By Morgan Davenport

No. 14 Louisville dropped a high-scoring series to the NC State Wolfpack.

The series loss is only the second of the season for the Cards.

Friday

Louisville started off the series with a run off a passed ball and a shutout pitching to take a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

Then the Cards exploded for five runs in the fifth, including a wild pitch that sent Alex Alicea home and a two-run home run from Eddie King Jr.

NC State got another run in the bottom of the third, but Louisville would go right back and match it with a run in the top of the fourth. The Cards had firm control.

This all changed in the bottom of the fourth. Justin West came to the mound and let the first five batters get on base, with three of them coming home.

Jack Brown came in and got out of the inning but not before giving up four more runs. After seven runs, Louisville trailed 7-9.

The Cards responded getting four runs in the top of the fifth, Kamau Neighbors getting a single with bases loaded, tying the game and Lucas Moore brought the Cardinals lead back with a sacrifice fly.

The Wolfpack simply wouldn’t let the Cards hope for long, getting three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take back the lead.

From there the slugfest would suddenly shift into a pitchers’ duel, as runs were few and far between. Inning after inning came and went with as little as a baserunner.

While the Cards struggled, the Wolfpack padded their lead with one more run following a string of walks and a wild pitch.

Louisville lost game one 11-13.

Saturday

Game two of this series was just what the doctor ordered.

The glorified home run derby for the Cards saw six homers on the game.

Two of these home runs were in the first inning, and four were through the first four innings.

Tanner Shiver was won of those who stepped up to the plate and rocked a grand slam for the Cardinals. He also gained his first home run as a Cardinal.

Nate Earley finished off the amazing scoring game with a three-run homer in his only at bat to seal the deal over the Wolfpack.

This was the Cardinals best offensive game yet, racking up 21 hits on 47 at bats.

Eight different players saw four or more at bats, with Moore getting an astonishing seven trips to the plate.

Louisville dominated game two 25-8.

Sunday

With a chance to close out the series in the rubber match, Louisville came up short in just about every way.

Garret Pike started off the first with an RBI-double, bringing Moore home and taking the score to 1-0. Unfortunately, this would be the only run of the night for the Cards.

The offense fell silent for the rest of the match-up, and the defense did not deliver, either.

Peter Micheal pitched two blank innings, but an error kept the third inning going and a two-run homer that was just out of reach of Zion Rose gave the Wolfpack the lead.

After a nice game two, Shiver had a number of errors that directly or indirectly saw the first six runs for NC State go through.

NC State capitalized off these errors and took the win 1-11 and the series 1-2.

While this was a disappointing loss, the Louisville offense solidified that they have power.

If they play more games like game two, they have the opportunity to be a powerhouse team closer to playoffs. But the pitching needs to shore things up for that to be a reality.

Louisville is now 26-9 on the season and 9-6 in the ACC.

Photo Courtesy // Eli Dych, Louisville Athletics