Louisville (28-22) fell to Georgia Tech (29-22) 9-8 in 12 innings, coming on a walk-off RBI double from GT’s Drew Compton.
The loss eliminates Louisville from the ACC Baseball Championship, keeping the Cardinals from their first conference tournament title since 2009. It also leaves Louisville at risk of potentially missing the NCAA Tournament, which would be the second time under Dan McDonnell’s tenure that the Cardinals missed the tournament (not counting the COVID-shortened 2020 season).
Louisville got started early with a two-run homer by Lucas Dunn in the first inning, then Ben Metzinger added an RBI single in the second to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead after two innings. Henry Davis added on with his 15th home run of the season, coming in the third inning on a solo shot that ricocheted off the scoreboard. Louisville’s lead was extended to 4-0 as a result of the Davis homer.
Georgia Tech put themselves on the board in the bottom third inning, coming on a two-run homer from Andrew Jenkins.
Louisville and Georgia Tech traded runs in the fourth inning, as Davis and Luke Waddell drove in runs on an RBI single and sac fly, respectively.
Louisville’s 5-3 lead was extended in the following inning, as Cameron Masterman drove in an RBI single for the Cardinals.
Georgia Tech, however, forced it into extra innings with three runs in the bottom eighth inning. Kevin Parada blasted a three-run homer off Adam Elliott to tie the game at 6-6. Louisville had a chance to take the lead in the top ninth inning with Cooper Bowman at third, but a tag out at home and a strikeout from Levi Usher ended Louisville’s chance at that. Michael Kirian retired the Georgia Tech side in the bottom ninth to push it to extra innings.
After a scoreless tenth inning, Louisville and Georgia Tech traded runs in the 11th. Alex Binelas hit a homer in the top half of the inning, his 19th of the 2021 season and fourth of the ACC Baseball Championship. Drew Compton’s RBI double in the bottom eleventh tied it for the Yellow Jackets, but a groundout and flyout prevented Georgia Tech from walking it off.
Ben Metzinger’s homer in the 12th put Louisville ahead once again, but the Yellow Jackets got the winning runs on a walk-off double from Jenkins and fielding error from Luke Brown that brought home Tres Gonzalez and Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Louisville had great outings from Henry Davis and Lucas Dunn, both with 3-for-7 and 3-for-6 outings at the plate and both hitting a home run. Alex Binelas hit his 19th home run of the season in a 1-for-4 afternoon, while Ben Metzinger was 2-for-6 with two RBIs and a homer from the leadoff spot. Louisville drew a season-high 13 walks in the 12-inning contest with Georgia Tech, but left 14 runners on base.
Kevin Parada and Andrew Jenkins accounted from six of Georgia Tech’s eight RBIs, and hit a double and home run each on 3-for-5 and 3-for-6 afternoons, respectively. Drew Compton also went 3-for-6 with an RBI and two doubles. Tres Gonzalez was 2-for-6 at the plate with a double.
Louisville now must wait until the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Memorial Day to see if they will make the tournament. The field of 64 will be announced at noon on Memorial Day, live on ESPN2.
