Louisville Rallies, Walks Off St. John's in Series Opener

Kicking off a three-game weekend series against St. John's, the Louisville baseball program had to mount a comeback in the series opener, rallying for an 8-6 walk-off victory on Friday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Following a messy second inning where the Cardinals (7-1) gave up six runs, they proceeded to score seven unanswered runs against the Red Storm (0-7) - including six in the final three innings. Facing two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Tague Davis (4-5, HR, 4 RBI) blasted a 407-foot, two-run home run to walk off the Johnnies.

Jake Munroe (3-5, HR, 2 RBI) also drive in multiple runs, while Garret Pike (2-5, 2B) joined Davis and Munroe in having multi-hit days. Kamau Neighbors (1-4, RBI) also added an RBI on the afternoon. All nine starters got on base either via base hit or walk.

For the majority of his start, right-hander Patrick Forbes (5.0 IP, 10 K, 5 H) was his typical dominant self. He posted his second double-digit strikeout outing of the young season, as well as his second-straight start where he did not allow a walk.

However, the second inning was far from the best showing from both Forbes and the Louisville defense. He gave up four hits and a pair of two-run home runs, but the Cardinals also committed three errors in the frame - one of which directly led to two more runners coming home. While St. John's plated six runs in the inning, none of them were earned.

Louisville did get a solo homer from Munroe in the second and an RBI single from Neighbors in the fourth, but they were largely quiet at the plate. During the first six innings, they collected just six base hits and drew only two walks.

The seventh inning is where the Cardinals comeback truly got underway, putting up a three-spot. Munroe struck an RBI single, while Davis got his heroics started with a two-run single.

In the eighth, the only run scratched across by Louisville was courtesy of Alex Alicea (1-5) on a wild pitch. In the ninth, Munroe led off the frame with a single, setting up for Davis' game-winning homer.

In addition to the late inning surge at the plate, Louisville got a pair of great outings from the bullpen to allow the comeback to happen in the first place. Left-hander T.J. Schlageter (2.0 IP, 1 K, 1 H) kept St. John's off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh, while righty Brennyn Cutts (2.0 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 H) continued his scoreless streak with zeroes in eighth and ninth.

Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their weekend series against St. John's with game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 970 WGTK.

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