Cards Clinch Series with Game 2 Win Over Wake; Look For Sweep Saturday

Mark BlankenbakerMay 20, 2016

Junior Drew Harrington twirled seven shutout innings while the offense connected for 15 hits as the No. 4 Louisville baseball team cruised to a 9-2 series-clinching road win over Wake Forest on Friday at David F. Couch Ballpark.

A lefthander from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Harrington allowed just three hits with three strikeouts to improve to 11-1 on the season and 8-0 in ACC games as the Cardinals (45-10, 21-8 ACC) pushed their winning streak to eight and won for the 15th time in the last 16 games. Friday’s performance marked the 12th quality start (three or fewer earned runs in six or more innings) in 14 outings this season for Harrington, who lowered his season ERA to 1.66. Harrington also became the third Louisville pitcher with 11 wins joining sophomores Kade McClure (11-0) and Brendan McKay (11-2).

Four different Louisville players had at least two hits on Friday with McKay pacing the way finishing 3-for-3 with one RBI and a run scored. Junior Nick Solak had two doubles and scored twice, sophomore Devin Hairston was 2-for-4 with one RBI and redshirt freshman Drew Ellis was 2-for-3 with a double and scored once. Juniors Corey Ray and Will Smith chipped in with two-run homers as the Cardinals out-hit the Demon Deacons (record) 15-7.

The Cardinals opened the scoring on Friday as Solak and McKay connected on back-to-back two-out hits for the 1-0 advantage. Solak started things with a double to left center off righty Connor Johnstone before McKay drove him home with a RBI single to right field.

Louisville, which clinched its second straight ACC Atlantic Division championship on Thursday night, added to its lead with a pair of two-out runs in the fourth inning as McKay scored from third on a wild pitch and junior outfielder Colin Lyman drove Hairston home with a RBI double. McKay led off with a single to right and moved to second on a single to left by Hairston. After moving to third on a groundout, McKay scored on a wild pitch by Johnstone before Lyman doubled to right center on a 1-0 offering to plate Hairston.

The cushion for the Cardinals doubled in the fifth inning on a two-run homer from Ray and a RBI single by Hairston. Following a leadoff double down the left field line by Ellis, Ray crushed a 420-foot bomb down the right field line for his 14th home run of the season. Later in the inning, Solak reached base on a throwing error by Wake Forest second baseman Nate Mondou and advanced to second on a single by McKay before scoring on Hairston’s single up the middle for the 6-0 lead.

Louisville continued its scoring barrage with a three-run eighth inning. Rosenbaum started the inning with a leadoff triple to right center before scoring on a wild pitch by Aaron Fossas. After a double to right center by sophomore Colby Fitch, Smith connected for his fifth home run of the season for the nine-run advantage. Wake Forest scored its only runs of the game on a two-run homer by Gavin Sheets in the ninth inning.

The Cardinals and Demon Deacons will close the regular season with Saturday’s series finale at 1 p.m., ET.