March 28, 2015
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TECH STARTERS: Spingola/CF, Bailey/2B, Gonzalez/3B, Murray/C, Smith/1B, Gold/DH, Peurifoy/RF, Justus/SS, Wruble/LF, Pitts/SP.
UL STARTERS: Whiting/SS, Solak/LF, Ray/RF, Lucas/3B, McKay/SP, Rosenbaum/1B, Fitch/S, Hairston/2B, Summers/CF.
THE BASICS:
• No. 7 Louisville made six early runs stand up and beat Georgia Tech, 8-3, Saturday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville to clinch the weekend series.
• A.J. Murray ripped a pair of doubles for the Yellow Jackets and leads the team with 12.
• Tech slipped to 17-9 overall and 5-6 in the ACC, while the Cardinals improved to 20-7, 10-1.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Louisville scored three times in the first and added three more in the second to grab a lead it would not relinquish.
• Starting pitcher Brendan McKay did the rest by fanning seven over seven innings and improving to 4-0. He was on the hook for four hits, three runs and two walks.
• Tech got two back in the third thanks to a wild pitch that scored Grant Wruble, who triggered the rally by drawing a two-out walk, and Bailey followed with an RBI single.
• Murray came inches from a home run in the fourth that would have made it 6-3, but his double ricocheted off the very top of the wall in right. He was left stranded at second.
• McKay retired eight in a row before Murray smashed another two-bagger off the top of the wall in left and would eventually score on a sacrifice fly from Thomas Smith to make it 7-3.
• Colby Fitch’s two-run double highlighted the first inning for the Cardinals, while Corey Ray added a two-run single in the second.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Tech dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.
• Daniel Spingola singled and scored in the third – just the third hit to a left-handed hitter allowed by McKay in his four starts this season.
• Ray finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and swiped four bases to lead the Cardinals.
• Bailey left the game after injuring his ankle sliding into second in the third inning and is listed as day-to-day with a sprain.
• Tech starter Cole Pitts was hung the loss (0-3).
• Five Tech pitchers worked in relief of Pitts and limited the Cardinals to three runs (two earned) over the final seven innings.
QUOTEABLE:
“You can’t walk as many guys as we walked and give up that many stolen bases. We got down 6-0 and when you get down that big early on a good team, they’re going to bury you. We didn’t do much offensively and we got another guy hurt. So it’s a tough stretch for us, but we have to try and right the ship tomorrow.”
— Head Coach Danny Hall
UP NEXT: The Yellow Jackets and the Cardinals wrap up their three-game set Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.
