Haynes, Wright and Koch Named 2011 Louisville Baseball Captains
December 06, 2010 | Baseball
Dec. 6, 2010
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior outfielder Drew Haynes, junior second baseman Ryan Wright and sophomore pitcher Matt Koch have been selected as team captains for the University of Louisville baseball team for the 2011 season. The selections were voted on by the Cardinal players and coaches.
Haynes, a native of New Albany, Ind., hit .291 and was 15-of-22 on stolen bases while starting all 64 games in the outfield last season. Through his first three seasons as a Cardinal, Haynes has 160 career starts and has played in 186 games, just 56 shy of the U of L school record of 242.
Wright, from Fort Wayne, Ind., hit .366 with 16 home runs and 80 RBI to earn Second Team All-America (Baseball America) and First Team All-BIG EAST honors in 2010. A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2009, Wright followed his sophomore season with an impressive summer for the USA Collegiate National Team hitting .361 overall with 18 runs scored, two home runs and 12 RBI in 19 games.
Koch, who hails from Cherokee, Iowa, was 3-0 overall with a 3.27 ERA in his first collegiate season. The righty finished the season as the Cardinals' No. 2 starter and was named to the All-NCAA Regional team after allowing just one run on three hits in six innings to earn the victory against Vanderbilt.
Last season, the Cardinals won their second straight BIG EAST regular season championship, a school record 50 wins and the program's first ever selection as a national seed for the NCAA Championship in 2010. Louisville also hosted an NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium for the second straight season and closed last season ranked as high at No. 16 overall.
Louisville will open the 2011 season at the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Feb. 18-20. The Cardinals' home schedule will begin with a three-game series against Toledo on Feb. 25-27 at Jim Patterson Stadium.
