College Roundup: Louisville Wins Battle Of The Bluegrass
The Battle of the Bluegrass brought together two top-15 teams for a rivalry showdown Tuesday night, as No. 2 Louisville hosted No. 13 Kentucky. The two teams have put together strong first halves this season and had a combined winning percentage of .807 entering the game.
| How the Top 25 Fared |
| (1) Oregon State: won, 4-3, at Portland |
| (2) Louisville: won, 5-3, vs. (13) Kentucky |
| (3) Texas Christian: won, 5-4, vs. Texas-Arlington |
| (4) North Carolina: won, 3-2, in 11 innings vs. East Carolina |
| (5) Clemson: won, 4-0, at Georgia |
| (6) Texas Tech: won, 15-4, at New Mexico State |
| (7) Auburn: lost, 11-8, vs. Georgia Tech |
| (8) Florida: cancelled vs. Stetson |
| (9) Oklahoma: won, 6-2, vs. Oral Roberts |
| (10) Arizona: won, 11-2, vs. Arizona State |
| (11) South Carolina: won, 6-1, vs. Furman |
| (12) Cal State Fullerton: won, 13-2, vs. San Diego |
| (13) Kentucky: lost, 5-3, at (2) Louisville |
| (14) St. John’s: cancelled vs. St. Peter’s |
| (15) Louisiana State: won, 13-2, vs. Grambling State |
| (16) Arkansas: suspended vs. Grand Canyon |
| (17) Wake Forest: won, 14-1, vs. Elon |
| (18) Florida Gulf Coast: lost, 7-6, at (24) Florida State |
| (19) Long Beach State: won, 6-0, vs. Southern California |
| (20) Stanford: won, 8-4, vs. California |
| (21) Southern Mississippi: lost, 6-5, in 12 innings vs. Mississippi in Pearl, Miss. |
| (22) Mississippi State: lost, 8-3, vs. Florida International |
| (23) Virginia: won, 18-5, vs. Old Dominion |
| (24) Florida State: won, 7-6, vs. (18) Florida Gulf Coast |
| (25) Maryland: won, 12-11, vs. Richmond |
Louisville jumped out to an early lead, scoring five runs in the first three innings, and held on for a 5-3 victory in front of a program-record 6,210 fans. It was the Cardinals’ sixth straight victory against the Wildcats (21-9).
Louisville (25-3) did all its damage against Kentucky starter Zach Thompson. Drew Ellis (2-for-3, 2 2B) and Devin Hairston (3-for-4) hit two-run doubles in back-to-back innings, and the Cardinals added a run in the third when Thompson hit Josh Stowers with the bases loaded.
Five Cardinals pitchers combined to throw eight scoreless innings before the Wildcats broke through in the ninth for three runs against lefthander Rabon Martin. But closer Lincoln Henzman came on and halted the rally to pick up his eighth save this season.
The Cardinals improved to 18-0 at Jim Patterson Stadium this season and has won 37 straight regular season home games. Louisville will try to continue that run this weekend when No. 17 Wake Forest comes to town for a key Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division series. Kentucky, meanwhile, will continue its difficult week on the road with a trip to No. 22 Mississippi State this weekend.
In Tuesday’s other Top 25 matchup, No. 24 Florida State rebounded after getting swept at home by North Carolina over the weekend to defeat No. 18 Florida Gulf Coast, 7-6. The Seminoles (19-11) won on a walk-off double from Jackson Lueck (3-for-5, 2 2B) that brought home Taylor Walls from first base.
Walls scored the winning run just three days after he was removed from Saturday’s loss to North Carolina after the first inning and suspended for the final game of the series by coach Mike Martin for disciplinary reasons. Walls, a Preseason All-American shortstop, went 1-for-5 in the win.
FGCU (24-6) has now lost three of its last four, following a series loss to Jacksonville over the weekend to open Atlantic Sun Conference play.
The Eagles and Seminoles play again Wednesday in the rubber game of their season series. FGCU will then travel to Stetson for a rematch of last season’s A-Sun Tournament championship game, while Florida State heads to North Carolina State this weekend.
No. 20 Stanford defeated archrival California, 8-4, giving coach Mark Marquess the 1,600th win of his career. The milestone win for Marquess came against Cal coach Dave Esquer, who played and coached for Marquess at Stanford. Marquess is the fourth Division I coach to reach 1,600 wins, joining Augie Garrido, Mike Martin and Gene Stephenson.
In addition to the historic implications, Tuesday’s win was important for Stanford (15-9) to bounce back after getting swept by top-ranked Oregon State over the weekend. The Cardinal travel to Southern California this weekend for an important Pacific-12 Conference series.
No. 1 Oregon State (25-1) won again Tuesday, beating Portland, 4-3. With the victory, the Beavers’ winning streak reached 20 games, matching Missouri for the longest in the country this season.
Oregon State got another strong effort out of its bullpen. Relievers Brandon Eisert and Jake Mulholland combined for 5.2 scoreless innings to finish the game. Eisert struck out nine batters in 3.1 innings to get the win, and Mulholland struck out five in 2.1 perfect innings to earn his third save.
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