By Dalton Ray–

Moving to 12-0, No. 4 baseball downed Fort Wayne (3-10) 12-2. On a lackluster day of baseball, the Cardinals used two run-heavy innings to take the win.

Scoring in bunches is something coach Dan McDonnell wants to achieve every week.

“The goal for any club is getting the crooked number. If you can get that in one inning, then you’re in good shape to win the game,” McDonnell said. “It takes good hitters and quality at-bats. Offensive and defensively you can live and die by that crooked number.”

The Mastodons got on the board during the third inning an Travis Upp RBI. In the bottom of the inning, Louisville went 1-2-3 on fly-outs.

Sophomore Sam Bordner replaced fellow sophomore Bryan Hoeing in the third inning. Hoeing went 3.1 innings, allowing six hits and walking four on two earned runs.

In the next inning, Jake Weber drove home a score run for Fort Wayne to take a 2-0 lead.

Hitless through the first three innings, sophomore Devin Mann sent a shot to left-center field to give Louisville a run. The Cards scored three more runs in the inning with RBIs from junior Devin Hairston and seniors Logan Taylor and Ryan Summers.

Forcing Fort Wayne into a 1-2-3 inning, Louisville added another pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth.

With bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Hairston’s triple cleared the bases. Freshman Jake Snider brought home Hairston a double, bringing the score to 11-2.

Junior Drew Ellis’ single scored Justin Lavey in the final score of the game.

Hairston ended the game batting 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs. Mann finished 2-for-4 with a home run.

Louisville opens ACC play with a three-game series against Pittsburgh starting on March 10.

Photo by Dalton Ray / The Louisville Cardinal