Louisville Out-Slugs Western Kentucky in Midweek Matchup

The Cardinals scored a season-high in runs against the Hilltoppers.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
WKU	0	0	3	1	1	2	0	0	1	8	14	3
UL	3	1	2	0	0	5	4	0	X	15	13	2

W: Riley Phillips (2-0), L: Cal Higgins (0-1)

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The second-ranked University of Louisville baseball team trailed by a run in the sixth inning but scored nine unanswered runs to defeat Western Kentucky 15-8 on Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Louisville (18-2) found itself down 7-6 after giving up two runs in the sixth. However, the Cardinals plated five in the bottom half of the sixth and four more in the seventh to pull away.

The Cardinals didn’t need to put a ball in play to score the tying run in the sixth. Jack Payton was hit by a pitch and three walks evened the game at seven. Logan Beard and Isaac Humphrey added RBIs to make it a 9-7 game and Brandon Anderson drove home two more with a two-out single.

After Will Koger put a zero on the board in the seventh, the Cards went back to work at the plate. Patrick Forbes drove a deep fly to centerfield that scored Payton and Will Cook launched his first collegiate home run 450 feet just left of the batter’s eye in centerfield to put the game out of reach.

Koger handled the eighth before handing it off to Wyatt Danilowicz and Cameron Robinson to close out the ninth.

Louisville jumped out in front early on Tuesday getting the sixth home run of the season from Ryan McCoy in the first. Humphrey also singled home a run and an error made it 3-0 after one. Payton and McCoy went back-to-back with doubles into the right field corner to push another run across in the second.

Western Kentucky (15-7) scored three in the third to cut the lead to one, but Louisville responded with two in the bottom of the frame. Tyeler Hawkins and Anderson each notched run-scoring doubles to get the lead back to three.

However, the Hilltoppers scored four runs over the next three innings to take their first lead of the night before Louisville’s offense took care of the rest.

Payton and Cook each tallied three hits on the night as the Cardinals registered double-digit hits for the 14th time in 20 games. Anderson and McCoy added two hits apiece as well.

Riley Phillips (2-0) picked up the win with 2.1 innings of relief work. Koger pitched two shutout innings with three strikeouts.

Louisville now heads on the road for seven straight starting this weekend at Notre Dame. The series gets underway on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET with the game televised by ACC Network.

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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