The fourth-ranked University of Louisville baseball team extended its undefeated start to the season to 4-0 on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Xavier 12-8 at Jim Patterson Stadium. Although the Cardinals trailed 6-2 after five-and-a-half innings, their offense came to life, scoring 10 runs over their final three trips to the plate.
Louisville’s 17 hits in the win were a season high, and the team has now scored double-digit runs in three out of its first four games of the season. Will Cook doubled in a pair, and JT Benson added a run-scoring double to make it a 6-5 game through six innings.
After Xavier stretched the lead back to three with two solo homers in the seventh, Louisville answered with a clutch home run from Logan Beard. With two aboard and two down, Beard hit a 1-1 pitch over the centerfield wall to tie the game up at eight.
In the eighth inning, Jack Payton dropped a single into left field with runners on the corners to score Christian Knapczyk and give the Cards their first lead since the second inning. Ryan McCoy followed with a RBI single, and Tyeler Hawkins doubled in two more to make it a dozen Louisville runs.
Ben Wiegman recorded the final six outs of the game to earn his first win of the season. McCoy and Eddie King Jr. got Louisville on the board in the second with back-to-back solo home runs, the first of King’s career. Xavier plated one in the second, two in the third, and three more in the sixth to hold a four-run advantage.
Payton, McCoy, and King all had three-hit days, with the middle of the Louisville order going 9-for-13 with seven runs scored. Beard drove in three runs with his home run, while Cook and Hawkins each had two RBIs.
Louisville will continue its homestand to start the season with a weekend series against Bowling Green, beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals will look to continue their early season success and build on their undefeated start.
