Louisville improved to 8-3 with its seventh straight victory.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – March 1, 2020
The second-ranked University of Louisville baseball team turned in a complete performance Sunday, downing Western Michigan 16-0 to complete the three-game series sweep at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville (8-3) tallied a season-high 16 runs on 17 hits on the way to its seventh straight victory.
Luke Smith (2-0) carved up the Broncos in the win, needing just 79 pitches to complete seven shutout innings. The senior allowed just three hits and struck out four. Kerry Wright and Kellan Tulio each tallied an inning to finish off the Cardinals’ second shutout of the season.
Ben Bianco got Louisville rolling on Sunday, crushing an 0-2 pitch over the left-centerfield wall for a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning.
The Cardinals kept cruising from there, tacking on five more in the third and scoring in seven of their eight offensive innings.
Ben Metzinger and Tim Borden II each recorded their first collegiate home runs in the victory. Metzinger launched a solo homer over the left-centerfield wall in the sixth and Borden did the same two innings later.
Eleven different Cardinals tallied a hit in the victory, led by three-hit games from Metzinger and Luke Brown. Metzinger was 3-for-4 with a pair of walks, three runs scored and four driven in, while Brown was also 3-for-4 with two runs.
Bianco tallied a two hits of his own, driving in a career-high five, with Jared Poland adding two as well and scoring twice.
Louisville finishes off its nine-game homestand on Tuesday, taking on Morehead State at 3 p.m., ET.