CHARLOTTE (Interstat) — Trey Fenderson homered twice and drove in seven runs, leading Pittsburgh to a 16-8 victory over Louisville on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fenderson, who entered the game in a 2-for-13 slump over his previous three contests, went 3 for 5 with two home runs and seven RBIs. His first blast came in the top of the first inning, a three-run shot to left-center that capped a five-run outburst. In the fourth inning, he crushed a grand slam to left field, pushing Pittsburgh’s lead to 11-5.

David Leslie earned the win in relief, pitching 6⅓ innings of hitless ball despite allowing two unearned runs. He struck out nine. Chase Kriebel finished the game with 1⅓ perfect innings, striking out one.

Lorenzo Carrier added three RBIs on a 2-for-4 day, including a three-run double in the fifth inning. Mason Ligenza hit a two-run home run in the fourth.

Louisville’s Zion Rose went 3 for 5 with three RBIs. Alex Alicea had two hits and an RBI.

The game opened with Pittsburgh scoring five runs in the top of the first. Andrew Nessler singled, Luke Dulin singled, and Lorenzo Carrier walked to load the bases. Sean Wagner singled through the right side, scoring Nessler and Dulin. Fenderson followed with his three-run homer.

Louisville answered in the bottom of the second with five runs of their own. A throwing error extended the inning, and consecutive singles by Alicea, Rose, T. Davis and a fielder’s choice from G. Crain tied the game at 5.

Pittsburgh regained the lead for good in the fourth. Ligenza homered to right field, scoring Anthony Pisacreta, who had doubled. Later in the inning, after walks to Nessler, Carrier and Wagner, Fenderson launched his grand slam.

The Panthers added four more in the fifth. Pisacreta, Alex Baran and Ligenza walked to load the bases. Carrier doubled to the right-field gap, clearing the bases. Carrier later scored on a fielding error by Louisville first baseman Shawn Slanker, making it 15-5.

Louisville scored a run in the seventh on a groundout by T. Davis after a two-base error on G. Crain’s single. Pittsburgh added an unearned run in the eighth when Fenderson scored on a double play grounder.

In the bottom of the eighth, Rose singled to right field with two outs, driving in Josh Moore and Ian Nugent to cut the deficit to 16-8. But Kriebel entered and retired G. Crain on a flyout to end the threat.

Pittsburgh improved to 31-23 overall. Louisville fell to 30-27.

The Panthers had lost three of their previous four games, including a 21-10 defeat to Notre Dame on May 16. Louisville had won three of its last four, including a 10-5 victory over Virginia on May 16.

The three-game series earlier this season between the teams had been split, with Pittsburgh winning the opener 4-3 on March 27, Louisville winning 8-5 on March 28, and Pittsburgh taking the finale 13-7 on March 29.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pittsburgh 2, Louisville 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Louisville a 63.5 percent probability to win.