Kade McClure pitched seven strong innings and Devin Hairston had two doubles and scored twice as the No. 2 Louisville baseball team won its 10th straight game with Saturday afternoon’s 5-1 victory against Notre Dame at Frank Eck Stadium.
The Cardinals (41-6, 19-4 ACC) clinched their 11th series win of the season and have won 25 of their 28 ACC series since joining the league prior to the 2015 season. Louisville has also win 11 straight games against Notre Dame (23-25, 10-16 ACC) and 10 consecutive against the Fighting Irish in South Bend.
McClure surrendered just one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in his second straight seven-inning outing to improve to 6-1 on the season and 19-2 in his collegiate career. The junior righthander moved into a tie for eighth in career victories at Louisville equaling the total achieved by Derek Self from 2009-12. Saturday’s outing marked the third time in the last four starts McClure has allowed only one run in at least six innings of work.
Hairston was 2-of-5 at the plate and drove in one run to go with his two runs scored. Saturday marked the 19th multi-hit game of the season for Hairston, who leads the Cardinals with 46 RBI this season. Logan Taylor finished 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored, while Devin Mann homered for the second straight game. Colby Fitch added two hits, Drew Ellis had a RBI double and Brendan McKay drove in a run.
Louisville struck first on a windy Saturday in northern Indiana when Mann connected for his seventh home run of the season delivering a solo shot in the second inning. Mann sent a 1-0 offering from Michael Hearne over the right field wall for his second opposite field home run in as many days and a 1-0 advantage.
The Fighting Irish plated their first run of the series in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI double by Daniel Jung to score Cole Daily. However, the Cardinals quickly answered with three runs in the fifth inning to regain the lead for good at 4-1. Tyler Fitzgerald started things with a one-out walk and advanced to second on a bunt single by Taylor before scoring on a RBI double to right field from Hairston. McKay followed with a RBI groundball to send Taylor home, while a Notre Dame throwing error also allowed Hairston to score.
The Cardinals extended the lead to 5-1 in the seventh inning when Hairston scored on a two-out RBI double from Ellis. After reaching base with a one-out double down the left field line and advancing to third on a groundout, Hairston was driven home on the team-leading 16th double of the season from Ellis.
Sophomore lefthander Adam Wolf followed McClure the mound delivering two innings of scoreless relief to close the victory. Through the first two games of the series against the Fighting Irish, four Louisville pitchers have combined to allow just one run on six hits in 18 innings.
The No. 2 Cardinals will look to clinch their seventh series sweep of the season in Sunday’s finale at Notre Dame, which is set to begin at 1:05 p.m., ET.
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Garett Wall
Assistant Sports Information Director