Louisville Mounts Comeback, Walks Off Kentucky in Extra Innings

Taking on rival Kentucky for the first leg of the annual Battle of the Bluegrass midweek series, the Louisville baseball program had to go to extras to defend their home turf, but were still able to grind out a 4-3 walk-off win on Tuesday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Trailing 3-2 heading to the bottom of the 10th, Jake Munroe (2-4, RBI, 3B) tied the game on an RBI single, then Eddie King Jr. (2-5, 2 RBI) followed that up with one of his own. It marked Louisville's fifth walk-off of the 2025 season.

The No. 11 Cardinals (25-7, 8-4 ACC) extend their winning streak to six in a row, and earn their first home win over the Wildcats (18-12, 5-7 SEC) since Apr. 19, 2022. These two teams will meet again on Apr. 22 at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, where UofL will try for their first two-game sweep of UK since 2019.

Unlike most midweek games, pitching and defense was the star of the show in this matchup. Despite allowing nine base hits and five walks, Louisville's pitching staff still allowed only two earned runs in regulation, and struck out 12 overall.

The Cardinals also had their fair share of web gems in the field. Garret Pike (1-5) had not one, but two outfield assists from right field to third base, while Lucas Moore (1-4) robbed a home run in center field.

It made up for that fact that Louisville had a mostly pedestrian effort at the plate, as they had just two base hits in the final four innings of regulation. That being said, Alex Alicea (3-5, 2B) had a three-hit day, while King, Munroe and Zion Rose (2-5, RBI, 2B) also had multi-hit evenings.

Kentucky was the first to strike on the evening, collecting an RBI single in the second inning off of starter T.J. Schlageter (2.0 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, 3 H, 1 ER). In the bottom of the frame, Louisville tied the game up thanks to an RBI single of their own from King.

Jake Schweitzer (2.0 IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 H) put up a scoreless outing after Schlageter's day was done, and Colton Hartman (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 1 ER) put up a zero in the fifth. This allowed the Cardinals to break the tie in the bottom of the frame, with Rose striking an RBI single.

This lead was a brief one, as Kentucky was able to tie the game back up in the very next inning. After Hartman walked the first batter of the sixth, Brennyn Cutts (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 H) took over, and a single by the 'Cats under his watch brought the runner home.

From there, the Cards were able to rebound from the mound. Ty Starke (0.2 IP, 1 K, 1 H) tossed the first two outs of the seventh, while Tucker Biven (1.1 IP, 2 K) secured the third to strand a runner on third, then went on to pitch a perfect eighth. Wyatt Danilowicz (1.2 IP, 4 K, 1 BB, 2 H) then struck out the side in the ninth to take the game to extras.

Louisville had a chance to win in regulation, but had a pair of base running blunders in the ninth. Tagger Tyson (0-3) was picked off at second base with no outs, while Alicea was caught trying to steal third with two outs.

Kentucky took advantage of their second chance in the 10th. After the leadoff man got on base thanks to a throwing error, a sacrifice bunt and single brought him home for the go-ahead run. UK nearly plated more, but Jack Brown (0.1 IP) was able to get Danilowicz out of a two-runner jam to set up the walk-off.

Next up for Louisville, they'll hit the road for a three-game series at NC State. First pitch of game one is slated for Friday, Apr. 11 at 6:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.

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