By Matthew Mueller

Louisville’s 14th-ranked baseball  (7-1) team faced off against Eastern Kentucky University (4-5) on Feb. 28 for a mid-week match-up that ended with an overwhelming victory for the Cards.

The midweek contest ended with an 11-0 Cardinals victory, moving the team’s record for this year to 7-1.

Louisville showed their pitching power as they sent the first 14 batters back to the dugout, not allowing Eastern to record a run until the fifth inning. They  allowed Eastern to get three hits the entire game, walking one batter in the process.

Kade Grundy put on a show during the three innings he spent on top of the mound, making a flawless appearance. Evan Webster was also riding the hot hand by putting on two scoreless frames.  Those two alone really showed the power behind Louisville’s pitchers this year.

Unanswered Perfection

To add to the beating, Louisville’s batting was executed perfectly throughout the entire game.

It started off with freshman Patrick Forbes, who scored his first home run of his career at the start of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t stop there; Jack Payton hit a three-run homer an inning later to push the lead to four, driving in junior Christian Knapczyk and junior JT Benson in the process.

The Cards would add six more runs in the fourth inning, with Brandon Anderson sending two home to open the floodgates. Junior Haven Magrum and Christian Knapczyk would add to the fun. Both drove each other home in the same inning to push the lead up to 10.

The team is looking very strong early on this year, both on the offensive and defensive side. It’s very clear that this team is going to be fun to watch this season and they’ve proved that they are still a top-power team.

The roster is stacked with skill from all positions and the team looks motivated and hungry to really show out this year.

While basketball did not reach our hopes and expectations this year, the baseball boys are putting on one heck of a show at Jim Patterson Stadium early on, and showing no early signs of slowing down.

The Cards hit the road for the first time this season, shipping down to Houston to play in the Shriners Children’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

They’ll face off with two familiar foes, first playing Texas A&M on March 3. The Aggies ended Louisville’s season last year in the super regional sending them to the College World Series.

Following that contest, the Cards square off with Texas Christian University on Saturday, March 4. They round up the trip by clashing with The University of Michigan on March 5. The Cards and the Wolverines faced off six times last season, having Louisville end their season in devastating fashion to move on in the postseason play.

This weekend will be a big indicator of how good this team really this after these games.

Photo Courtesy// Matthew Mueller, The Louisville Cardinal //