Indiana defeated No. 2 Louisville to take its first top five victory since defeating Louisville (No. 5) in 2014.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana baseball (30-19-2) used a four-run second inning to jump out to a four-run lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals on Tuesday night. It marked IU's first win over a top five opponent since also beating Louisville (No. 5) in 2014.
Indiana and Louisville each had five hits as a team. Freshman Andrew Saalfrank picked up the victory allowing three runs on three hits over 4.1 innings. Junior B.J. Sabol (two innings, two hits), junior Kade Kryzsko (1.1 innings, no hits), sophomore Tim Herrin (0.1 inning, no hits) and sophomore Matt Lloyd (1.0 inning, no hits) pieced together a dominating shutout bullpen performance in the win. Lloyd earned his eighth save of the season.
.@TimmyHerrin https://t.co/4Z377zjSY5
— Indiana Baseball (@HoosierBaseball) May 17, 2017
Senior Alex Krupa paced the Hoosiers with two hits on the evening, while sophomore Luke Miller, sophomore Ryan Fineman and freshman Matt Gorski each had hits in the win. Gorski drove in two runs while Fineman recorded one RBI.
In front of a season-high 3,077 fans at Bart Kaufman Field, Indiana jumped out to the quick 4-0 lead in the second inning. Senior Craig Dedelow worked a leadoff walk and junior Logan Sowers was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. From there, Gorski ripped a double down the left field line to plate both runners. Fineman followed with a flared double to right field to make it a three run game. An error on the third baseman with two outs scored Fineman to extend IU's lead to 4-0.
.@matthew_gorski7 puts the Hoosiers ahead 2-0 on this RBI double. https://t.co/izpMZpY34i
— Indiana Baseball (@HoosierBaseball) May 16, 2017
Louisville got a rebound run in the top of the third inning as Josh Stowers hit a leadoff home run to make it a 4-1 game. Then in the top of the fifth, the Cardinals got two of the first three hitters on, as they both eventually scored on a two-run double by Logan Taylor to trim the lead to one.
Kryzsko entered the game in the seventh on a first and second situation with one out. After Fineman threw out a runner at second on a double steal attempt, Kryzsko forced a three-pitch looking strikeout to escape the jam.
With two outs in the eighth, Herrin came in to face one of the best players in the country in Brendan McKay, who he struck out to keep the lead in check. Lloyd had a one, two, three ninth to seal the win.
The Best Fans pic.twitter.com/WB4aE3kiyV
— Indiana Baseball (@HoosierBaseball) May 17, 2017
Indiana heads to Ohio State beginning on Thursday night for its final three-game series of the regular season.
