Louisville baseball squanders early lead vs Clemson in final pitch for NCAA Tournament
Louisville baseball made its final pitch for the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After a strong statement early by Cardinals upperclassmen JT Benson, Luke Napleton, Sebastian Gongora and Dylan Hoy, the message fell flat.
Coach Dan McDonnell’s team, seeded seventh at the ACC Tournament, lost to second-seeded Clemson, 8-7, in a pool play game at Truist Field. U of L led, 6-0, before the Tigers rallied. Clemson won on a walk-off walk.
The loss against the Tigers likely ended Louisville’s hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. Pairings will be announced at noon Monday on ESPN2.
U of L (32-24) needed to have a strong showing at the ACC Tournament, especially after it lost its opening pool-play game against 11th-seeded Miami on Tuesday.
The Hurricanes went on to defeat the Tigers on Thursday and advanced to the ACC semifinals.
On Friday against Clemson, the Cardinals were paced by Benson, who homered to lead off the game and made a diving catch in left center, and Napleton, who hit a two-run home run in the top of the second to give U of L a 3-0 lead.
Louisville increased its lead to 4-0 in the second on an RBI double by Hoy. Isaac Humphrey gave Louisville a 5-0 lead in the third when he scored on a grounder by Gavin Kilen. Hoy hit his second RBI double to give U of L a 6-0 lead in the fourth.
The Tigers scored four unanswered runs to trim their deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth.
Gongora, a left-hander, struck out the side in the bottom of the first and finished with six strikeouts in 5 ⅔ innings. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits.
Evan Webster, a left-handed starter who lasted one inning Tuesday against Miami, entered in the bottom of the sixth and surrendered a home run.
The Cardinals took advantage of an error in the top of the seventh to make it 7-4. Louisville reliever Tucker Biven entered with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the eighth. He yielded a home run to Jimmy Obertop, tying the game at 7.
Reach assistant sports editor Rich Barak at rbarak@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RBARACK.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Clemson baseball defeats Louisville at 2024 ACC Tournament
