LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Interstat) — Jimmy Nugent delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning and finished with three hits and three RBIs to lead the Louisville Cardinals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Wednesday evening at Jim Patterson Stadium.

The win evened Louisville’s record at 4-4, while Eastern Kentucky fell to 2-6.

Eastern Kentucky built an early 5-1 lead, capitalizing on Louisville mistakes. The Colonels struck for two runs in the second inning on an RBI double by Silas Shaffer and a run-scoring single by Caden Bittner. They added two more in the third, with Jay Douglas driving in a run with a single and Shaffer reaching on a fielder’s choice that plated another after a Louisville error.

Louisville chipped away, however. Trey Davis led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run to right-center field. The Cardinals then tied the game with a four-run third inning, keyed by a two-run double from designated hitter Jax Hisle. Nugent had tied the game earlier with a two-run single in the second.

The game remained deadlocked at 5 until the bottom of the sixth. Hisle led off with a bunt single, stole second and scored when Nugent laced a double down the left-field line off reliever Cooper Schneider.

From there, the Cardinals’ bullpen combination of Jake Schweitzer, Jack Brown and Aaron England silenced the Colonels’ bats. Schweitzer entered in the third to escape a jam and recorded 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Brown was particularly effective, inheriting a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the seventh and inducing an inning-ending double play from Shaffer. Brown then worked a perfect eighth.

England closed the door in the ninth, striking out one and getting a game-ending double play to secure the win.

Eastern Kentucky’s bullpen was also sharp after the third inning, with five relievers — Hayden Collins, Cooper Pumphrey, Caleb Freeman, Schneider and Griffin Howell — combining for 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The lone damage was Nugent’s decisive double.

Nugent, who was 0 for 4 in his previous game, broke out of a brief slump with his 3-for-4 performance. Hisle added two hits and two RBIs for Louisville. Douglas led Eastern Kentucky with three of the team’s nine hits.

The most critical sequence of the game occurred in the top of the seventh inning. Trailing 6-5, Eastern Kentucky loaded the bases with one out against reliever Derek Hartman. Louisville turned to Brown, who promptly got Shaffer to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, snuffing out the Colonels’ best scoring chance after they had tied the game.

Eastern Kentucky begins a three-game series at Tulane on Friday. Louisville opens a three-game home set against Central Michigan, also on Friday.