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Louisville baseball wins 5th straight over Kentucky with 7-6 walk-off win

By Mike Rutherford

Devin Hairston still hasn't lost to his older brother Dorian in the Battle of the Bluegrass.

The Cardinal shortstop singled home Colin Lyman in the bottom of the 9th to give Louisville a 7-6 win Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium, a victory that marked U of L's fifth straight over arch-rival Kentucky.

Louisville, which defeated Kentucky 9-6 in Lexington last Wednesday, trailed the Wildcats 5-1 heading into the home half of the 7th inning. Golden Spikes Award candidate Corey Ray then completely changed the tide of the game by belting a 3-run home run to dead center, his 11th of the season. Brendan McKay nearly evened the score at five moments later, but his apparent solo blast was robbed by Wildcat right fielder Marcus Carson.

Kentucky added a run in the 8th inning, but U of L answered right back. Danny Rosenbaum ripped a 2-out double down the left field line to score Hairston, and then tied the score after a pair of wild pitches by UK reliever Sean Hjelle. A scoreless top of the 9th from Cardinal righty Anthony Kidston set the stage for Hairston's final heroics.

The victory was especially sweet for Kidston, who went 14-1 over his first two seasons at Louisville before struggling mightily as a junior in 2015 and seeing himself used sparingly so far this season.

"I'm glad to be back with you guys," Kidston joked to the media after the game. "It's been a couple years. I guess if you aren't going to be an All-American, you'd better show up against Kentucky."

This marks the second straight season that Louisville has swept the regular season series with Kentucky. The Cardinals also eliminated the Wildcats from the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

U of L, which heads to Boston College on Friday for the first of a three-game set, is now 30-7 on the season and 24-1 in games played at Jim Patterson.

Five straight, you say?

Beautiful.

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