By Jacob Kupferman– 

Louisville’s Diamond Heritage Day certainly went the way the fourth-ranked Cardinal baseball team wanted on Sunday afternoon.

Virginia Tech started this season 10-5, but have struggled since, and entered Sunday’s contest on a 12-game losing streak. A stellar performance from starting pitcher Drew Harrington carried Louisville’s defense, but the offense showed out for the Cardinals, highlighted by a nine-run third inning. Louisville will look to complete the series sweep tomorrow as Kyle Funkhouser takes the mound at 7 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Shut-out: The Louisville pitching staff put together a wonderful performance Sunday, as multiple pitchers pitched, but none gave up a run. After being moved up in the rotation this week, Drew Harrington anchored the crew, delivering six scoreless innings to start the game. Collectively, Louisville allowed just six hits as freshman Chandler Dale closed it out for the Cards in the ninth inning.

Screamer up the middle: With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Zeke Pinkham stepped to the plate and drove in the 13th run of the game on a line drive up the middle. The RBI was Pinkham’s first as a Cardinal.

Keeping it rolling: Louisville added runs for the third straight inning, highlighted by Will Smith’s stand up double to score Devin Hairston early in the fourth inning. Smith would eventually score, giving Louisville a 12-0 lead through four innings.

Nine spot: The Cards hung a nine in the runs column in the bottom of the third, highlighted by a Corey Ray homer to lead off the inning. All but one Cardinal scored in the bottom of the third, with Ray scoring twice. Additional RBI from Blake Tiberi, Devin Hairston, Colin Lyman, Ryan Summers and Devin Mann gave Louisville the 10-0 lead after three.

Moonshot: As the first batter in the bottom of the third, Corey Ray stepped to the plate and launched a fastball to straight away center field. The homer was Ray’s ninth of the season, and 21st of his career.

Cards get it going: Louisville struck first in the bottom of the second as Danny Rosenbaum led off the inning with a double. Following a Blake Tiberi walk and a wild pitch, Devin Hairston knocked in Rosenbaum with an RBI groundout. The Hokies were able to salvage the inning, however, when left fielder Tom Stoffel robbed Will Smith of a home run.

Photo by Wade Morgan / The Louisville Cardinal