By Dalton Ray —
With gray clouds looming, sophomore Nick Bennett (7-1) piloted No. 25 baseball’s 5-0 win over Notre Dame. He pitched eight innings, tying a career-high eight strikeouts.
Three Cardinals had a multi-hit game as Louisville totaled 11. Louisville is now 39-16 (17-12) as they sit third place in the ACC Atlantic.
U of L is a win away from winning at least 40 games in 11 of the 12 seasons under coach Dan McDonnell.
McDonnell said Bennett shook off a slow start and answered big.
“On a day where you know storms are coming and weather looks bad, (Bennett) fills it up,” McDonnell said.
The Cardinals have won seven of their last eight games.
“We’re playing good baseball. It starts on the mound and we’ve been getting good starts for two months,” McDonnell said. “Traditionally, we play well down the stretch. A lot of credit goes to coach (Eric) Synder and (Adam) Vrable.”
Teams exchanged a pair of hits in the opening innings, but sophomore Jake Snider recorded the first run of the game with an RBI-single.
U of L recorded their second run in the fifth inning as sophomore Justin Lavey crossed the plate while Snider hit into a double-play.
Junior Josh Stowers doubled to kick off the sixth inning and an error at first base allowed sophomore Danny Oriente to reach. A wild pitch scored Stowers and sophomore Ethan Stringer’s single scored Oriente, bringing the Louisville lead to 4-0.
The Cardinals left two runners stranded to end the inning.
Bennett allowed a single to start the seventh inning, but back-to-back strikeouts closed the threat.
Louisville put a pair of runners on with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and sophomore Tyler Fitzgerald’s RBI scored the final run of the game.
The Cardinals can sweep the series with a Saturday win as first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
You can follow Dalton Ray on Twitter @dray5477.
Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal
