Louisville Holds Off Vanderbilt to Win Battle of the Barrel

Hosting Vanderbilt for their annual Battle of the Barrel rivalry showdown, the Louisville baseball program was able to bounce back from their series loss at Notre Dame this past weekend, winning the top-20 midweek tilt 5-4 on Tuesday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The No. 19 Cardinals (33-15, 13-11 ACC) snap a two-game skid against the No. 10 Commodores (34-15, 14-10 SEC), and earn their first home win in the rivalry since 2021. Since the Battle of the Barrel began in 2012, Louisville leads the series 7-6.

Despite it being a bullpen day, Louisville was powered primarily by their pitching staff. The Cardinals combined to strike out 11, walk only four, and give up just six base hits. Of the eight pitchers that took to the mound, five posted scoreless outings, while the other three didn't allow more than one earned run.

Lucas Moore (2-4, 3 RBI, BB) led UofL's efforts at the plate with a multi-hit and RBI night, while Alex Alicea (1-2, RBI) and Tague Davis (1-3, RBI) drove in runs as well. Louisville hitters also took advantage of three errors by their visitors.

Vanderbilt cracked the scoreboard first, scratching across a run in the opening frame on a wild pitch by Colton Hartman (1.2 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, 2 H, 1 ER), who made his first start since Mar. 4. He was pulled after loading the bases with two outs in the second, but Justin West (1.1 IP, 2 K) was able to secure the final out without allowing a run.

West followed up his clutch second inning with a perfect third, then Eli Hoyt (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 H) twirled a scoreless fourth, allowing Louisville to make a move on the lead. Moore collected a game-tying RBI single in the third, while Davis tallied a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Ty Starke (1.0 IP) gave the Cardinals another zero in the fifth, but the Commodores jumped back on the scoreboard in the sixth. They collected a game-tying leadoff home run off of Brennyn Cutts (0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER), with Tucker Biven (1.0 IP, 1 K, 2 BB, 1 H, 1 ER) having to come in and get the last out of the frame after he gave up a two-out triple.

It didn't take Louisville long to re-take the lead, as they put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Moore came through with a two-run single, while Alicea added an RBI base hit of his own - with both coming with two outs.

That being said, Vandy still hung around. Biven was sent back out to pitch the seventh, and two runs came home on his watch: one one a throwing error, and another on a sacrifice fly.

Fortunately for Louisville, they were able to hold off Vanderbilt long enough to earn the win. Wyatt Danilowicz (1.0 IP, 3 K) struck out the side in the eighth, while Jake Schweitzer (1.0 IP, 1 K) earned the save with a scoreless ninth.

Next up for Louisville, they'll head to Atlanta and face Georgia Tech in their final road series of the regular season. First pitch of game one is slated for Friday, May 9 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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