By Clive McCullough

The Cardinals came out of this week on a four game winning streak with hopes to keep the wins coming in as tournament season approaches.

v.s. Kentucky: Tuesday, April 21

Louisville’s week of games started Tuesday night as the Cards faced the rival Kentucky Wildcats at Jim Patterson Stadium for the their second meeting of the year.

This came just two weeks after their prior loss to Kentucky 4-2. In that meeting, they were held hitless until the seventh inning while stranding 10 of the 12 batters that reached base as Kentucky walked 10 Cardinals that night. 

This matchup followed a different note, as Louisville jumped ahead 2–0 in the first after Kentucky walked Griffin Crain and Jimmy Nugent.

Kentucky answered instantly with a Braxton VanCleave solo home run, but more pitching woes followed.  Louisville regained their two-run lead though as Lucas Moore doubled to score Zach Davis. Moore’s animated reaction reaching second base matched the intense environment forming in Jim Patterson. 

Kentucky scored four in the top of the third inning to tie the game. Three of those runs came off of an Ethan Hindle moon shot. 

Louisville responded after Kentucky shortstop and MLB prospect Tyler Bell commited a rare fielding error with a Zion Rose double that tied the game 6–6 after three.

Kentucky came into the game with their fourth catcher on the depth chart starting and it showed. Multiple walks and two passed balls in the fourth allowed Louisville to plate two more and take an 8–6 lead.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Kentucky retook the lead with a balk, a solo home run and Bell scoring on a groundout. It was 9-8 Kentucky in the fifth. 

Manager Dan McDonnell was desperate to win this game, and turned to his two best relievers to do so. Aaron England and closer Peter Michael.

Louisville baseball head coach Dan McDonnell rallies his team before a game at Jim Patterson Stadium against the Central Michigan Chippewas. (Photo By Eloy Sarmiento / The Louisville Cardinal)

Fortunately for England, the bottom of the seventh provided plenty of insurance runs as Rose homered to start the inning. 

Things then got testy as a Kentucky reliever threw behind star Louisville first baseman Tague Davis’s head on a 3-0 count. Davis had a lot to say on his way to first after the pitch.

What followed was some sweet, sweet revenge. Bayram Hot crushed a two‑run homer off the new pitcher for an 11–9 lead. To add insult to injury, two more runs followed, making it 13–9 after seven.

Kentucky and Louisville would trade an additional run in the eighth inning as Louisville’s closer Michael entered the game. He successfully did not give up a run in the final inning, striking out four of five Wildcats he faced.

The Cards split the season series with Kentucky, winning this game 14-10. 

Awaiting Louisville after the rivalry win was a desperate Clemson team. Both programs looked to live up to preseason expectations.

v.s. Clemson: Friday, April 24

Friday night brought with it typical Louisville April weather in the form of two weather delays.

After the first delay of about 20 minutes finished, Clemson came out hot. Luke Gaffney hit a solo home run off Louisville’s Friday night ace Wyatt Danilowicz.

Louisville answered with style as Tague Davis tied the program’s single‑season home run record with a two‑run shot for a 2–1 lead after one.

Clemson’s Nate Savoie homered in the third to tie it 2–2.

In the fourth, Clemson second baseman Tryston McCladdie, who had been playing with facial fractures and a protective mask for these injuries, made two errors. These proved costly, as Louisville was able to slate three resulting runs in the inning and take a 5-2 lead. 

McCladdie somewhat righted his wrong in the top of the fifth as he hit an RBI double and later scored himself.

Heavy rain started falling in the sixth, leaving Clemson pitcher Dion Brown stranded on a sinking mound. Louisville took advantage of this, scoring five runs. Three of those came on a Ben Slanker home run. 

Clemson clawed back with some runs of their own to 10-8 before a second weather delay.

The clock approached midnight as Louisville came back out ready to play. The Cards scored three runs on a single, error and fielder’s choice that gave them a 13-8 lead.

Clemson threatened late as Ty Starke allowed two runs and loaded the bases, but Louisville narrowly escaped.

Clemson’s five errors loomed large as the game ended, 13–10.

v.s. Clemson: Saturday, April 25

Saturday matched Louisville’s Ethan Eberle against Clemson’s Michael Sharman, a two‑time ACC Pitcher of the Week.  

Clemson struck early with homers from Savoie and Jacob Jarrell for a 3–0 first‑inning lead. Louisville answered with a Slanker RBI single in the second.

Nugent really started to heat up in the fourth, hitting a great solo home run. Moore scored the next two in the fourth to give the Cards a 4-3 lead. 

Louisville got some guys on base in the sixth inning that were scored by two RBI singles from Alex Alicea and Rose, culminating in a 6-3 lead.

Eberle left the game not giving up a run for the final five innings, getting himself a quality finish to his outing. 

Louisville’s bullpen faltered as Jake Schweitzer issued two walks and hit a batter. Jack Brown came in not long after to take over for Jake Schweitzer with the bases loaded and no outs.

Brown, typically good in these situations, did not pitch like that was the case and let all three runners score. This allowed Clemson to tie the game 6-6 at the seventh inning stretch. 

However, Louisville responded in the eighth with five runs, capitalizing on Clemson errors and timely hitting. England closed out the game with three strikeouts that secured an 11–6 win and Louisville’s first ACC series victory since mid‑March.

v.s. Clemson: Sunday, April 26

Sunday came and Nugent went.

The scoring started in the bottom of the second as Jimmy Nugent hit his third homer of the week, a solo home run to give the Cards a 1-0 lead. 

Clemson and Louisville traded runs in the third, with the Cards’ run resulting from Rose getting hit by a pitch with bases loaded.

Come fourth inning, Clemson gathered another run off a Savoie sacrifice fly.  

Slanker, not to be outdone by Nugent, hit a two-run homer to give the Cards a 4-2 lead. 

The bottom of the eighth came with no real noise, then Tague Davis hit a solo home run. This homer set the program record for most home runs in a single season, and gave the Cardinals a 5-3 cushion entering the ninth.

England returned to close but struggled, allowing a hit, walk and sac bunt before Dan McDonnell intentionally walked Savoie to load the bases. McCladdie, after a difficult defensive series, delivered a two‑run single to tie the game 5–5.

Louisville had the right guy at the plate for the situation. After Hot singled, Nugent crushed the first pitch he saw from Justin LeGurnic for a walk‑off two‑run homer.

Louisville completed the sweep 7–5, finishing a perfect 4–0 week and extending the winning streak to five against two quality opponents.

The Cardinals will look to close out the month of April through mid-May with more wins, and hope to keep their chances at Omaha alive.

 Feature Photo by Eloy Sarmiento / The Louisville Cardinal