Payton’s four hits lead Louisville past SE Missouri 7-2

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jack Payton had his first four-hit day and drove in four runs, and No. 12 overall seed Louisville defeated Southeast Missouri State 7-2 in the Louisville Regional on Friday.

Payton had RBI doubles for the Cardinals in the fifth and seven innings and ad ded a two-run single in the eighth.

Louisville (39-18-1) improved to 30-6 at home, the sixth time to reach 30 home wins in the last 10 seasons. The Cardinals will play the winner of the Michigan-Oregon game on Saturday while the Bears (37-21) face the loser.

Jevon Mason scored an unearned run in the first and doubled in a run in the second to put SE Missouri on top 2-0.

Cameron Masterman homered for Louisville in the bottom of the second and the Cardinals took the lead in the fourth when Levi Usher singled in a run and then stole second before moving up two bases on a pair of balks.

Garrett Schmeltz settled down after the first two innings to go six, allowing two hits and striking out a career-high eight, improving to 2-0. Tate Kuehner pitched three innings for his fifth save.

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