Louisville Gets Revenge, Blasts Kentucky in Lexington
(Photo of Lucas Dunn: William Caudill via University of Louisville Athletics)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UL | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 13 | 0 |
UK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
W: Carter Lohman (1-1), L: Zach Kammin (1-1)
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Hitting the road for the second half of their annual home and home Battle of the Bluegrass series against Kentucky, the No. 3 Louisville baseball program used a blazing start to cruise to victory down the stretch, winning 12-5 on Tuesday at Kentucky Proud Park
The Cardinals avenge an 11-7 loss to the Wildcats suffered back on Apr. 6 at Jim Patterson Stadium. Despite trailing 64-47-1 in the overall series - which stretches back to the 1920's - Louisville holds a 19-12 advantage over Kentucky under head coach Dan McDonnell.
To say that Louisville had their foot on the gas to start the game would be an understatement. The Cardinals opened the game with a five-spot in the fifth inning, then plated two runs in each of the next three frames to score eleven unanswered runs.
Trey Leonard (1-3, RBI, R) got plunked and Lucas Dunn (0-4, RBI, BB, 2 R) walked with the bases loaded, Dalton Rushing (3-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2B, 2 R) doubled a pair of runs home, then Luke Brown (2-4, RBI, R) tallied an RBI groundout in the opening inning.
Alex Binelas (3-5, 3 RBI, BB, R) followed that up with a 2 RBI single in the second, with a Cooper Bowman (3-4, RBI, BB, 2 R) tallying his own in the third - accompanied by a Levi Usher (0-3, RBI, 3 BB, R) groundout RBI. A two-run homer from Rushing in the fourth pushed the Cardinals into double digits, and put him a triple away from the cycle.
Kentucky started to chip into Louisville's lead during the middle innings. The Wildcats collected a sacrifice fly in the fourth off Garrett Schmeltz (1.1 IP, 2 K, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER) for their first run, then loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth. But Evan Webster (1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 ER) - who inherited the jam created by Riley Phillips (0.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 ER) - would hold them to a single run.
Kentucky did try and make things interesting late. Webster would surrender a solo home run in the sixth, then Seamus Barrett (0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER) had a pair of runs charged to his name in the eighth after working into a bases loaded jam.
Fortunately, once Adam Elliott (1.2 IP, 0 ER) was inserted into the game in the eighth, Kentucky was effectively shut down. Binelas also chipped in with an RBI single in the seventh for some extra insurance.
Next up for Louisville, they'll return home and host Pitt for a three-game weekend series. First pitch is slated for Friday, Apr. 23 at 6:00pm EST, and will be televised on the ACC Network & broadcast on 1450 WXVW.
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:
Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp