Louisville baseball comes up clutch in series sweep over No. 9 Ole Miss

In walk-off fashion on Tuesday and a two-run defeat Wednesday Louisville baseball swept Ole Miss at home.

Louisville baseball proved yet again they don’t fall apart in tough situations. I hate to say it, but that’s not something Louisville fans, of any sport, are used to seeing as of late.

This Louisville team, currently ranked No. 7 in the nation, is on their way to doing great things this season. The guys play well together and compliment each other on the field.

“We’re trying to have a little more edge in the dugout, a little more enthusiasm, a little more emotion. This is college baseball, we don’t want to sit back, we’re not big leaguers, it’s not 162 games, it’s 56 so we should have a little more emotion and we’re just trying really playing for each other,” Coach Dan McDonnell said after the sweep.

Game one Louisville scored four runs on seven hits to Ole Miss’ three runs on six hits. The Cards led through six innings, but the Rebels tied it in the seventh making it 3-3.

Pitcher Luke Smith was replaced by Michael Kirian after giving up the three Ole Miss runs and all six hits. Kirian, Garrett Schmeltz and Michael McAvene all kept the Rebels scoreless the rest of the game with McAvene picking up the win.

With the game tied in the 10th, the Cardinals won their second walk-off win of the season just as they have before, with another single. This one was a single by pinch hitter Zach Britton with the bases loaded.

The Cards, now 13-4 on the season, are proving that in close games they’re capable of pulling through. This team isn’t going to choke.

In game two against the Rebels, Louisville was up 10-3 going into the eighth and gave up five runs in the last two innings. The Cardinals didn’t let two ninth-inning home runs keep them from pulling away with the 10-8 victory, though.

That’s what’s different about this Louisville team than any other Louisville team we’ve seen even in other sports. They don’t fall apart in critical times.

Louisville isn’t even a third of the way through their season so there’s still plenty of baseball to be played, but they’ve already given us so much to look forward to in their first 17 games.

On top of seeing a team that doesn’t crumble when times get hard, we’ve seen phenomenal pitching from Reid Detmers, Jared Poland, Bobby Miller—just to name a few.

We’ve also seen great hitting and guys that can find a way to get on base. Logan Wyatt, who has 27 walks on the season now, Tyler Fitzgerald, Lucas Dunn, and Zeke Pinkham all have OPS of over .900 and batting averages of over .300.

They have a long road ahead of them this season, but this sweep over Ole Miss will be a boost to many more wins, even in close game situations. And let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to see a few more walk-off wins?