LOUISVILLE (Interstat) — Henry Zatkowski pitched six innings of no-hit baseball and Virginia capitalized on four Louisville errors to beat the Cardinals 8-3 on Thursday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The Cavaliers improved to 35-18 overall, 18-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Louisville fell to 28-26, 15-17.

Zatkowski allowed one unearned run, walked two and struck out six. He faced the minimum through three innings, retiring the first 11 batters before a fielding error put a runner on in the fourth. The only blemish on his line came in the sixth, when Louisville scratched across a run on a single after an error had placed a runner on base. Zatkowski departed after six innings having thrown 82 pitches, 55 for strikes.

Virginia broke the game open with a three-run second inning and a four-run third, all the runs unearned. In the second, Henry Didawick scored on a two-out throwing error by Louisville shortstop Alex Alicea. Joe Tiroly followed with a two-run single through the left-center gap, scoring Chris Murray and James Jackson to make it 3-0.

The Cavaliers extended the lead in the third. With the bases loaded and one out, Jackson reached on a fielder’s choice that scored two runs when catcher Logan Hot committed a throwing error. Later in the inning, with two outs, Eric Becker singled to center field to drive in Jackson, who had advanced to second on a double play. Virginia led 7-0.

Virginia added its final run in the sixth. With the bases loaded, Jackson drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Harrison Harris.

Louisville’s only run against Zatkowski came in the bottom of the sixth. Luke Nugent reached on an error, advanced on a single and scored on a single by Bradley Slanker.

The Cardinals threatened in the eighth against reliever Lucas Hartman. With one out, Carson Moore singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Henry Didawick. Slanker walked, and Alicea singled to right to score Moore. Slanker later scored on a fielding error by second baseman Joe Tiroly, cutting the deficit to 8-3. But the rally ended when pinch runner Jacob Rose was caught stealing second. Hartman allowed two runs, one earned, in two innings of relief.

Tyler Kapa closed the game with a scoreless ninth, striking out two.

Both teams finished with eight hits. Becker went 3-for-6 with an RBI and a double. Tiroly was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. For Louisville, Alicea was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Zatkowski’s outing marked a sharp turnaround from his previous start, when he allowed five earned runs on five hits in 6.1 innings in a loss to California on May 8. He had pitched two scoreless innings May 3 against Radford.

Louisillo’s bullpen held Virginia scoreless after the sixth. Joe Olson pitched 3.1 innings of relief, allowing one earned run on one hit while striking out two. TJ Schlageter struck out three in two hitless innings. Kian Vorster allowed one hit in a scoreless inning, and Tanner Thomas retired two batters on four pitches.

The series continues Friday and Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Virginia 5, Louisville 7. Interstat’s ELO system gave Virginia a 56.20 percent probability to win.