#4 NC State falls to #11 Louisville in Game 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fourth-ranked NC State baseball team fell in game one of the weekend series at No. 11 Louisville, 8-2, Friday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The Wolfpack moves to 23-6 on the year and 9-4 in the ACC, while the Cardinals improve to 20-9 and 6-7 in conference action. Johnny Piedmonte started on the mound for NCSU and threw well in the contest but was charged with his first loss in the past two seasons. The Davidson, N.C., native entered Friday night’s matchup with a 4-0 record and was a perfect 7-0 on the mound in 2017.

A strong outing from Louisville’s Adam Wolf earned the junior his fourth win.

Quick Hits
– After retiring the side in the first two innings and throwing just 12 pitches, Piedmonte struggled with his command a little in the third inning.
– A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Louisville before Logan Wyatt connected on a 2-2 pitch for a grand slam to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
– Freshman Evan Justice took over on the mound to start the fifth and pitched an inning and a third before handing the ball to Mathieu Gauthier, who closed out the game.
– The Cards tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth following a two-RBI single from Danny Oriente to push their lead to 6-0.
– NC State ended the shutout bid in the top of the eighth, as Josh McLain launched a two-run homer down the left field line.
– Brock Deatherage walked to lead off the frame and scored on McLain’s third round-tripper of the year.
– Louisville countered with two runs in the bottom half en route to the 8-2 win.
– Piedmonte was charged with his first loss since March 13, 2016, against Boston College.

NC State will look to repeat what the squad has done in each of the past two weekends, as the Wolfpack lost the first game of the series against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech before winning the next two games to clinch the series.

On Deck
NC State and Louisville return to the field for game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium.