By Matt Bradshaw —
No. 24 baseball defeated Wake Forest 10-2 in their first matchup of the 2018 ACC Championship. Junior Josh Stowers propelled the Cardinals to victory with a double, triple and his eighth home run of the season.
Louisville (41-16) enters the Championship as the No. 5 seed in Pool D. Wake Forest is No. 9 and Duke is No. 4 in the same pool.
After defeating the Demon Deacons, the Cards will play the Blue Devils on Friday, May 25 at 11 a.m. Duke is slated to play Wake Forest on Thursday, May 24 at 11 a.m.
The tournament features pool-play format, with the top four teams from each pool moving on to a single-elimination bracket. Whoever wins the bracket becomes league champion.
It was a career day for Stowers, who notched his second straight six RBI game and came just one single shy of hitting the cycle.
Freshman Reid Detmers (4-1) started on the mound for U of L. The lefty held Wake Forest scoreless for the first two innings.
In the top of the third, the Demon Deacons loaded the bases with no outs. Louisville managed a double play, but Wake Forest scored the first run of the game while the Cards turned the play.
In the bottom of the fourth, Stowers gave Louisville a 3-1 lead with a towering three-run homer.
Sophomore Drew Campbell widened the lead to 4-1 with a RBI bunt in the bottom of the sixth.
After stealing second base and moving to third on a wild pitch, Campbell scored on a passed ball to make the score 5-1.
In the top of the eighth, Wake Forest lessened Louisville’s lead to 5-2 as they scored on a Cardinal error.
Sophomore Logan Wyatt RBI singled in the bottom of the eighth for a 6-2 Louisville lead.
Stowers next continued his superb game with a three-run triple, while also scoring himself on a wild pitch.
The Cards held the Demon Deacons scoreless in the ninth, clinching their 10-2 victory.
You can follow Matt Bradshaw on Twitter @bradmatt8.
File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal
