University of Louisville
18-11
Eastern Kentucky
8-21
Cards Cruise Past Eastern Kentucky in Seven Innings
March 31, 2026 | Baseball
Louisville (18-11) plated double digit runs for the ninth time this season but the first time in the last eight games.
The Cardinals used the longball in the opening inning on Tuesday to start the scoring.
After a one-out walk to Lucas Moore, Bayram Hot launched his fifth homer of the season over the high wall in straightaway centerfield to get the Cards on the board. Tague Davis followed with an even further homer to the same part of the ballpark, the 17th of the season for the sophomore. It was the third time this season the Cardinals had gone back-to-back.
Eastern Kentucky (8-21) had an immediate response though. The Colonels sent all nine batters to the plate in the bottom half of the first, scoring four times and taking a 4-3 lead after one.
Both teams went quietly in the second before the Cardinals tied it up with a Jimmy Nugent RBI double in the third.
TJ Schlageter settled things down out of the bullpen in the first and followed with scoreless frames in the second and third.
Louisville then took advantage with a six spot in the fourth to regain the lead.
Hot doubled into the left field corner with the bases loaded to push across the first two runs of the inning. An intentional walk to Davis loaded the bases once again and Ben Slanker promptly unloaded them with a grand slam to left-centerfield.
The Colonels got one run back in their half of the fourth, but Louisville answered with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to stretch the lead out to eight.
EKU hit a two-run homer in the sixth, but the Cardinals got the four runs it needed in the seventh to trigger the mercy rule. Davis and Elam had RBI singles before a run-scoring double from Zach Davis and a Griffin Crain infield knock gave Louisville a 10-run lead.
Schlageter earned his first victory of the season with 2.2 innings of scoreless work out of the bullpen. Jake Gregor, Joe Olson and Anthony Karbowski covered the final four innings.
Hot finished 3-for-5 with the homer and four RBIs. Slanker reached base all five plate appearances with the grand slam, three walks and a hit by pitch. Davis, Nugent and Elam had two hits apiece.
Louisville continues its road swing with a three-game series at Duke beginning on Thursday. First pitch Thursday night is set for 8 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schlageter, TJ (1-0)
L: Addison Stockham (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Hot, Bayram 1 ; Nugent, Jimmy 1 ; Davis, Zach 1
HR: Hot, Bayram 1 ; Davis, Tague 1 ; Slanker, Ben 1
RBI: Crain, Griffin 1 ; Moore, Lucas 1 ; Hot, Bayram 4 ; Davis, Tague 2 ; Slanker, Ben 4 ; Nugent, Jimmy 1 ; Elam, Kade 2 ; Davis, Zach 1 ; Campbell, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Crain, Griffin 1 ; Moore, Lucas 2 ; Hot, Bayram 3 ; Davis, Tague 4 ; Slanker, Ben 3 ; Baker, George 1 ; Elam, Kade 1 ; Alicea, Alex 1 ; Campbell, Kyle 1
SB: Moore, Lucas 1
CS: Moore, Lucas 1 ; Alicea, Alex 1
HBP: Moore, Lucas 1 ; Slanker, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Dylan Littlefield 1 ; Owen Barger 1
HR: Julius Scearce 1 ; David Alvarez 1
RBI: Dylan Littlefield 1 ; Julius Scearce 2 ; David Alvarez 3 ; Jackson Reid 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pedro Moreno 2 ; Dylan Littlefield 1 ; Julius Scearce 1 ; David Alvarez 1 ; Jackson Cauthron 1 ; Kobe Benson 1
SB: Jackson Reid 1
HBP: Khaleel Pratt 1 ; Jackson Cauthron 1
PO: Kobe Benson 1
