No. 10 Louisville takes opener from No. 12 Virginia, 4-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 10 Louisville limited Virginia to four hits in a 4-1 victory at Jim Patterson Stadium on Thursday. The game was delayed four hours and 48 minutes, endured a 53-minute delay after the first eight outs of the contest and finished at 12:31 a.m. on Friday morning.

Louisville starter Jared Poland pitched seven innings of two-hit baseball and fanned eight Cavalier batters. He was charged with one run and recorded his fifth win of the season. It marked the third time this year he’s logged seven or more innings in ACC action.

Cavalier lefthander Brian Gursky fanned a career-high 11 batters in five innings pitched. He came back out after the near-hour delay and pitched the next 3.1 innings. Gursky stranded 10 Louisville runners on the night, including five in scoring position.

Gursky is the first Cavalier pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts since Nate Savino fanned 11 earlier this season against Cornell.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Louisville (37-15-1, 17-10-1 ACC) scored two runs in the first inning on back-to-back RBI hits from Dalton Rushing and Jack Payton. Gursky stranded two runners in the frame by fanning the final two batters.
• After the lightning delay that halted play in the bottom of the second inning, Louisville’s Isaac Humphrey scored on a fielder’s choice by Ben Metzinger.
• The Cardinals made it 4-0 in the fifth when Jack Payton came around to score on Humphrey’s sacrifice fly.
• Virginia (37-14, 16-12) got on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Alex Tappen in the sixth inning. Jimmy Sullivan, who made his first start of the season, scored after drawing a lead-off walk earlier in the frame. The RBI for Tappen was his 67th of the season, tying him for the third most in a single season in UVA history.
• Cardinal closer Michael Prosecky was credited with his 10th save, pitching the final two innings.

UP NEXT: The two teams will reconvene on Friday afternoon for the middle game of a three-game set. The Cavaliers will have lefty Nate Savino (4-5) on the mound and he will be opposed by fellow southpaw Carter Lohman (1-1). First pitch at Jim Patterson Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Gursky, Alex Greene and Will Geerdes combined for 15 strikeouts, tied for the most against an ACC opponent this season (15 vs. Wake Forest on March 26). Green (1.2 IP) and Geerdes (1.1 IP) combined for three scoreless innings of relief.
• All four Cavalier hits were singles, two off the bat of Griff O’Ferrall who recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the season. O’Ferrall has reached base safely in 15-straight games.
• Jake Gelof and Max Cotier were responsible for the other two Cavalier base knocks in the contest.
• The last two ACC series openers for UVA have been played over the course of two calendar days. Last week’s opener against Clemson was suspended after four innings and completed the next day.

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