Cardinals Fall Behind Early, Drop Series Opener Against UNC
April 08, 2022 | Baseball
Louisville took a 13-9 loss to North Carolina on Friday.
Louisville (21-8, 7-3 ACC) has now lost two in a row and three of its last four.
North Carolina (21-9, 7-6) plated five runs in the top of the first inning and put the Cardinals in an early hole. The Tar Heels added another in the second and three more in the third to lead 9-0.
The Cardinals used the long ball to get on the board in the bottom of the third with a solo homer to straightaway centerfield from Ben Bianco and a three-run shot over the right-centerfield wall off the bat of Cameron Masterman.
UNC answered right back though, scoring four unanswered runs to steal the momentum right back.
Dalton Rushing and Jack Payton hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning as part of a four-run frame for the Cards to cut the deficit in half. Louisville had the tying run in the on deck circle with two away in the eighth, but was unable to get any closer.
Christian Knapczyk, Logan Beard, Bianco and Masterman had two hits apiece as the Cardinals registered double digit hits for the 18th time this season.
The three-game series continues on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kyle Mott (6-1)
L: Kuehner, Tate (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Angel Zarate 1 ; Johnny Castagnozzi 1 ; Danny Serretti 1 ; Mac Horvath 2 ; Alberto Osuna 1
3B: Vance Honeycutt 1
HR: Alberto Osuna 2
RBI: Angel Zarate 2 ; Johnny Castagnozzi 1 ; Danny Serretti 1 ; Tomas Frick 1 ; Mac Horvath 1 ; Alberto Osuna 6 ; Hunter Stokely 1
SF: Tomas Frick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vance Honeycutt 3 ; Angel Zarate 1 ; Johnny Castagnozzi 1 ; Danny Serretti 1 ; Tomas Frick 1 ; Mac Horvath 3 ; Alberto Osuna 3
SB: Vance Honeycutt 1
HBP: Vance Honeycutt 1

Batting:
HR: Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Rushing, Dalton 1 ; Payton, Jack 1 ; Bianco, Ben 1
RBI: Metzinger, Ben 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 4 ; Rushing, Dalton 1 ; Payton, Jack 1 ; Bianco, Ben 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Knapczyk, Christian 2 ; Metzinger, Ben 1 ; Masterman, Cameron 1 ; Rushing, Dalton 1 ; Payton, Jack 1 ; Usher, Levi 1 ; Humphrey, Isaac 1 ; Bianco, Ben 1