RALEIGH, NC (April 13, 2019)- The #12 ranked Louisville Cardinals bested the #2 NC State Wolfpack in a Saturday afternoon game at Doak Field at Dail Park by a final score of 14-10. The afternoon game was the first of a doubleheader slated for Saturday after the Friday night contest between the two teams was postponed due to thunderstorms passing through the Raleigh area.
Coming into the afternoon, an intense pitching duel was anticipated as hard-throwing right hander Jason Parker took the mound for the Wolfpack while the crafty lefty Reid Detmers toed the rubber for the Cardinals. The ballgame turned out to be an offensive outburst by both teams, turning the ballgame into a hit fest. The Cardinals posted 14 runs on a staggering 18 hits in the game. NC State had a very solid day at the plate as well totaling 10 runs on 12 hits, which would usually win a team a ballgame. The statistic that can be circled above all is in the error column. NC State committed 3 costly errors, each resulting in a run scoring for Louisville, while the Cardinals were spotless in the field and had no errors. On a day where rain pounded Doak Field for the first 3 innings of the game, that makes the Cardinals’ defensive performance even more impressive than it already is.
A big 3rd inning boosted the Cardinals offensively. Louisville lead the Wolfpack 2-1 after 2 complete innings. The Cardinals then exploded for 7 runs in the top of the 3rd inning, with Alex Binelas driving in 3 of his 5 runs on the day with a 3-run home run in the inning. NC State would partially respond in the bottom of the 3rd as Will Wilson would hit his first of two home runs on the day with a leadoff home run to left field.
The Wolfpack were down 9-2 and 12-5 at points but made a comeback to make it a game once again as they have all year long. In the bottom of the 7th inning the Wolfpack responded from a 12-5 deficit by putting 4 runs on the board and narrowing the Louisville lead to 12-9. The Cardinals would respond the next half inning though as Alex Binelas came up big for the Cardinals once again and smoked a 2-run double to center field. The Pack would tack on one more run in the bottom of the 8th as Marek Chlup drove in his 2nd run of the day with a sacrifice fly to deep left field. The Pack and Cardinals are set to play the second of two games Saturday afternoon at approximately 5:45 p.m. while the Sunday matchup for the series is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.