Louisville baseball needed two wins to start the conference tournament. But an upset loss to 11-seed Miami adds more doubt to its NCAA Tournament hopes.
On Tuesday, seven-seeded Louisville baseball opened up pool play against the eleventh-seeded Miami Hurricanes.
The Cards quickly found themselves in a hole. Miami’s first three batters started with two singles and a home run to make it a 3-0 ballgame within the first twelve pitches. Evan Webster eventually got out of the inning without letting another run come across.
Patrick Forbes came into relief in the second inning and was able to hold it down while the Cardinals’ offense got going.
JT Benson opened the bottom of the third with a hit by pitch. Benson then scored from first on a Dylan Hoy backside double down the left field line to make it 3-1.
Benson came back up in the bottom of the fifth and hit a solo home run to left-center field. That got the Cards within one run and made it a 3-2 ballgame.
Quickly, Miami answered back by hitting a solo home run of their own in the top of the fifth to make it 4-2. Later in the inning, another run scored on a bloop single, making it a 5-2 game. Zion Rose then continued his impressive freshman season by hitting a solo home run of his own to get the Cards back within two runs.
In the top of the seventh, Miami took a page out of the Louisville baseball book when their first two batters got on base for their three-hole hitter, who then hit another three-run shot to left-center field to blow the game open and make it an 8-3 ballgame.
The Cards rallied a bit in the ninth with a Luke Napleton pinch-hit solo home run and a Zion Rose RBI double. However, the comeback effort fell short as the Cards stranded a runner in the bottom of the 9th.
This loss dropped Louisville baseball to 32-23 on the year. UofL is eliminated from ACC Championship contention.
Notable Performances
Cuvet (Miami)- 3-5, 1B, 2HR, 6Rbi’s
Benson (Louisville)- 3-3, 1B, 2B, HR, HBP, BB, Rbi, SB
Benson stepped up as a leader on Tuesday. He was a triple away from the cycle, and reached on all 5 plate appearances.
Rose (Louisville)- 3-5, 1B, 2B, HR, Rbi
Rose continued his solid form. He was just a triple away from the cycle on Tuesday.
Louisville baseball is back in action at 3 pm on Friday, as they look to take down Clemson and strengthen their chances for an at-large bid into the NCAA regional tournament.
