LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? After being held hitless through the opening two innings Wednesday, Louisville exploded for seven runs over the next four frames to upset No. 19 Kentucky 8-1 on a rainy evening at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Wildcats (25-7-1), who were looking to defeat the Cardinals (22-10) for the seventh time in the last eight meetings, had their 36-game regular-season non-conference winning streak snapped with the loss. Kentucky, which was playing its first mid-week game since March 21, dropped its first mid-week contest in 18 attempts.
The UK pitching staff entered the game planning to work multiple pitchers in preparation for a weekend showdown with No. 1 Vanderbilt. Starter Duran Ferguson worked three strong innings, striking out four batters and allowing just one run. A committee of seven Kentucky relievers closed the game, but was unable to counteract a strong Louisville offensive performance that was highlighted by 17 Cardinal hits.
Ferguson took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season, while U of L reliever Skylar Meade improved to 5-1 with the victory. Meade tossed 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter James Belanger, who struck out five batters in 4 2/3 innings to begin the game.
Louisville, which plays on a sports turf baseball diamond that includes no grass, struck first after Ferguson shut down the Cardinals through the first two innings. With the wind whipping into left field, Jorge Castillo lifted a home run over the left-field fence to give UL a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth the Cards struck again, plating two runs on four hits and two Wildcat errors. Castillo singled to lead off and scored on an Isaiah Howes single up the middle. Pete Rodriguez reached on the first UK fielding error of the inning and scored after Derrick Alfonso ripped an RBI single, to make it 3-0 UL.
In the fifth, Louisville scored three on four hits and a walk. Logan Johnson led off the frame with a walk and Daniel Burton followed with a single. Castillo reached on an infield, check-swing single to load the bases Chris Dominguez ripped a two-run double and Howes plated Castillo with his own single to make it 6-0 UL.
Kentucky got on the board in the sixth, pushing across one run. Sean Coughlin doubled down the right-field line to lead off and a Brian Spear brought in Coughlin for UK?s first run.
Louisville continued to build its lead, adding a run in the sixth and one in the eighth, to put the game out of reach.
Kentucky still leads the all-time series between the two schools 60-30-1, including a 21-14-1 advantage when playing in Louisville.
The Wildcats return to action this weekend when they play host to the top-ranked Commodores at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The series commences Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT and the game will be carried live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio and television).
