Cardinals Fall 7-3 to Western Kentucky

Wednesday, April 22

JIM PATTERSON STADIUM

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

31-10

WESTERN KENTUCKY

21-17

Western Kentucky

Louisville

April 22, 2015 | Baseball

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April 22, 2015

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CardsTV Postgame Interview: Dan McDonnell

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A slow start proved to be too much to overcome for the third-ranked Louisville baseball team in Wednesday night's 7-3 loss to visiting Western Kentucky at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The Hilltoppers (21-17) scored two runs in the first inning and built a seven-run lead through their first four innings at the plate to end an eight-game losing streak to the Cardinals (31-10) in Louisville dating back to 2006. Wednesday's effort halted a modest four-game winning streak for Louisville, which dropped to 19-4 at home this season.

In the only matchup of the season between the two in-state foes, WKU struck quickly plating a pair of unearned runs in the first inning. After singling to open the game and moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, Anderson Miller scored the first run of the night after an error by Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.) on a liner to center off the bat of Ryan Church. Advancing to third on the mistake, Church scored moments later on a wild pitch by Louisville freshman righty Lincoln Henzman (Lexington, Ky.).

After adding a run in the third inning on a RBI grounder by Hunter Wood, the Hilltoppers put the game out of reach with a four-run fourth inning. Leiff Clarkson started the scoring with a RBI single to plate Paul Murray while Ryan Messex scored later in the inning on a balk. Danny Hudzina added a RBI single to push Clarkson across before scoring on Ryan Church's RBI double for the final run of the night for WKU.

Louisville broke through for its first run of the evening in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI double to left by senior Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky.) to score freshman Brendan McKay (Darlington, Pa.), who walked earlier in the frame. In the seventh inning, junior Danny Rosenbaum (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) drove in sophomore Will Smith (Louisville, Ky.) with a RBI triple. An inning later, Ray added a RBI single to score sophomore Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) for Louisville's final run of the game.

Rosenbaum was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, while Lucas finished 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base. Solak added two hits and a stolen base and Ray had a pair of hits, including a double in the loss.

Henzman suffered his first collegiate loss and dropped to 3-1 on the season after allowing five earned runs and seven total runs on seven hits in four innings. Following two scoreless innings of relief by sophomore righty Jake Sparger (Eau Claire, Wis.), junior righty Anthony Kidston (Defiance, Ohio) had five strikeouts in three innings of shutout work to close the game for Louisville.

Wednesday was Cancer Awareness Night at Jim Patterson as the Cardinals continued their commitment to generating awareness for cancer research programs. Louisville will wore special black jerseys and hats featuring pink lettering during the game. Pink lemonade was sold with $1 from every sale going to support Home Runs for Hope, a fundraiser with all of the proceeds benefiting Gilda's Club of Louisville.

Up next, the No. 3 Cardinals host Bethune-Cookman for a three-game weekend set at Jim Patterson Stadium. Friday's series-opener against the Wildcats will be the annual Patriotic Game with first pitch set for 6 p.m., ET. The teams will also play on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) and admission is free throughout the weekend.

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