By Weston Payne–

No. 10 baseball registered a 16-4 win in the first of a three-game weekend series against Western Carolina.

Junior Adam Wolf received the win from the mound, picking up seven strikeouts on his way to a 3-0 record on the season.

Sophomore Justin Lavey had an impressive outing, going 3-for-3 and sending four runners home.

Wolf got the start against the Catamounts. By the end of the second inning, the lefty had allowed four runs on four hits, two of which were RBI triples. Wolf had not allowed a run all season leading up to the contest.

Louisville responded, by taking the lead, with seven scored runs in the bottom of the third. They utilized the whole lineup on that feat, starting with a double by sophomore Tyler Fitzgerald and ending with a RBI single by junior Josh Stowers.

Western Carolina switched pitchers in the fourth inning, but Lavey hit a two-run RBI single up before the inning was through.

In the sixth inning, the Catamounts placed another new pitcher on the mound. Louisville went on to achieve two more RBIs.

Freshman Michael Kirian came out of the bullpen for Wolf at the start of the seventh inning. The infield helped out the freshman pitcher by turning two to end the first half of the inning.

Louisville continued to pour it on at the bottom of the seventh with another pair of RBI’s.

Sophomore Adam Elliot started off the eighth inning with a triple. The next three Cardinals were all walked, resulting in Elliot scoring a run.

Sophomore Danny Oriente went 2-for-3 along with two RBIs and two runs. Tonight was his first time on the baseball diamond since his labrum injury in Feburary 2017.

“It’s been a long time coming … I’m just looking for a good pitch,” Oriente said.

Game two is Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m.

You can follow Weston on Twitter @weston_payne17.

Photo by Dalton Ray / The Louisville Cardinal