Saturday, March 19
Louisville, Ky.
1:00 PM
University of Louisville
15-4, 2-0
8
vs
1
Notre Dame
12-3, 2-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Notre Dame
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
0
Louisville
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
7
X
8
8
1
Photo by: Karthik Kalvakuri | Louisville Athletics
Seven-Run Eighth Lifts Cardinals to Victory over No. 1 Notre Dame
March 19, 2022 | Baseball
Louisville defeated the Irish 8-1 on Saturday to capture the series.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the game tied at one, the University of Louisville baseball team plated seven runs in the eighth inning to secure an 8-1 victory over No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville (15-4, 2-0 ACC) used a strong outing from Jared Poland, a huge defensive play from Ben Metzinger and a pair of homers in the eighth to win its fifth straight and 12th in the last 13 games.
Poland set the tone for the Cardinals, keeping the Irish off the scoreboard for the first seven innings and tallying a career best 10 strikeouts.
The right-hander found himself in his first jam in the fourth after a leadoff double and a wild pitch put a runner on third with nobody out. Poland buckled down though, getting a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to keep the game scoreless.
Louisville had chances of its own at the plate, putting multiple runners on in the second, third and fourth innings but failing to get a run across.
The Cardinals finally broke the scoreless tie in the seventh. Christian Knapczyk was hit by a pitch with one out and Ben Metzinger executed a perfect hit-and-run with a line drive single into right that put runners on the corners. A wild pitch then allowed Knapczyk to score and moved the Cardinals out in front.
Notre Dame (12-2, 2-2) quickly tied the game up though, hitting a solo home run to centerfield leading off the eighth. The Irish then loaded the bases with one out, threatening to take lead for the first time.
Evan Webster entered the game out of the bullpen and induced a groundball to third base. Metzinger dove toward the line, snagging the baseball before touching the bag for a force out and tossing across the diamond to complete the double play and keeping the game at one all.
Louisville used the momentum from escaping the jam and finally got rolling offensively in the bottom half of the inning.
Jack Payton and Levi Usher each singled to start the frame to give the Cardinals runners at first and third with nobody out. After Usher swiped second, Logan Beard rolled a ball to first base and the attempt to throw out pinch-runner Tyeler Hawkins at the plate was wide to give the Cards a 2-1 lead.
A walk to Isaac Humphrey the loaded the bases and Ben Bianco broke the game open with a grand slam to stretch the lead to five. Metzinger then added the icing on the cake with a two-run homer to left-center, his ninth of the season.
Webster (2-0) then closed down the game in the ninth to finish off the victory and pick up his second win of the season.
Metzinger and Beard each had two hits to lead the Cardinals, while Knapczyk scored multiple runs for the fifth straight game.
Louisville and Notre Dame will wrap up the series on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Louisville (15-4, 2-0 ACC) used a strong outing from Jared Poland, a huge defensive play from Ben Metzinger and a pair of homers in the eighth to win its fifth straight and 12th in the last 13 games.
Poland set the tone for the Cardinals, keeping the Irish off the scoreboard for the first seven innings and tallying a career best 10 strikeouts.
The right-hander found himself in his first jam in the fourth after a leadoff double and a wild pitch put a runner on third with nobody out. Poland buckled down though, getting a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to keep the game scoreless.
Louisville had chances of its own at the plate, putting multiple runners on in the second, third and fourth innings but failing to get a run across.
The Cardinals finally broke the scoreless tie in the seventh. Christian Knapczyk was hit by a pitch with one out and Ben Metzinger executed a perfect hit-and-run with a line drive single into right that put runners on the corners. A wild pitch then allowed Knapczyk to score and moved the Cardinals out in front.
Notre Dame (12-2, 2-2) quickly tied the game up though, hitting a solo home run to centerfield leading off the eighth. The Irish then loaded the bases with one out, threatening to take lead for the first time.
Evan Webster entered the game out of the bullpen and induced a groundball to third base. Metzinger dove toward the line, snagging the baseball before touching the bag for a force out and tossing across the diamond to complete the double play and keeping the game at one all.
Louisville used the momentum from escaping the jam and finally got rolling offensively in the bottom half of the inning.
Jack Payton and Levi Usher each singled to start the frame to give the Cardinals runners at first and third with nobody out. After Usher swiped second, Logan Beard rolled a ball to first base and the attempt to throw out pinch-runner Tyeler Hawkins at the plate was wide to give the Cards a 2-1 lead.
A walk to Isaac Humphrey the loaded the bases and Ben Bianco broke the game open with a grand slam to stretch the lead to five. Metzinger then added the icing on the cake with a two-run homer to left-center, his ninth of the season.
Webster (2-0) then closed down the game in the ninth to finish off the victory and pick up his second win of the season.
Metzinger and Beard each had two hits to lead the Cardinals, while Knapczyk scored multiple runs for the fifth straight game.
Louisville and Notre Dame will wrap up the series on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Webster, Evan (2-0)
L: Ryan McLinskey (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Ryan Cole 1 ; Jack Brannigan 1
HR: Jack Brannigan 1
RBI: Jack Brannigan 1
SH: Spencer Myers 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jack Brannigan 1
SB: Danny Neri 1
CS: Spencer Myers 1
HBP: Jared Miller 1
Batting:
2B: Knapczyk, Christian 1
HR: Metzinger, Ben 1 ; Bianco, Ben 1
RBI: Metzinger, Ben 2 ; Beard, Logan 1 ; Bianco, Ben 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Knapczyk, Christian 2 ; Metzinger, Ben 1 ; Hawkins, Tyeler 1 ; Usher, Levi 1 ; Beard, Logan 1 ; Humphrey, Isaac 1 ; Bianco, Ben 1
SB: Knapczyk, Christian 1 ; Usher, Levi 1
CS: Payton, Jack 1
HBP: Knapczyk, Christian 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C/1B
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC/INF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
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