went 2-for-4 as part of the 12-hit effort. The Cardinals have double-digit hits in seven of the last nine games.
The three-game series wraps up on Sunday with the finale set for 12:30 p.m. ET. Sunday's contest will be televised on ESPN2.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Elliott, Adam (4-1)
L: Camden Minacci (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Lucas Costello 1 ; Shane Muntz 1
RBI: Lucas Costello 1 ; Bobby Seymour 1 ; Chris Lanzilli 1 ; Shane Muntz 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Lucas Costello 2 ; Michael Turconi 1 ; Brock Wilken 1 ; Bobby Seymour 1 ; Chris Lanzilli 1 ; Shane Muntz 1
HBP: Bobby Seymour 1

Batting:
2B: Dunn, Lucas 1 ; Knapczyk, Christian 2
3B: Dunn, Lucas 1
HR: Davis, Henry 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 1
RBI: Brown, Luke 2 ; Davis, Henry 1 ; Dunn, Lucas 1 ; Leonard, Trey 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Usher, Levi 1 ; Knapczyk, Christian 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bowman, Cooper 1 ; Brown, Luke 1 ; Davis, Henry 1 ; Dunn, Lucas 2 ; Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Usher, Levi 3
SB: Brown, Luke 1 ; Usher, Levi 2
CS: Brown, Luke 1