Sophomore Danny Rosenbaum belted his second home run of the season and drove in three runs overall as the 12th-ranked Louisville baseball team completed a series sweep of UConn with an 8-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Making his fourth start in five games this week, Rosenbaum (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) continued his hot hitting going 2-for-2 overall adding a double with his third career homer and the season-high three RBI as the Cardinals (33-11, 11-4 American) won their sixth straight. In his four starts over the last six days, Rosenbaum was 7-for-9 (.778) at the plate with five RBI, four runs scored and a 1.333 slugging percentage.

Senior third baseman Alex Chittenden (Indianapolis, Ind.) also kept his upward trend at the plate going on Sunday finishing 3-for-3 with three runs scored and one RBI. In his five starts this week, Chittenden was 10-for-17 (.588) with five RBI, four runs scored and two walks. Senior outfielder Jeff Gardner (Louisville, Ky.) chipped in going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while junior shortstop Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) added two hits and two stolen bases.

On the mound, sophomore righthander Anthony Kidston (Defiance, Ohio) improved to 5-0 on the season and 10-0 in his collegiate career after allowing two runs on two hits with two strikeouts in five innings in his seventh start of 2014. A trio of relievers — freshman lefty Josh Rogers (New Albany, Ind.), freshman righty Zack Burdi (Downers Grove, Ill.) and junior lefty Joe Filomeno (Cicero, Ill.) – followed Kidston to combine for four shutout innings to close the victory.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the second inning on another sunny Sunday afternoon in Louisville when Chittenden, who led off with a walk from UConn (21-22, 5-9 American) starter Anthony Kay, scored on a RBI double down the left field line by Rosenbaum for the 1-0 lead. After advancing to third on a bunt single by junior second baseman Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.), Rosenbaum scored on a RBI sacrifice fly to center by freshman catcher Will Smith (Louisville, Ky.).

An inning later, Louisville pushed its lead to 5-0 on a RBI single from Chittenden and a two-run homer by Rosenbaum. Gardner started the inning with a two-out double to right center before Chittenden drove him in with his single through the left side. Rosenbaum followed by crushing the first offering from Kay over the wall in left center.

The Huskies cut into the Louisville lead with a run in the fourth inning after Blake Davey scored from third on a wild pitch and another run in the fifth inning on a RBI single by Bryan Daniello. However, UConn would get no closer as the Louisville bullpen continued its stellar work of late.

At the plate, the Cardinals added the final three runs of the day in the eighth inning on a RBI sac fly to center by Lucas and a two-run single to right by freshman outfielder Logan Taylor (Lexington, Ky.). Kay took the loss and dropped to 3-4 on the season after allowing five runs, all earned, on seven hits in five innings.

Up next, Louisville will conclude its six-game homestand at Jim Patterson Stadium with a midweek visit from Ohio State on Wednesday at 6 p.m., ET and admission is free.

Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter (@UofLBaseball) at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.

Louisville Postgame Notes

– The current six-game winning streak is the second longest of the season for Louisville, one win shy of the seven-game streak on March 8-15.

– The Cardinals have won six straight regular season games against Connecticut and hold an 18-10 lead in the all-time series.

– Louisville reached double-figures in hits in all three games against UConn marking the first time they have had 10 or more hits in three straight games since March 28-30.

– Finishing with an 11-6 edge in the hit column on Sunday, Louisville improved to 26-2 this season when out-hitting its opponent.

– The Cardinals have held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in 26 of 44 games this season, including each of the last six.

– Louisville improved to 25-6 at home this season and 239-81 (.746 winning percentage) all-time at Jim Patterson Stadium since its opening in April 2005.

– In their five games this week, Louisville hit .329 at the plate and was 13-for-15 in stolen bases, while on the mound, the Cardinals finished with a 1.20 ERA.

– During the current six-game winning streak, the Louisville bullpen has not allowed a run in 20.0 innings of work on the mound and has 15 strikeouts during that same span.

– Riding his strong week at the plate, Danny Rosenbaum lifted his season average to .326 overall to go with 21 RBI and 16 runs scored in 25 starts and 35 games played.

– Alex Chittenden’s average reached a season high after Sunday’s game at .302 overall.

– In his two collegiate seasons, Anthony Kidston is 10-0 on the mound with a 2.13 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 80.1 innings pitched.

– With two more stolen bases on Sunday, Sutton Whiting moved into sixth place on Louisville’s single season top 10 for steals with 28 in 33 attempts. He is just one behind No. 5 Mike Hook (29 steals in 2000) and two behind No. 4 Curtis Watson (30 steals in 1985).

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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