UK has edge over U of L in streak-busting year of Cats-Cards rivalry

When Nick Mingione and the Kentucky baseball team turned back a Louisville rally to claim an 11-7 win over the Cardinals Tuesday night, it was a fitting ending to the scheduled games between UK and U of L in 2016-17.

Kentucky’s win snapped a six-game Louisville winning streak in the baseball series between the intrastate archrivals. It was a perfect finale to a year in which the freakishly streaky UK-U of L all-sports rivalry saw some notable reversals of fortune.

With the stipulation there could still be NCAA Tournament competition between Kentucky and Louisville in spring sports, the Cats finished regular-season competition holding a narrow 6-5 edge over the Cards.

In men’s sports — which Louisville had dominated over the past two school years other than basketball — the Wildcats fought the Cardinals to a 3-3 draw in ’16-17. The schools split two games in baseball, with Kentucky winning in football and soccer and U of L victorious in basketball and swimming.

On the women’s side — where Kentucky has had the clear upper hand recently — things were close this year. UK claimed a 3-2 advantage, winning in soccer, softball and volleyball, while U of L won in basketball and swimming.

Still, for connoisseurs of the Cats vs. Cards all-sports rivalry, 2016-17 should be remembered for tables that turned:

Reversing the tide

Baseball: Starting when Dan McDonnell’s Cardinals eliminated Kentucky from the 2014 NCAA Tournament, U of L had beaten UK six in a row until the Cats turned a triple play en route to besting the Cards Tuesday night.

Men’s basketball: John Calipari’s Wildcats had beaten Rick Pitino’s Cardinals four in a row and eight of nine before Louisvillian Quentin Snider led the Cards to a 73-70 victory Dec. 21st.

Women’s basketball: Matthew Mitchell and UK had bested Jeff Walz and U of L five in a row and six of seven before the Cardinals erased a late UK lead in regulation and won by two in overtime in the KFC Yum Center Dec. 4.

Football: Louisville had defeated Kentucky five times in a row before relatively unheralded UK quarterback Stephen Johnson outdueled U of L’s soon-to-be Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and led the Wildcats — 27-point underdogs — to a 41-38 upset of the Cardinals.

Men’s soccer: U of L had beaten UK two straight and five of six before the Cats — in spite of being outshot a robust 16-2 — prevailed 1-0 Sept. 6.

Playing to form

Not every streak in the UK-U of L competition ended in 2016-17:

Swimming: The Louisville men beat Kentucky for a ninth-straight season while the U of L women ran their winning streak over UK to eight.

Women’s soccer: Kentucky won for the sixth-straight year. In falling 3-1 to UK Sept. 2, at least U of L scored a goal against the Wildcats for the first time in six seasons.

Softball: UK’s 10-1 victory April 12 gave Rachel Lawson’s Cats six wins in their past seven meetings with U of L.

Volleyball: Kentucky’s Sept. 15 victory over Louisville was UK’s fourth in a row and sixth of the last seven.

Bountiful year

Both Kentucky and Louisville appear headed for their best finishes ever in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings, which uses a school’s results in NCAA tournaments and football bowl games to evaluate the overall strength of athletics departments.

UK, whose previous best in the Directors’ Cup was 11th in 2013-14, currently stands eighth.

U of L, whose previous best in the Directors’ Cup was 28th in 2006-07, currently stands 15th.

Given the wide-ranging turmoil at Louisville — NCAA investigation into the use of paid escorts for recruiting purposes in men’s basketball; the “Wakey-leaks” scandal that enveloped Cardinals’ football; the mysterious “Papa John” Schnatter vs. Tom Jurich dust up; and all the administrative turnover and controversy at the top of the university — U of L’s athletes have performed at a high level amidst epic, potential distractions.

This school year, Cats-Cards matchups have been between teams representing two of the most successful all-around athletics departments in the country.

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 5:21 PM with the headline "UK has edge over U of L in streak-busting year of Cats-Cards rivalry."