Louisville Holds Off Boston College in Series Opener

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

BRIGHTON, Mass. – The University of Louisville baseball team turned in a 12-7 victory over Boston College in the series opener on Thursday night.

Louisville (27-18, 11-11 ACC) kicked off its longest road trip of the season with a win in the first of seven straight away from home.

The Cardinals took control of things early on Thursday, scoring five times in the opening frame.

JT Benson hammered the fourth pitch of the ballgame into the left field corner for a leadoff double and scored on Dylan Hoy’s single back through the middle to make it 1-0 Louisville just two batters into the game.

Gavin Kilen plated Hoy with a double three batters later and Eddie King Jr. followed with an opposite field no-doubter to make it 5-0. The home run was King’s eighth of the season and his sixth in the last 11 games.

Pitching with a five-run lead, Sebastian Gongora put things on cruise control. The Louisville southpaw retired the first 12 batters he faced before allowing his first baserunner in the fifth. However, Gongora stranded runners on the corners to make it five shutout.

The Cardinals tacked on three more runs for Gongora in the sixth. Matt Klein doubled into the left-centerfield gap to plate two and Hoy beat out an infield single to stretch it to an 8-0 game.

Gongora struck out to more in a perfect sixth before finally running into trouble in the seventh.

Boston College (21-23, 8-17) had five straight hitters reach to start the inning on four hits and a walk to put three runs up and chase Gongora from the game. Parker Detmers came on and recorded a pair of outs before turning it over to the bullpen with the bases loaded. However, the BC hitter turned around the second pitch for a grand slam that made it a one-run ballgame.

Louisville quickly added onto its lead in the eighth. Zion Rose singled through the middle to push home two before Ryan McCoy was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home a run. Klein then made it a five-run game with a RBI knock from Klein.

Patrick Forbes slammed the door shut for the final seven outs. The righty retired all seven batters he faced, including three consecutive strikeouts to finish it off in the ninth for his first save.

Sebastian Gongora (5-3) earned the win with his six-plus innings, striking out seven.

Five different Cardinals recorded multiple hits on the night with King and Klein driving in three apiece.

Louisville and Boston College continue the series with game two on Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

(Photo of Dylan Hoy: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter