WKU (10-10) visited the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals (15-5) for a midweek game on Tuesday night. The Hilltoppers lost 13-6.  

For WKU, senior Jack Wilson went 1-for-3, with three RBIs, two of them coming on a two-run homerun in the top of the first inning. 

Sophomore Alex Binelas for Louisville went 4-for-4 with two triples and five RBIs. 

Freshman Luke Stofel got the nod for his first career start for WKU. He pitched for one inning allowing one run. 

Senior Luke Smith got his fifth start of the season for Louisville. He pitched for three innings allowing two runs. 

The Hilltoppers off to a hot start. Sophomore Jackson Gray reached first base on an error in the top of the first inning. Then with two outs senior Jack Wilson smashed a two-run homerun to give WKU a 2-0 lead.   

In the bottom of the first inning, junior Luke Brown got the bats going for Louisville with a triple. Brown then scored on a ground out to cut into the Hilltopper lead 2-1. Stofel ended the first inning strong with a strikeout. 

To start the second inning, redshirt junior Collin Lollar relieved Stofel. Both teams had nothing to show for in the second inning. 

After both teams had nothing to show for in the third inning, Both teams made pitching changes in the fourth as freshman Kellan Tulio came in for Smith and sophomore Wil Moritz came in for Lollar. 

After a walk to start the bottom of the fourth, Louisville got the bats going with an RBI double from junior Lucas Dunn to tie the game at two apiece. Dunn would score on an RBI single by sophomore Ben Metzinger to take the lead 3-2. 

Freshman Sheamus Barrett  relieved Tulio to start the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth frame, redshirt freshman Hunter Evans tied the game at three apiece on his first career homerun.

To start the bottom of the fifth frame, WKU made two more pitching changes landing on freshman Dalton Mesaris. Louisville added three runs reclaiming their with two runs coming from an RBI single from Binelas. Then they extended their lead on an error by Mesaris. Louisville led 6-3 after five innings of play. 

After WKU had nothing to show for in the top of the sixth, Louisville was able to extend their lead 7-3 on a solo homerun by sophomore Cooper Bowman. 

After a lead-off walk to start the seventh frame, freshman Ty Crittenberger hit a double to put runners on second and third base. Two batters later, Louisville walked sophomore Matthew Meyer to load the bases. 

WKU then added three runs on a walk, hit by pitch, and a wild pitch to make the score 7-6. Louisville got out of the top of the seventh frame with a ground out, leaving two WKU runners in scoring position. 

Louisville retaliated in the bottom of the seventh with a triple from Binelas and an RBI triple from Dunn making the score 8-6. Then Dunn scored on a fielder’s choice extending the Louisville lead. Louisville led 9-6 going into the eighth inning. 

After WKU did not retaliate, Louisville got the bats going again, loading the bases after two straight singles and a walk. Then Louisville added four runs with an RBI single from sophomore Henry Davis and an RBI triple from Binelas to extend their lead 13-6. WKU got out of the eighth frame with a line out. 

In the top of the ninth, WKU got runners on first and second base, but they could not score them. WKU lost 13-6. Barrett picked up his first win on the season, while Shiflet picked up his second loss on the season.     

Up next WKU will be at Nick Denes Field on Friday at 5 p.m. for their first conference series against Charlotte.

Baseball beat reporter Wyatt Sparkman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Wyatt on Twitter at @WyattSparkman3