After trading the lead six times throughout the game, Morehead State baseball dropped a back-and-forth affair Wednesday evening from Jim Patterson Stadium. The Eagles (9-2) and eighth-ranked Cardinals (9-3) alternated the lead for the first five innings before Louisville seized the lead for good in the sixth, holding on for a 10-9 victory.
The Cardinals did their damage throughout the game on the bases, stealing nine bases against the Morehead State pitching staff.
Louisville started the scoring early, taking advantage of a Tyler Fitzgerald single to take a 1-0 lead following the first inning. Morehead State answered back with a pair of runs in the second, loading the bases twice against Cardinal starter Carter Lohman.
Junior Ryan Layne and senior Jake Hammon opened the inning with back-to-back singles before redshirt sophomore Stephen Hill laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt, reaching on a fielding error by the Louisville catcher. A wild pitch that bound to the backstop brought in the Eagles first run before sophomore Bryce Hensor was hit by a pitch to load the bases once again. Senior Reid Leonard drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Eagles ahead.
The Cardinals answered with two runs in the third before Morehead State tacked on three additional runs in the fourth. Leonard picked up a second run batted in with a fly ball down the right-field line. Louisville right fielder Ethan Stringer muffed the catch allowing an additional run to score. Senior Connor Pauly drove in a pair of runs with a double to right field to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead.
Pauly's fourth-inning double extended his team-best reached-base streak to 40 games, becoming one of just three players in program history to reach base safely in 40 straight games, joining Leonard (50 games in 2018) and Kane Sweeney (41 games in 2013). Hammon extended his own reached-base streak to 33 games with his second-inning single.
Following a four-run Louisville outburst in the fourth, Morehead State once again reclaimed the lead in the fifth. Junior Dom Peroni singled to center field to drive home the inning's first run before Hensor drew a walk with the bases loaded to plate another. The Eagles picked up their third run of the frame as senior Hunter Fain scored on a groundball double play.
Louisville would score twice in the sixth and once in the seventh to secure the lead for the remainder of the contest. Cardinal relievers Jared Poland, Michael Kirian, and Bobby Miller stifled the Eagle bats with Morehead State picking up just three baserunners-two hits and a walk-in the game's final three innings.
Of the Eagles' two hits across the game's final two frames, the biggest came as Fain clubbed his fifth homer of the season, ultimately pulling the Eagles within a run.
Morehead State hits the road again Friday to start Ohio Valley Conference play. The Eagles travel to the Music City to take on the Bruins of Belmont. Game times are set for 5 p.m. ET Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
