Louisville Baseball Shriner's Classic Champions

#4 Cards Complete Texas Sweep; Run Rule Michigan

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 5, 2023

The fourth-ranked University of Louisville baseball team needed just seven innings for a 10-0 victory over Michigan on Sunday at the 2023 Shriners Children’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

Louisville (10-1) finished off a perfect weekend in the Lone Star State and was crowned champions of the annual event.

Carson Liggett (3-0) worked seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit in the complete-game effort. It was the first complete game by a Louisville pitcher since Brendan McKay shutout Ole Miss in Oxford on Feb. 27, 2016.

Louisville starting pitchers combined to allow just one run over 20 innings of work against No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 10 TCU and Michigan.

The bats continued rolling as well, as Louisville hung a six-spot on the board in the third and never looked back.

Patrick Forbes doubled to left field with two outs in the third to plate the game’s first run and then scored on a single by Eddie King Jr. An error allowed a third run to score and Logan Beard blew the game open with a three-run home run.

JT Benson launched his first home run of the season over the Crawford Boxes in left field to extend the lead to 8-0 in the fifth, and Jack Payton singled home Christian Knapczyk in the sixth to make it a nine-run game.

With the 10-run rule after seven innings in play, the Cards needed just one run in the seventh to end the contest. Noah Smith took care of that, doubling inside the bag at third to score Brandon Anderson and wrap up the victory.

The Cardinals tallied 11 hits on the day, their sixth straight game reaching double figures. Payton was 3-for-4, while King finished 2-for-4.

Louisville now returns home for nine straight games beginning on Tuesday with Morehead State. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.