University of Louisville
16-8, 3-3
North Carolina
20-4-1, 6-3
Cardinals Lose Lead Late in Finale at No. 9 North Carolina
March 22, 2026 | Baseball
Louisville (16-8, 3-3 ACC) held a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth inning before letting the advantage slip away.
Jack Brown retired the first two batters of the eighth on two pitches before issuing a walk and giving up a single into left and exiting the contest. A hit by pitch and a walk forced home the first run before a single on the infield allowed the tying run to score.
North Carolina (20-4-1, 6-3) then delivered the biggest swing of the game on a bases clearing double to left-centerfield, just out of the reach of Griffin Crain to give the Tar Heels a 7-4 lead.
The Cardinals threatened in the ninth, getting a two-run homer from Tague Davis to bring them back within one.
Bayram Hot followed with a single to put the tying run on with just one out. Ben Slanker then hit a ball back through the middle that had a chance of getting through, but the UNC second baseman made a diving stop and throw to retire him for the second out. A first pitch groundout then put the finishing touches on the loss.
North Carolina took the early lead with a run in the second but the Cardinals responded in each of the next two innings. Kade Elam cashed in Kyle Campbell's leadoff double with an RBI in the third to tie the game, and Campbell hit a roller on the infield that scored Hot one inning later to put the Cards in front. Jimmy Nugent then dropped a single into right field that plated Jax Hisle and stretched the lead to two.
The Tar Heels cut it back to one on a solo homer in the fifth, but the Cards pushed it back to two in the seventh on a pinch-hit RBI single from Slanker.
Colton Hartman drew his first weekend start of the year on Sunday, allowing one run over 3.1 innings.
Davis was 3-for-5 on the day for the Cards, hitting his 13th homer of the season. His two RBIs boosted his total to 50 on the year. Hot and Nugent each tallied two hits.
Louisville will be on the road again on Tuesday night as it travels to Bowling Green to take on Western Kentucky. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Caden Glauber (2-0)
L: Karbowski, Anthony (0-1)
S: Matthew Matthijs (2)
Batting:
2B: Campbell, Kyle 1
HR: Davis, Tague 1
RBI: Davis, Tague 2 ; Slanker, Ben 1 ; Campbell, Kyle 1 ; Nugent, Jimmy 1 ; Elam, Kade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alicea, Alex 1 ; Davis, Tague 2 ; Hot, Bayram 1 ; Hisle, Jax 1 ; Campbell, Kyle 1
HBP: Alicea, Alex 1 ; Hot, Bayram 1 ; Crain, Griffin 1
Batting:
2B: Erik Paulsen 1 ; Owen Hull 1
HR: Macon Winslow 1
RBI: Jake Schaffner 1 ; Gavin Gallaher 1 ; Erik Paulsen 3 ; Macon Winslow 1 ; Tyler Howe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jake Schaffner 1 ; Gavin Gallaher 1 ; Macon Winslow 1 ; Owen Hull 1 ; Tyler Howe 1 ; Cooper Nicholson 1 ; Perry Hargett 1
HBP: Erik Paulsen 1 ; Cooper Nicholson 1 ; Perry Hargett 1
