Louisville baseball walks off against Kentucky for rivalry win

By Morgan Davenport

No. 14 Louisville walks off Kentucky in a thrilling ten-inning match-up.

This game was a slow burn, but the Cardinals gritted it out when it mattered most.

Somebody do something

The game started off dull, with neither team finding success in the first. Both teams entered the game top 30 nationally in fewest strikeouts, but both lineups struggled to see the ball.

Kentucky struck first with a base hit, a stolen base, a wild pitch and another base hit to drive Shaun Montoya home.

In the bottom of the second, it took just two pitches for Jake Munroe to get a lead-off triple and for Eddie King Jr. to drive him home.

In the next inning the Wildcats hit a bomb that looked determined to leave the park, but Lucas Moore was even more determined and came up with a show-stopping rob.

The game went back to quiet until Zion Rose singled in the bottom of the fifth, bringing in Alex Alicea for a 2-1 Louisville lead. Louisville looked to keep this momentum going, but left three runners stranded as a fly out ended the inning.

The Wildcats fought back immediately, though, with an RBI-single from Montoya to tie it up in the top of the sixth at 2-2.

The next several innings went right back to nothing until the bottom of the ninth.

With the game tied, Tagger Tyson took the first pitch to the game to give him a stand-up double. Kamau Neighbors then came in to pinch hit, attempting a bunt to advance the Tyson.

After several failed tries, Neighbors hit a bunt foul that Tyson thought would end up fair. The result was an easy pickoff for Kentucky, and a pitcher’s count with no runners on base. Neighbors would ground out for the second out.

Alicea then got the would-be walk-off hit with a double, setting up Moore. Moore then worked his way to a full count, but Alicea shockingly tried to steal third and got picked off.

The extra innings got off to about as bad a start as possible with Griffin Cameron getting a base hit on a surprise bunt, then a throwing error sent to ball into the Louisville dugout and gave Cameron a ground-rule double.

A groundout and a single sent Cameron home, and put Louisville down 2-3. Wyatt Danilowicz didn’t take the pressure well, and walked another batter to give Kentucky to runners on base. Jack Brown came in to finish off the game, and got the Cards out of the jam.

Moore got another chance to lead off the bottom of the 10th, drawing a walk in five pitches. Garret Pike then hit a single to get runners on first and second, then Munroe hit and RBI-single to tie the game up. Just four pitches later, King walked it off with a single up the middle.

Louisville won 4-3.