LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Interstat) — Conner Linn pitched five hitless innings and the Indiana Hoosiers used a five-run third inning to defeat the Louisville Cardinals 10-6 on Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Indiana improved to 20-25 overall, while Louisville dropped to 26-19.

Linn, who entered with a 5.06 ERA and had allowed one earned run in one-third of an inning in his previous outing April 19 against Abilene Christian, struck out two and walked none while facing the minimum 15 batters through five innings. He did not allow a baserunner, retiring the side in order in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth innings. Linn’s performance came after Indiana had dropped three straight games to Iowa over the weekend, being outscored 28-8.

The Hoosiers struck first in the top of the first inning. After a groundout by Hunter Denny, Jake Hanley walked and Josh ten Oever struck out looking. Cooper Malamazian doubled to right-center field, scoring Hanley for a 1-0 lead. Jacob Decker was hit by a pitch, but Braydon Fry fouled out to right field to end the inning.

Indiana added an unearned run in the top of the second. W. Moore reached on a throwing error by Louisville first baseman G. Crain, advanced to third on a fielding error by shortstop Jake Schweitzer and scored on a sacrifice fly by Denny.

The decisive inning came in the top of the third. Hanley singled to right-center, ten Oever singled through the left side and Malamazian singled through the left side to load the bases. Decker doubled down the right-field line, driving in two runs. Fry singled to left field, scoring two more. Louisville starter Bean was pulled in favor of Brandon Shannon, and Fry later scored on a wild pitch, giving Indiana a 6-0 lead. Gates singled, and Schuyler walked, but Denny and Hanley flied out to end the inning with the Hoosiers ahead 7-0.

Indiana added a run in the sixth when ten Oever homered to right field. Fry walked in the seventh, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double by Schuyler to make it 9-0.

Louisville finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Jimmy Nugent homered to left-center off Indiana reliever Vogel, cutting the deficit to 9-1. The Cardinals mounted a rally in the seventh, scoring two runs on a sacrifice fly by Rose and another sacrifice fly by T. Davis, making it 9-3.

Hanley answered in the top of the eighth with a solo home run to left field, restoring a seven-run lead at 10-3.

Louisville scored three more in the bottom of the eighth. Nugent walked, G. Crain was hit by a pitch, and Elam doubled to drive in Nugent. Slanker grounded out to score G. Crain, and Moore tripled to center to bring home Elam, making it 10-6. But Indiana’s Anthony Gubitosi closed the door in the ninth, striking out two and allowing one hit, to seal the victory.

Malamazian finished 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI for Indiana. Hanley was 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. For Louisville, Nugent went 2 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs, and Moore was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a triple.

The turning point was Indiana’s five-run third inning, which chased Louisville starter Bean and built a commanding lead that the Cardinals could not overcome despite a late push.

Indiana now heads to Northwestern for a three-game series starting Friday. Louisville travels to Wake Forest for a three-game series beginning Thursday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Louisville 7, Indiana 5, and its ELO system gave Louisville a 66.20 percent probability to win. The actual result flipped the script, with Linn’s dominant start and a timely offensive outburst delivering the Hoosiers a road victory.