Louisville (26-11, 8-8 ACC) scored early and often Friday night, taking a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the 5th inning. It looked like the Cardinals were in cruise control and would be able to rest some of the bullpen for the rest of the weekend. Then the Blue Devils woke up, narrowing the lead to one run after a never ending, home-half of the 5th inning.
The Cards continued to fight, tacking on two more runs as they watched their lead extend back to 9-6 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning. But as we’ve seen this season, the bullpen gave up multiple runs in the final frame, allowing Duke to capture its 7th ACC win in their last 9 tries.