Durham Sends Louisville Packing 7-1

DURHAM, NC - Alex Cobb earned his first victory of the season with the help of a strong showing by the Bulls offense, as Durham beat Louisville 7-1 on Friday night. With the win, the Bulls clinched their first series victory since the season's opening homestand and have now won four out of their last five games.

Cobb (1-3, 3.38) pitched well on his way to his first win of the year. He ended the day tossing 6.1 innings, allowing only a single earned run while scattering eight hits and striking out five. John Gaub and Dane De La Rosa combined for 2.2 scoreless innings in the victory.

Durham got on the board early thanks to an RBI ground out by Shawn O'Malley, scoring Stephen Vogt. The Bulls held their 1-0 lead until the top of the fifth inning, when Bats catcher Brian Peacock hit a ground ball to second base that looked like a double play. O'Malley fielded the ball and flipped to shortstop Reid Brignac who then fired to Matt Mangini at first. In a bang-bang play, Peacock beat out the throw to put runners at first and third. The Bats took advantage of Peacock's hustle and Kristopher Negron followed with a single to score Mike Costanzo to tie the game.

Cobb would get the run support he's lacked all season though, as the Bulls broke things open with a three run third. With one away in the inning, Jeff Salazar hit a single up the middle. After Cole Figueroa was hit by the new pitcher Scott Carroll, Jesus Feliciano stepped to the plate. The Puerto Rican native hit another single up the middle to score Salazar. Centerfield Denis Phipps tried to gun down Salazar from home, but sailed the throw to allow the runners to advance to second and third. Making his first start since coming off of the DL, Brandon Guyer hit a SAC fly to deep right field to score Figueroa. Leslie Anderson followed Guyer's lead, hitting a single to plate Feliciano and pad the Bulls lead.

After Guyer and Anderson hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Vogt hit his first home run of the year, a three run shot over the Blue Monster to put Durham up 7-1 for good.

The Bulls start a quick two game affair with the Norfolk Tides on Saturday night. RHP Matt Torra (2-2, 5.04), who flirted with a no-hitter in his last start, takes on RHP Jason Berken (0-0, 1.35) for the Tides. Game time is set for 5:05pm. The game will be broadcasted in HD on Time Warner Cable channel 1151 or in standard definition on channel 151. Fans can also catch the game on RTN channel 50.2.