Cardinals Walk-Off Cal in Friday Series Opener

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 28, 2025

The 18^th-ranked University of Louisville baseball team scored a pair of runs in the ninth and walked off Cal for an 11-10 victory in Friday’s series opener at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Jake Munroe stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game and grounded the first pitch he saw through the right side for the victory.

It was the fourth walk-off win for the Cardinals this season, and the second for Munroe who also gave the Cardinals a victory over Morehead State.

Louisville (19-6, 4-3 ACC) was on cruise control midway through the contest on Friday night, as Patrick Forbes struck out a career high 13 over the first six innings.

The Cardinals scored in four of the first five innings and held a 9-2 advantage heading to the seventh.

After scoring two in the second, Cal (14-11, 5-5) was held off the scoreboard until the seventh. The Golden Bears chased Forbes from the game and plated four runs in the frame to cut the margin to just three. However, the game remained at 9-6 heading into the ninth.

Cal tied the game with one swing in the ninth, getting a three-run homer to even things at nine. The Golden Bears weren’t done though, getting a two-out run-scoring single to take a 10-9 lead.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Tagger Tyson reached to start the inning on a throwing error before moving up to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kamau Neighbors. Lucas Moore then rolled a ball through the left side to bring Tyson across for the tying run.

Alex Alicea was hit by a pitch to put two on and both runners stole a base to move into scoring position. After a strikeout, Garret Pike drew a walk to load the bases, setting up Monroe for the game-winner.

Forbes finished with a no-decision despite striking out a career-high 13. He became the first Cardinal to strike out 13 since Jared Poland did so against Clemson in April of 2022.

All nine Louisville starters tallied a hit on the night with six finishing with a pair.

Louisville and Cal continue the weekend series on Saturday with first pitch at 2 p.m. ET.