Louisville Walks Off Cal in Series Opener

Kicking off their three-game weekend series against ACC newcomer Cal, the Louisville baseball program had to mount a last-second rally after blowing a substantial lead, walking off their visitors 11-10 on Friday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The No. 18 Cardinals (19-6, 4-3 ACC) led by seven runs after five innings, but gave up eight runs in the final three to head to the bottom of the ninth trailing by a run.

A throwing error allowed Tagger Tyson (2-4, RBI, 2B) to get on base to leadoff the frame, and Lucas Moore (2-4, 2 RBI, 2B, BB) drove him home on an RBI double to tie the game. After the bases were loaded with two outs to put the Golden Bears (14-11, 5-5 ACC) on the ropes, Jake Munroe (1-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SF) sent the fans home happy with a game-winning RBI single.

Louisville gets back in the win column after losing their past two games by a combined 17 runs, where they lost 11-4 at Virginia Tech last Sunday and 12-2 at Cincinnati this past Tuesday. They also get back to over .500 in conference play with the win over Cal.

Every player in Louisville's starting lineup either drove in a run or got a base hit, with the Cardinals as a whole generating 15 base hits. Garret Pike (2-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2B) went yard, while Munroe and Moore both drove in multiple runs. Six different Cardinals had multi-hit days.

It made up for the fact that, while Louisville's pitching staff struck out 15 and walked only three, gave up 14 base hits and had three hit-by-pitches. Defensively, the Cardinals didn't help the pitcher's causes, committing three errors.

Louisville was quick to strike, putting up three runs within the first 10 pitches of the game. Zion Rose (2-6, RBI) struck an RBI single, Pike collected an RBI double, while Munroe hit a sacrifice fly.

Starting pitcher Patrick Forbes (6.0 IP, 13 K, 2 BB, 8 H, 5 ER) was able to rebound from his rough outing at Virginia Tech last weekend, setting a new career-high in strikeouts. But he did run into some early trouble. In the second inning, it was Cal's turn to get on the scoreboard, doing so with back-to-back RBI doubles.

After this, Louisville started to pull away. Alex Alicea (1-4, RBI) drove in a run on a bunt single in the second, then Louisville put up another three-spot in the third. Pike crushed a 399-foot leadoff homer to right-center, Eddie King Jr. (2-3, RBI, 2B) hit an RBI double, and Tyson added a sac fly.

Two innings later in the fifth, the Cardinals added two more runs, with Kamau Neighbors (2-4, RBI) and Moore both collecting RBI singles.

Cal then started to make things interesting in the seventh, significantly cutting into the Louisville advantage with a four-spot.

Forbes allowed an RBI single, then was chased out after loading the bases. Jake Schweitzer (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 H) was the first reliever out of the bullpen, but he allowed an RBI double, and another run came home on a throwing error.

Wyatt Danilowicz (0.2 IP, 1 H) and Tucker Biven (1.1 IP, 1 BB, 4 H, 3 ER) combined to pitch a scoreless eighth, but the Golden Bears completed the comeback in the ninth with a four-spot. Biven was trotted back out to try and close out the game in the ninth, but instead gave up a game-tying, three-run home run, and then a go-ahead RBI single.

Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their weekend series against Cal with game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, Mar. 29 at 2:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

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