No. 21 Virginia sweeps Louisville as the Cards postseason aspirations continue to fade away

Not too long ago, Louisville (29-22, 9-18 ACC) was ranked in the top 5 in the country by multiple publications and were widely considered as a host site in the NCAA Tournament. Fast forward to the middle of May and this team is on the brink of missing not only the NCAA field, but they need a lot of help next weekend to even make the the ACC Tournament. If the tournament were to begin tomorrow, Louisville and Florida State would be the two teams not eligible to participate in the conference tournament in Durham later this month.

After dropping all three games in Charlottesville over the weekend, the Cards have now lost 7 games in a row and are 4-15 in their last 19, including falling in five consecutive ACC series. They have been swept in three of their last five weekends.

With Carson Liggett (L, 7-1) on the mound Sunday, I thought Louisville had a good opportunity to sneak out of Virginia with a win on get away day, but the Cavaliers had other plans. They roughed up Liggett (3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) for a career high in both hits and earned runs as he took his first loss in a Louisville uniform as the Cards fell 8-3.

Greg Farone (2.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, K) was up first out of the bullpen before turning it over to Kayden Campbell and Evan Webster, who each turned in a scoreless frame in the 7th and 8th, respectively.

Defensively, the miscues continue to pile up this season as Louisville committed another error, resulting in an unearned run. For the weekend, the Cards committed 6 errors, allowing the Cavaliers to score 4 unearned runs.

Jack Payton (2-4, R) and Eddie King Jr. (2-4, 2 RBI, R) combined for half of Louisville’s hits on the afternoon as King Jr. and Logan Beard both chipped in with a double, two of the teams three extra base hits of the entire weekend.

For Louisville to make a run and make the ACC Tournament, they will need a little help from their friends in the conference. Here’s how the final weekend plays out:

Basically, the Cards need to take care of business and sweep Florida State. Control what you can control and hope for the best. NC State and Pitt, the two teams directly ahead of Louisville in the standings play each other. You really hope one of them sweeps the other, or that Virginia Tech, who plays Wake Forest (the best team in the country), gets swept by the Demon Deacons.

Let the chaos ensue and hope this team can catch a few breaks on the final weekend of the regular season. Up first, Louisville will host Northern Kentucky for their final midweek game on Tuesday night at 6:00 PM.