LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bethune-Cookman's window of opportunity closed quickly Saturday afternoon as the Wildcats fell 7-2 to No. 3 Louisville at Jim Patterson Park.

Nathan Bond gave the Wildcats (15-33) a 2-1 lead in the fourth when he doubled home Demetrius Sims and scored on Jameel Edney's single. Though Louisville answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning,  Bethune-Cookman had another chance for a big inning in the fifth.

Clay Middleton singled, then Sims and Jordan Robinson walked to load the bases, but the Wildcats couldn't capitalized and stranded all three. The Cardinals got a two-run, two-out double from Blake Tiberi to extend their lead to 5-2, then used a pair of infield errors in the seventh for a pair of insurance runs.

“Offensively we had our chances and defensively we had a chance to get out of innings without them scoring,” said B-CU Head Coach Jason Beverlin. “We lost the strike zone and didn't cash in.”

Middleton was the lone Wildcat with a multi-hit game.

Louisville's Brendan McKay struck out 11 in six innings en route to the win.  The Cardinals (33-10) outhit the Wildcats 11-7.

“Where they [Louisville] are the most dangerous is team speed,” Beverlin said. “Speed  doesn't slump  constantly puts pressure on the other team. “They have five six on their team that can really run.”

Tyler Norris (3-3) took the loss, giving up five unearned runs while walking three and striking out two in five and a third innings. Donte Lindsay worked two and two-thirds innings in relief.

The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.