Louisville baseball unable to dig out of early hole at 2024 ACC Tournament, loses opener

Louisville baseball’s start to the ACC Tournament didn’t go as planned Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The seventh-seeded Cardinals trailed, 3-0, against 11th-seeded Miami in the first inning and never recovered in the 8-5 loss during pool play.

Louisville needed a strong showing in the conference tournament to give itself a chance of making the NCAA Tournament but couldn’t capitalize on the first opportunity. The Cardinals (32-23) have one more game in Pool B play when they face Clemson, the No. 2 seed, at 3 p.m. Friday. Clemson won the regular-season series over U of L, 2-1, which included a seven-inning, 17-7 Game 3 win.

"The obvious disappointing thing is we can't advance (past Friday,)" Cardinals coach Dan McDonnell said. "We had to win two games, so even you win today, it's all hands on deck on Friday. You're not saving anyone for Saturday or Sunday. ... Clemson is a really good team and (has) had a great year. They hit us in the chin in that Game 3. So, no matter what, you kind of want to come out and play good baseball Friday."

Pitcher Evan Webster started for U of L and struggled. He gave up three earned runs on four hits and a walk in the first inning. McDonnell pulled Webster, sending Patrick Forbes out in the second inning. The sophomore righty gave up a hit to Miami leadoff batter Antonio Jimenez but held the Hurricanes scoreless over the next four innings.

That gave Louisville time to catch up as Dylan Hoy’s third-inning, one-out double scored JT Benson. Two innings later, Benson, who finished with three hits and three runs scored, homered to narrow Miami’s lead, 3-2. The Cardinals also answered two Hurricanes runs in the top of the sixth with a home run from Zion Rose, the team’s leading hitter, in the bottom half for a 5-3 score.

Forbes, who allowed two earned runs on five hits, went a season-high five innings and finished with five strikeouts and three walks. Tucker Biven gave up a three-run homer in the top of the seventh for an 8-3 Hurricanes lead.

The Cardinals looked to make a comeback in the eighth inning. Eddie King Jr., who was named the ACC Player of the Week on Monday, and Gavin Kilen both notched one-out singles. But a base-running error and strikeout prevented U of L from scoring.

With one final chance in the bottom of the ninth, Louisville got two back with Luke Napleton’s home run and Rose’s RBI double but couldn’t erase the rest of the deficit.

"We just weren't able to get that big crooked number, a couple of solo home runs," McDonnell said. "We left some guys on base. We had a chance, and we rallied there in the ninth but came up short."

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville baseball loses vs Miami in first game at ACC Tournament