Louisville snapped Kentucky's 36-game regular season non-conference winning streak by pounding the No. 19 Wildcats 8-1 in front of a packed house at Jim Patterson Stadium Wednesday night.
The overflow crowd had to deal with a 43-minute rain delay, but were rewarded with a 17-hit onslaught spearheaded by Cardinal catcher Derrick Alfonso, who was 4 for 4 with a home run and a pair of RBI.
"Alfonso really set the tone," said first-year Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. "For him to get his foot down and get a great cut on, that sent the message that now we are ready to hit, and we did after that."
Derrick Alfonso is not impressed with your national ranking
The Cards started the scoring in a big way when designated hitter Jorge Castillo blasted a first pitch fastball from Kentucky starter Duran Ferguson over the left field fence to make the score 1-0 in the third.
U of L then busted things open in the home half of the fourth.
With his team already leading 3-0, Chris Dominguez drilled his second double of the game, scoring Castillo and Daniel Burton, both of whom had reached on infield singles earlier in the inning. PRP product Isaiah Howes then singled home Castillo to extend the lead to 6-0.
The Cards capped the scoring in the eighth when Logan Johnson hit his 14th double of the season, and was then singled home by Burton to put the score at its final margin.
Louisville starter James Belanger impressivley held the nation's second-highest scoring team scoreless through 4.2 innings, scattering only four hits and three walks while striking out a career-high five.
Ballard High School graduate Skylar Meade hurled 2.1 innings, allowing a run and a hit on his way to picking up the victory and improving his record to 5-1.
Four players had two RBI for the Cards, and seven produced multi-hit games.
Louisville now heads off on its longest road trip of the season, an eight-game swing beginning in Storrs this weekend for a three-game set with Connecticut.