A 3 game ACC series in Winston-Salem, NC.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – DJ Poteet's ninth inning solo home run lifted Wake Forest to a 2-1 walk-off win against the No. 4 Louisville baseball team in Friday night's series-opener at David F. Couch Ballpark.

 

With the score even at 1-1 and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Poteet lifted a 2-2 pitch from Austin Conway over the right field wall for his third home run of the season. It marked the second walk-off home run in the last seven days for Poteet, who delivered a two-run homer in the ninth inning of Wake Forest's 4-3 win over Florida State last Saturday.

 

Louisville Athletics - Walk-Off Homer Lifts Wake Forest Past No. 4 Louisville

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Sophomore Tyler Fitzgerald had three hits, including a home run to ignite a pivotal five-run fifth inning, as the No. 4 Louisville baseball team evened the weekend series at Wake Forest with Saturday afternoon's 11-6 win at David F. Couch Ballpark.

 

With his squad facing a 6-2 deficit, Fitzgerald's one-out solo home run provided the lift needed for the Cardinals (16-3, 3-2 ACC), who scored the game's final nine runs for their ninth comeback win this season. A native of Rochester, Illinois, Fitzgerald equaled a career high in hits finishing 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored. Junior Josh Stowers was 2-for-4 with his second home run of the season, a solo shot immediately following Fitzgerald's blast in the fifth inning.

 

Louisville Athletics - No. 4 Cardinals Even Wake Forest Series with 11-6 Win

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The No. 4 Louisville baseball team suffered its first series loss of the season dropping a 6-3 decision to Wake Forest in the deciding game of the weekend set on Sunday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark.

 

After bouncing back from Friday's 2-1 loss in the series-opener with an 11-6 victory on Saturday, the Cardinals (16-4, 3-3 ACC) were unable to overcome an early four-run deficit in Sunday's finale. The result marked just the fifth series loss for Louisville in its 32 ACC series since joining the conference in 2015.

 

Louisville Athletics - No. 4 Baseball Drops Series Finale at Wake Forest, 6-3

Cards were bad this weekend. That's a rarity for McD and I suspect he's very motivated to get things changed. Poor fielding, undisciplined ABs, inability of many Ps to throw strikes and challenge hitters is frustrating. I don't care how good your stuff is, if you can't control it it's largely useless.

 

SUN 1st inning was a great example. Thompson walks the leadoff guy, Mann makes an E on a sure DP ball (no clue why they scored it a hit - it was hit hard but right at Mann who fielded to his side rather than getting in front of it), 3rd guy was grazed by an inside fastball, Thompson gets behind 2-0 to their cleanup guy and has to come with a fastball that Aiello turned on and the Cards were immediately down 4-0.

 

It was a nice comeback on SAT, but relying on comebacks rather than playing well early (winning the 1st 3 inning segment is how McD refers to it) is a recipe for long term failure.

 

@WKU won't be a walk in the park mid-week and then Clemson at JPat will be another sturdy test. If they don't get it together quickly, which I think they will, they will be chasing the rest of the ACC season.

 

Wolf is the solid FRI night starter. After that, it's a bit of a mess. Smiddy pitched well in his 1st career start against UNC but was bad against Wake. Thompson pitched very well against UNC but went only 2 innings SUN. Other candidates to start include Bennett (not sure how healthy he is to pitch several innings), Hoeing (pitched great in relief on SAT), Detmers (good stuff, but same control issues and is a true FR which can be tough), Martin (has been used solely in relief last 2 yrs.), Jenkins (control issues aplenty so far) and Miller (pitched great in relief against Texas Tech but true FR so same issues). My guess, he'll find someone who will challenge the zone and give him a chance.

 

Not sure if McAvene is injured. Don't think he's appeared yet in 2018.