By Derek DeBurger

Louisville got the win over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers behind a great outing from the Cards’ arms.

Show Patrick the money

Patrick Forbes started the day on the mound, and he was erratic.

It seemed like Forbes was maybe a bit too amped for the game, as everything he threw was either the nastiest stuff in recent memory or an out-of-control pitch. But he got through the first two innings without any issues.

Unfortunately, the Cards’ bats came out of the game cold, failing to even put a runner on base.

Then Forbes unraveled a bit in the top of the third, hitting the leadoff batter and giving up a two-run bomb in the next at bat.

Forbes walked the very next batter, and things looked like they were about to go downhill fast. But Forbes shifted back into gear and struck out the next two batters before getting out of the inning.

Then in the bottom of the third, Kamau Neighbors got a base hit for Louisville’s first hit of the day. A couple of at bats later Lucas Moore battled off the pitcher for an eight-pitch outing that ended in a two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2.

Forbes kept the momentum going, going three up and three down. Then Garret Pike hit an RBI-single to take the lead and later reached home plate on a sacrifice fly by Tague Davis.

As Forbes kept up his onslaught, the Cards kept the offense coming. Moore reached base on a walk where he didn’t swing his bat once. Then Matt Klein got out of his hitting slump with a two-run homer. Eddie King Jr. tacked on another solo shot to bring the score to 7-2.

Forbes ended his day after recording his 13th strikeout of the day in the sixth, setting the record for most strikeouts in the postseason in program history.

Brennyn Cutts stepped in and didn’t skip a beat, taking the Buccaneers bats to the wood shed. A single from King in the seventh brought Moore home to bring the lead up to six runs.

After the wind almost brought one fly ball out of the park in the seventh, Cutts gave up a solo shot in the eighth to drop the lead to five.

But the Cards clinched up and didn’t give up a single runner for the rest of the game.

Louisville won 8-3.

Survive, thrive and advance

For a team who’s bullpen has held them back for much of the season, it was a breath of fresh air to see them have such a dominant outing.

Forbes obviously had an amazing day to put himself in Louisville’s record books, but the staff as a whole threw 18 strikeouts which is also a postseason record for the Cards.

ETSU only got three hits in the game despite half their players batting .300 or above on the season.

Moore recorded three runs on just three at bats, and King led the team in hits going 3-for-4 on the day.

The Cards are now 13-1 in Regional openers under Dan McDonnell, extending their winning streak to 12 games.

Louisville can take a breath, as they will face the winner of the Vanderbilt-Wright State game.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics