Louisville moves on to ACC championship game with 5-2 win over Pitt

The Louisville baseball team is one win away from its first ACC tournament title.

Thanks in large part to a triple, a home run and three RBI from Devin Mann, the Cards took care of Pittsburgh, 5-2 in Saturday afternoon’s semifinal matchup in Durham. The victory was U of L baseball’s 12th straight over the Panthers, who have also dropped 12 straight games against both the Cardinal men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Louisville got the scoring started in the home half of the first inning, when Mann’s one out triple to right field brought home Tyler Fitzgerald. The Cards struck for two more in the 4th thanks to an RBI double by Josh Stowers and a Pittsburgh error.

That was all the help Nick Bennett needed. The sophomore lefty struck out seven and allowed just four hits and two runs over six innings of work to improve to 8-1 on the season. Austin Conway worked a scoreless 8th and 9th inning to pick up his second save of the year.

Mann’s two-run blast in the 7th inning — which was initially ruled a triple -- capped the afternoon’s scoring.

Louisville will now face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 Clemson and No. 6 Florida State in Sunday’s championship game. First pitch is scheduled for noon, and the game will be on ESPN2.

Let’s get this title, and then let’s hopefully get more baseball at Jim Patterson Stadium next weekend.