#4 Cards Roll #12 Texas A&M: 14-5

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 4, 2023

The fourth-ranked University of Louisville baseball team exacted a bit of revenge on Friday night with a 14-5 victory over No. 12 Texas A&M in the 2023 Shriners Children’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

In a rematch of the 2022 College Station Super Regional, Louisville (8-1) scored three runs in the opening inning and never looked back.

Christian Knapczyk doubled into the left field corner on the third pitch of the ballgame and Jack Payton followed with a double off the left-centerfield wall. Ryan McCoy drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out and all three would come around to score.

Louisville plated another run in the second on a run-scoring triple off the bat of Knapczyk and then pushed two more across in the third to jump out in front 6-0.

Meanwhile, Ryan Hawks kept the Texas A&M (5-4) bats quiet. Hawks struck out six of the first nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning.

The Cardinals blew the game open in the fifth, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring eight times. Logan Beard started the scoring with a two-run single to right field before a string of five consecutive batters brought a run home. Patrick Forbes scored the eighth run of the inning on a wild pitch and the Cards led 14-0 at the midway point.

Hawks (3-0) shut his night down after six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out eight. The right-hander lowered his ERA through three starts to 0.46.

The Aggies plated their only runs of the game in the seventh inning, but they would get no more. Evan Webster recorded the final seven outs without allowing a run to close things down.

Four different Cardinals turned in multi-hit games led by Eddie King Jr. with a 3-for-4 night. Four players drove in multiple runs and five scored at least twice.

Louisville will square off with No. 10 TCU in the middle game of three on Saturday at Minute Maid Park. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.