Louisville Mounts Furious Comeback to Clinch Series vs. Boston College

The Cardinals plated nine unanswered runs after getting down 8-0 early.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
BC	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	6	2
UL	0	3	5	0	1	0	0	0	X	9	10	2

W: Riley Phillips (4-0), L: Julian Tonghini (1-1), S: Tate Kuehner (4)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Continuing with their top-10 series against Boston College, the Louisville baseball program was able to pull themselves out of a massive early hole, mounting a furious comeback to capture a 9-8 win Friday at Jim Patterson Stadium and clinch the series.

The No. 9 Cardinals (23-7, 6-5 ACC), who captured the series opener against the No. 7 Eagles (21-8, 8-6) the day before, found themselves trailing 8-0 after an inning and a half. Louisville responded by scoring nine answered runs, including a torrent 8-0 run in the span of just two innings.

Like in the series opener, Eddie King Jr. (1-3, 3 RBI, HR, BB) and Christian Knapczyk (3-5, 2 RBI) led the way at the plate for the Cardinals, with each driving in multiple runs. King and Jack Payton (1-3, HR, RBI, 2 BB) both launched home runs, while Brandon Anderson (2-3, RBI) and Logan Beard (2-4) also had multi-hit days.

Louisville starter Greg Farone (1.0 IP, 1 K, 4 BB, 2 H, 4 ER) struggled immensely with his command, allowing Boston College to bat through the order in the opening frame and plate three runs in the process. He would get pulled after walking the leadoff batter in the second.

Reliever Tucker Biven (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 H, 4 ER) didn't fare much better behind Farone, at least in the second inning. BC came a batter short of going through the order in this frame, but plated five runs under Biven's watch to take a commanding 8-0 lead through two innings.

After Boston College plated three runs in the first and five in the second, Louisville then in turn did the same exact thing in the second and third innings, respectively, to come storming back.

Anderson got the Cardinals' scoring started with an RBI single, to which was immediately followed up by a two-run blast from King. Payton led off the third inning with a solo shot, King and Matt Klein (0-3, RBI, BB) each drew bases loaded walks later in the frame, then Knapczyk delivered a game-tying two-run single.

Louisville would score just one more run in the game, a go-ahead fielder's choice from Gavin Kilen (0-5) in the fifth that allowed Beard to score thanks to a BC throwing error, but the Cardinals got a phenomenal performance from the bullpen after the rocky first two innings.

Biven rebounded for a scoreless third, then Kayden Campbell (1.0 IP, 1 K) followed that up with a scoreless fourth. Riley Phillips (4.0 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 H) had the longest outing of the day and set a career-long appearance for a relief outing, then Tate Kuehner (1.0 IP, 1 K) closed the door in the ninth to earn the save.

Next up for Louisville, they'll try and secure the three-game series sweep against Boston College. First pitch of the series finale is slated for Saturday, Apr. 8 at 12:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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