Cardinals Lose to Kentucky 17-13 in Battle of the Bluegrass

Mark BlankenbakerApril 17, 2024

The University of Louisville baseball team took a 17-13 loss to No. 3 Kentucky in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass on Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Louisville (21-15) has now lost four of its last five games.

Tuesday’s game started with a bang on both sides. Kentucky (31-5) led the game off with a home run, but JT Benson answered with a home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the first before Isaac Humphrey launched a first inning solo homer of his own to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

Kentucky quickly erased the lead though, plating four runs in the second and five more in the third to open up a 10-2 advantage.

The Cardinals began to chip away though. Gavin Kilen singled Humphrey home with two outs in the third and Ryan McCoy followed with a two-run knock of his own.

One inning later, Humphrey drove home Benson with a sacrifice fly and Kilen notched his third hit in the first four innings to make it a 10-7 game.

However, the Wildcats responded with five runs in the fifth and two in the sixth the stretch the margin out to double figures.

The Louisville offense wouldn’t go quietly though. Luke Napleton singled home two in the sixth and McCoy drove in another with a ground-rule double to right.

Alex Alicea doubled home two in the eighth and then scored on Eddie King Jr.’s groundout to get Louisville back within four, but that was as close as the Cardinals would get.

The Cardinals pounded out 18 hits on the night, led by a 4-for-6 showing from Kilen. Humphrey, Napleton and Alicea each tallied three hits.

Louisville will head south to take on Miami in ACC action this weekend. The series gets underway on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET.