Baseball to Continue Fall Workouts with Three Weekend Scrimmages
September 23, 2010 | Baseball
Sept. 23, 2010
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville baseball team will continue its fall workouts this weekend with three scrimmages open to the public at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Fifth-year head coach Dan McDonnell and the Cardinals will open the weekend scrimmage schedule on Friday at 3 p.m., ET. That will be followed with a Saturday scrimmage at 12:30 p.m., while Sunday's weekend finale is set for 1 p.m.
After officially opening fall workouts on Sept. 7, this will be the third weekend of scrimmages for Louisville. The Cardinals' full-squad, off-season workouts will conclude with the annual Pizza Bowl intra-squad series, tentatively set for Oct. 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19.
The Cardinals returned to the practice field in preparation for 2011 after another highly successful campaign in 2010. Louisville's 2010 season included a second straight BIG EAST Conference regular season title, a school record 50 wins (50-14 overall) and the program's first ever selection as a national seed for the NCAA Championship. The Cardinals also hosted an NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium for the second straight season and closed 2010 ranked as high at No. 16 overall.
Despite the departure of six seniors to graduation, six juniors to the Major League Baseball Draft, expectations remain high for the Louisville baseball program in 2011. The Cardinals, who had 10 total players selected in the 2010 MLB Draft, return All-American junior infielder Ryan Wright, All-BIG EAST junior outfielder Stewart Ijames and experienced position players in senior catcher J.J. Ethel, senior outfielder Drew Haynes, junior outfielder Nate Holland, sophomore infielders Kyle Grieshaber, Cade Stallings and Zak Wasserman and sophomore outfielder Jarred Clarkson.
On the mound, Louisville returns senior righty Gabriel Shaw, junior righties Derek Self, Tony Zych, junior lefty Joe Stilphen, sophomore righties Justin Amlung, Matt Koch, Mike Nastold, Andy Flett and Curtis McCombs and sophomore lefty Keith Landers. McDonnell and the Cardinals also welcome a talented group of 14 newcomers, which includes a balanced mix of pitching, fielding and offense.
In his four seasons as the Cardinals' head coach, McDonnell has led Louisville to impressive heights, including its first ever College World Series appearance in 2007, four consecutive 40-win seasons, 185 wins overall and a school record four straight NCAA Championship appearances. Louisville has also hosted NCAA post-season games in three of the last four years.
