Louisville Upsets Vanderbilt, Advances to Nashville Regional Final

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Just like during the regular season, the latest installment of the Louisville-Vanderbilt baseball rivalry has the Cardinals coming out on top.

Taking on the No. 1 overall national seed Commodores in the 1-0 game of the Nashville Regional, second-seeded Louisville was able to pull off the upset yet again in their postseason rematch, securing a 3-2 victory on Saturday at Hawkins Field.

The Cardinals (37-21) capture their first true road NCAA Tournament win in 12 years, when they, ironically, swept the Commodores (43-17) in the 2013 Nashville Super Regional. Also securing a 5-4 win in the Battle of the Barrel back on May 6 at Jim Patterson Stadium, it's Louisville's first time securing multiple wins over Vanderbilt in the same year since that 2013 season.

Louisville improves to 2-0 in the Nashville Regional, advancing to the regional final and needing just one more win to clinch a spot in the Super Regionals. They'll take on the winner of tomorrow's Vanderbilt/Wright State 1-1 elimination game, with first pitch set for Sunday, June 1 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Tucker Biven (4.2 IP, 5 K, 2 BB, 2 H, 1 ER) gave Louisville a solid start on the mound in the 1-0 game. While he was not as spectacular as Patrick Forbes was the day before, Biven was still able to tie his career-high in strikeouts.

Combined with Justin West (2.1 IP, 2 K, 2 H), Wyatt Danilowicz (1.0 IP) and Jake Schweitzer (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 H, HBP), they held Vanderbilt to just five base hits, two walks and only one earned run. This came despite the Cardinals committing three defensive errors, although there were still plenty of plays made in the field.

It made up for the fact that Louisville had a quiet night at the plate. While Matt Klein (1-4, HR, RBI) and Zion Rose (2-4, HR, RBI) both hit home runs, the Cardinals hit only 1-for-9 with two outs, and 0-for-13 with runners on base.

Louisville didn't waste much time jumping on the scoreboard, as Klein hit a 367-foot solo home run just two batters and nine pitches into the game. But following a pair of scoreless frames to begin his outing, Biven had a shaky third inning, with back-to-back wild pitches bringing a one-out walk all the way home.

Biven rebounded with a perfect fourth, to which the Cardinals capitalized with a two-spot in the fifth. Rose blasted a solo homer, then Tague Davis (1-3, 2B, BB) was able to scamper home thanks to a throwing error.

But in the bottom of the frame, the Commodores cut their deficit in half. A one-out single, then a pair of throwing errors brought home another run, prompting West to take over and get the final out of the fifth.

From that moment onwards, the bullpen carried Louisville to victory. After getting inserted into the game, West cruised through the Vanderbilt lineup, tossing a scoreless sixth and then a perfect seventh. Danilowicz put up a perfect inning of his own in the eighth, then Schweitzer posted a zero in the ninth to earn the save.

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