
Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
Cardinals Down WKU in Midweek Action
April 14, 2026 | Baseball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team got early runs and made them stand up in a 7-3 victory over Western Kentucky on Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville (21-16) scored all seven of its runs in the first three innings on Tuesday, which proved more than enough in the win.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead with a pair of runs in the first. Jimmy Nugent singled off the glove of the third baseman to drive in the first run and Lucas Moore made it a 2-0 game with a double into the right field corner.
Western Kentucky (19-18) hit a solo homer leading off the second, but the Cardinals responded with two more runs in the bottom half. Griffin Crain pushed the lead back to two with a sacrifice fly and Drew Freeman scored the fourth run on a Zion Rose double.
Louisville then added three more in the third. Moore touched the plate on a wild pitch before Freeman launched his first career homer onto the berm in left field to extend the lead out to 7-1.
The pitching staff took care of the rest from there. Jake Bean (2-2) was excellent in the start, allowing just one run on two hits over five innings for the victory.
TJ Schlageter followed with two scoreless innings and Eli Hoyt took care of the final three outs to seal the win.
Louisville got seven hits on the night from seven different players.
The Cardinals will now make their first-ever conference road trip out to the West Coast, heading to Cal for a three-game series. The weekend set gets underway on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
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Louisville (21-16) scored all seven of its runs in the first three innings on Tuesday, which proved more than enough in the win.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead with a pair of runs in the first. Jimmy Nugent singled off the glove of the third baseman to drive in the first run and Lucas Moore made it a 2-0 game with a double into the right field corner.
Western Kentucky (19-18) hit a solo homer leading off the second, but the Cardinals responded with two more runs in the bottom half. Griffin Crain pushed the lead back to two with a sacrifice fly and Drew Freeman scored the fourth run on a Zion Rose double.
Louisville then added three more in the third. Moore touched the plate on a wild pitch before Freeman launched his first career homer onto the berm in left field to extend the lead out to 7-1.
The pitching staff took care of the rest from there. Jake Bean (2-2) was excellent in the start, allowing just one run on two hits over five innings for the victory.
TJ Schlageter followed with two scoreless innings and Eli Hoyt took care of the final three outs to seal the win.
Louisville got seven hits on the night from seven different players.
The Cardinals will now make their first-ever conference road trip out to the West Coast, heading to Cal for a three-game series. The weekend set gets underway on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on X, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bean, Jake (2-2)
L: Zach Lyles (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Kyle Hayes 1 ; Logan Luckett 1
HR: Hayden Robbins 1
RBI: Kyle Hayes 1 ; Hayden Robbins 1 ; Logan Luckett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lane Arroyos 1 ; Kyle Hayes 1 ; Hayden Robbins 1
HBP: JP Acosta 1 ; Hayden Robbins 1 ; Cael Frost 1 ; Kiefer Tarnoki 1

Batting:
2B: Rose, Zion 1 ; Moore, Lucas 1
HR: Freeman, Drew 1
RBI: Crain, Griffin 1 ; Rose, Zion 1 ; Nugent, Jimmy 1 ; Moore, Lucas 1 ; Freeman, Drew 2
SH: Alicea, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rose, Zion 1 ; Hot, Bayram 1 ; Moore, Lucas 1 ; Elam, Kade 2 ; Freeman, Drew 2
SB: Rose, Zion 1 ; Nugent, Jimmy 1 ; Elam, Kade 1 ; Alicea, Alex 1
HBP: Rose, Zion 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
BSB: Dan McDonnell Postgame vs. WKU (4/14/26)
Wednesday, April 15
BSB: Drew Freeman Postgame vs. WKU (4/14/26)
Wednesday, April 15
BSB: Dan McDonnell Postgame vs. Stanford (4/12/26)
Sunday, April 12
BSB: Lucas Moore Postgame vs. Stanford (4/11/26)
Saturday, April 11




















