Bellarmine Baseball Stuns Louisville with Late Heroics in Historic Win

When Louisville loses to Bellarmine, the state of Kentucky wins. Somehow, some way, this defeat might be more shocking than Kenny Payne’s masterpiece.

Dan McDonnell can’t win the big one. The man who turned Louisville into an Omaha regular nearly saw his program collapse in recent years. The Cards rediscovered the rope this spring and spent most of the season in the Top 25. With less than a week left in the regular season, they let go of that rope.

Bellarmine entered Tuesday night’s mid-week matchup with a 13-38 record, tied for the second-worst record in the ASUN. They left Jim Patterson Stadium with a 10-9 win, the program’s first-ever win over a Top 25 opponent. It’s also the Knights’ first win over a power conference program.

It happened in the most dramatic way possible.

The Knights led 9-2 in the sixth inning, but there was just enough time for the Cards to mount a comeback. They rattled off four runs in the eighth to make it a one-run ballgame. That’s when things tightened up.

Only one out away from securing the win, Bellarmine’s Jackson Case misjudged a ball to centerfield, giving Kamau Neighbors a triple. With the game-tying run on third, Case got a chance at redemption. This time, he played the ball perfectly. Despite a collision with the outfield wall, he hung onto the game-winning catch.

OH MY‼️

JACKSON CASE‼️

We're already calling it: One of the Best Catches in Bellarmine PROGRAM HISTORY‼️

FINAL: Bellarmine 10, No. 21 Louisville 9 pic.twitter.com/Ieuu1Oxuoo

— Bellarmine Baseball (@BUKnightsBSB) May 14, 2025

What a twist of fate. Case went from being the guy who cost his team a chance at the upset, to the guy who made the game-winning play in the biggest win in school history.

Congrats to the Bellarmine Knights. It was one hell of a night to sour Louisville’s season.

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