Next Game: NC STATE 4/6/2018 | 6:00 PM ACC Network Extra

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Round one of this year's Battle of the Bluegrass on the baseball diamond went to Kentucky as the No.9 Wildcats registered an 8-5 win against No.11 Louisville on Tuesday evening at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

The Wildcats (20-9) scored five runs in the first two innings while fighting off late challenges from the Cardinals (19-9), who lost for just the second time in the last 10 meetings with their in-state rival. The teams play their second and final regular season contest on Tuesday, April 17 at 6 p.m., at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville.

No Louisville player had more than one hit in Tuesday's loss as junior Josh Stowers had a two-run single and sophomore Justin Lavey singled and scored two runs. Logan Wyatt reached base safely for the 25th straight game as the sophomore walked three times, had one RBI and scored once.

On the mound, sophomore righthander Austin Dickey had his longest career outing with two innings of scoreless relief and one strikeout. Lefthander J.D. Mundt made his collegiate debut with one inning of scoreless work out of the bullpen.

The Cardinals opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning after Jake Snider scored from third on Wyatt's RBI groundout. Snider started things for Louisville with a one-out walk and the sophomore moved to third on a single to right by junior Devin Mann before scoring on Wyatt's groundball to first base.

The Wildcats answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on Luke Heyer's two-out, two-run double. Troy Squires walked and Luke Becker was hit by a pitch before Heyer sent a 0-1 pitch from junior righthander Riley Thompson into right center for the 2-1 lead.

Louisville bounced back to regain the lead at 3-2 in the top of the second inning on a two-run single from Stowers to score junior Pat Rumoro and Justin Lavey . Rumoro earned a one-out walk and Lavey reached base on a fielding error by the Wildcats before Tyler Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Stowers drove both Rumoro and Lavey home after sending a 1-2 pitch from Daniel Harper up the middle.

UK again answered in the bottom of the inning scoring three runs in the second to take a 5-3 lead. Tristan Pompey pushed the Wildcats back ahead with his two-run single through the left side before a throwing error by the Cardinals allowed the third run of the inning to score.

The Cardinals narrowed the deficit with a run in the top of the fourth inning after Snider drove Lavey home with a RBI groundout. The Wildcats responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth as Becker's RBI single scored Ben Aklinski to push the lead to 6-4.

The Wildcats extended the lead to 8-4 after scoring two runs in the fifth inning. Pompey earned a bases loaded walk to send Kyle Cottam home and Squires followed with a RBI single to left field to score Ryan Johnson.

Louisville narrowed the deficit with a run in the seventh inning on a RBI fielder's choice off the bat of freshman Zach Britton allowing Wyatt to score. The Cardinals had a chance for more loading the bases with one out in the inning but a strikeout and a popup ended the chance. Each squad finished with 12 runners left on base and the teams combined for eight errors in the game.

Up next, No.11 Louisville hosts No.4 NC State for a weekend set at Jim Patterson Stadium starting Friday at 6 p.m., ET. The series continues on Saturday at 1 p.m., while the finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at @UofLBaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.

2018 LOUISVILLE BASEBALL TICKETS

Season ticket packages as well as single game tickets for the 2018 University of Louisville baseball season are on sale now and can be purchased online at GoCards.com/bsbtickets, by phone at 502-GO-CARDS or by visiting the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office, located near Gate 2 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (2800 South Floyd Street) on weekdays from 9 a.m., until 5 p.m., ET.

