Friday, February 27
Louisville, Ky.
3:00 PM
University of Louisville
5-4
16
vs
2
Central Michigan
5-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
5
3
Louisville
0
3
0
1
9
3
X
16
9
1
Cardinals Roll Past Central Michigan in Series Opener
February 27, 2026 | Baseball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team needed just seven innings for a 16-2 victory over Central Michigan on Friday in the first of a three-game series at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville (5-4) scored in four of the six innings it stepped to the plate, including a nine-run fifth in the victory.
Ethan Eberle (1-0) earned his first win of the season with just two runs allowed over 5.2 innings with a season-high nine strikeouts.
After a couple scoreless frames to start the game, the Louisville offense struck in the bottom of the second. On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Tague Davis laced a line drive over the wall in right field for his fifth homer in the last six games.
Later in the frame, Griffin Crain doubled off the wall in right-center to drive in two more and give the Cards a 3-0 advantage. Crain then tacked on another run with a groundout in the fourth.
Eberle cruised along through the fifth and the Cardinals broke the game open in the bottom half.
Alex Alicea led off the inning with his first home run of the season starting a run of eight straight Cards to reach base. Davis singled home two more before Crain added another run-scoring hit. Alicea tripled home a run in his second at-bat of the frame and Lucas Moore capped the nine-run outburst with his second long ball of the year.
Central Michigan (5-3) got on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth, but the Cardinals answered back with three in the bottom half. Zach Davis recorded his first hit and RBI in the inning.
Zane Stahl and Kian Vorster took care of the final four outs to close out the win.
Tague Davis finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Crain added two hits and a career-best five RBIs.
Louisville and Central Michigan continue the weekend series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on X, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Louisville (5-4) scored in four of the six innings it stepped to the plate, including a nine-run fifth in the victory.
Ethan Eberle (1-0) earned his first win of the season with just two runs allowed over 5.2 innings with a season-high nine strikeouts.
After a couple scoreless frames to start the game, the Louisville offense struck in the bottom of the second. On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Tague Davis laced a line drive over the wall in right field for his fifth homer in the last six games.
Later in the frame, Griffin Crain doubled off the wall in right-center to drive in two more and give the Cards a 3-0 advantage. Crain then tacked on another run with a groundout in the fourth.
Eberle cruised along through the fifth and the Cardinals broke the game open in the bottom half.
Alex Alicea led off the inning with his first home run of the season starting a run of eight straight Cards to reach base. Davis singled home two more before Crain added another run-scoring hit. Alicea tripled home a run in his second at-bat of the frame and Lucas Moore capped the nine-run outburst with his second long ball of the year.
Central Michigan (5-3) got on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth, but the Cardinals answered back with three in the bottom half. Zach Davis recorded his first hit and RBI in the inning.
Zane Stahl and Kian Vorster took care of the final four outs to close out the win.
Tague Davis finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Crain added two hits and a career-best five RBIs.
Louisville and Central Michigan continue the weekend series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on X, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eberle, Ethan (1-0)
L: Hayden Bailey (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Brady Krzciok 1
HR: Brady Krzciok 1
RBI: Brady Krzciok 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Harrison Bowman 1 ; Brady Krzciok 1
Batting:
2B: Crain, Griffin 1
3B: Alicea, Alex 1
HR: Alicea, Alex 1 ; Moore, Lucas 1 ; Davis, Tague 1
RBI: Alicea, Alex 3 ; Moore, Lucas 2 ; Davis, Tague 3 ; Hot, Bayram 1 ; Crain, Griffin 5 ; Davis, Zach 1
SH: Hot, Bayram 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alicea, Alex 2 ; Moore, Lucas 2 ; Campbell, Kyle 1 ; Davis, Tague 3 ; Nugent, Jimmy 3 ; Hisle, Jax 3 ; Hot, Bayram 2
SB: Moore, Lucas 1 ; Campbell, Kyle 1 ; Hot, Bayram 1
HBP: Moore, Lucas 1 ; Hisle, Jax 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballLHP/1B
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballBSB: Bayram Hot Postgame vs. CMU (2/28/26)
Saturday, February 28
BSB: Dan McDonnell Postgame vs. CMU (2/28/26)
Saturday, February 28
BSB: Griffin Crain Postgame vs. CMU (2/28/26)
Saturday, February 28
BSB: Tague Davis Postgame vs. CMU (2/27/26)
Saturday, February 28
