LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Interstat) — JJ Moran launched a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning Sunday afternoon, breaking a late tie and lifting the Stanford Cardinal to a 6-4 victory over the Louisville Cardinals to secure a series split in Atlantic Coast Conference play at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The game, which began in the afternoon and concluded in the evening, was a tense pitcher’s duel for much of the day after Louisville erased an early three-run deficit. The contest was deadlocked at 3-3 entering the ninth before Moran’s decisive blast off reliever Peter England.

Stanford improved to 16-16 overall and evened its ACC series at one game apiece. Louisville fell to 20-16.

The most important part of the game was the top of the ninth inning, which began with a walk to Ethan Jeon and a single by Ryson Sasaki. After a double play nearly quashed the rally, Jimmy Bates drew a two-out walk to bring Moran to the plate. The Stanford third baseman then sent a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall, his first home run of the season, to provide the final margin.

The late offensive eruption overshadowed a masterful performance from the Stanford bullpen, particularly reliever Trevor Moore. Entering with two outs in the sixth inning and his team clinging to a one-run lead, Moore silenced the Louisville bats over the final 3 1/3 innings to earn the win. He allowed no hits and struck out three, facing the minimum 10 batters. His effort preserved a staff day that saw six Stanford pitchers combine on a five-hitter.

Louisville’s bullpen was equally stingy for much of the game after a rocky start. Following starter Nick Dugan’s early exit, relievers Ty Starke, Jack Brown and Peter Michael combined for 6 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief, striking out seven. That allowed their offense to chip away at Stanford’s early lead.

Stanford struck first in the second inning, scoring twice on an RBI single by Jeon and a bases-loaded walk by Teddy Tokheim. They added another in the sixth on another fielder’s choice RBI by Jeon.

Louisville answered in the third against Dugan and relievers Cohen Gomez and Mike Erspamer. With two on and one out, Tucker Davis lined a two-run single to left-center to cut the deficit to 3-2. The home team tied it in the fourth on an RBI fielder’s choice by Zion Davis and then leveled the score at 3-3 in the fifth without a hit, capitalizing on a walk, two stolen bases and a balk by reliever Parker Warner.

The victory allowed Stanford to rebound from a 10-0 loss on Saturday. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Stanford 7, Louisville 4, though its ELO system gave Louisville a 61.5% probability to win.

Stanford returns home to face Santa Clara on Wednesday. Louisville hosts Western Kentucky on Tuesday.