The sixth-ranked Louisville baseball team never found its offensive stride suffering its first shutout loss of the season in a 3-0 setback at No. 19 Indiana on Tuesday night at Bart Kaufman Field.

The Cardinals (18-7) were limited to just five hits as their seven-game winning streak was halted with the loss. The Hoosiers (16-5) improved to 7-0 at home with the win while extending their winning streak against Louisville to five games.

“That was a very disappointing performance from our team and I could see it coming early on,” said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell.” It started in the pregame when we weren’t good in batting practice and I sensed then that we weren’t where we needed to be. It’s also frustrating because Anthony Kidston continues to improve on the mound and though he did make a couple of mistakes, we didn’t give him or ourselves a chance to win with how we performed offensively.”

The Hoosiers struck for their first run of the game when shortstop Isaiah Pasteur connected for his first home run of the season to begin the third inning for a 1-0 advantage. Two innings later, Pasteur delivered his second home run of the game driving a two-run shot out to left field to score third baseman Austin Cangelosi for the 3-0 cushion.

That was all of the offense that was needed for the home club as the visiting Cardinals, who were shutout for the first time since 2013, never found their traction at the plate against four Indiana pitchers. Starter Scott Effross finished with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits in four innings to set the tone, while Austin Foote followed with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief to earn the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season. Luke Harrison added 1.2 innings of shutout relief before Ryan Halstead recorded the final three outs of the game for his fifth save of the season.

Kidston, a junior righty from Defiance, Ohio, suffered the loss for Louisville after allowing three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Sophomore lefty Robert Strader (Louisville, Ky.) followed with two innings of shutout relief, freshman lefty Butch Baird (Big Prairie, Ohio) recorded one out and freshman righty Kade McClure (Mentor, Ohio) worked one inning of perfect relief to keep the Cardinals close.

Tuesday’s game was the first time the Cardinals have worn their “Diamond Heritage” gray uniforms from adidas, which featured a University of Louisville “Fighting Cardinals” logo used in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The game also featured the first matchup for Louisville against first-year Indiana head coach Chris Lemonis, who served the previous eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Cardinals.

Up next, sixth-ranked Louisville returns home to host No. 28 Georgia Tech for an ACC weekend series at Jim Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are slated to play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

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Mark Blankenbaker

@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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