No. 16 Baseball to Open Home Slate Wednesday with EKU
February 22, 2012 | Baseball
Feb. 22, 2012
Game Day Links
| Wednesday, 3 p.m. | #16 UofL vs. EKU | CardsTV Audio/Video |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 16th-ranked Louisville baseball team opens its 33-game home schedule against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday at 3 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Live play-by-play of the game can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA) in Louisville. Live video of the game as well as live audio will be available to subscribers of CardsTV at the links above. Live scoring for the game will also be available through the Gametracker feature above.
Series Overview
Wednesday's game will be the 108th all-time between Louisville and Eastern Kentucky on the baseball diamond with the Cardinals holding a 58-48-1 advantage. U of L has won nine of the last 10 overall with EKU. The series resumes in 2012 after taking a year off last season. The last time these two programs met, Louisville earned a 14-3 as catcher Jeff Arnold had a pair of hits and a season-high five RBI to lead the 10th-ranked Cardinals.
Home-Opener Begins First of Two Nine-Game Homestands for U of L
With Wednesday's 2012 home-opener against Eastern Kentucky, the Cardinals will begin the first of two scheduled nine-game homestands at Jim Patterson Stadium this season. It also begins a stretch in which Louisville will play 22 of 26 games at home from Feb. 22 through April 3.
Cardinals Finish 2-1 at Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge, Which Ends Tied at 15-15
Louisville lost its first ever game at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge but bounced back to finish 2-1 on the weekend as the two league's finished tied for the first time in the history of the four-year event. The BIG EAST had won back-to-back Challenge titles entering this season. The Cards won their first six games in the event in 2010 and 2011 before dropping the 2012 opener to Minnesota.
The 2012 Challenge will featured 10 games each day matching teams from the two leagues. Joining Louisville from the BIG EAST for the 2012 event was Cincinnati, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, St. John's, USF and West Virginia, while the Big Ten had Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue.
About Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky enters the mid-week game at 2-1 overall after a season-opening series victory at East Tennessee State last weekend. The Colonels are led by head coach Jason Stein, who is 81-85 in his fourth season at the helm in Richmond. Last season, EKU finished 21-36 overall and was fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference at 11-13.
Notes and Trends to Follow...
Cole Sturgeon and Jeff Gardner have hit safely in each of the Cardinals' first three games in 2012. Gardner is riding a seven-game hitting streak going back to last season... Derek Self made two appearances out of the Cardinals' bullpen in the opening weekend and was outstanding pitching 4.0 scoreless innings allowing three hits with two strikeouts and earning one save... Adam Engel hit .385 (5-for-13) with two RBI, two runs and 2-for-2 on stolen bases in the first three games. He also made several big plays in centerfield, including a diving catch late in Sunday's win over MSU to rob a Spartan hitter of an extra-base hit... Newcomer Nick Ratajczak went 2-for-8 for a .250 average at the plate in his first weekend, but finished with a .571 on-base percentage after earning three walks and taking three HBPs.
Sturgoen Leads the Louisville Offense in Week One
Sophomore outfielder Cole Sturgeon is the Cardinals' leading hitter through the first three games of the season after going 5-for-9 for a .556 average at the season-opening Big Ten/BIG EAST Challeneg. He also added an RBI and two runs scored to go with two sacrifices on the weekend while making starts in both left and right field.
FIve Cardinals Made Louisville Debuts in Florida
Five different players made their Louisville debuts at the season-opening Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge. Position players Shane Crain (vs. Michigan State), Matt Helms (vs. Minnesota), Nick Ratajczak (vs. Minnesota) and Mason Snyder (vs. Illinois) and pitcher Jared Ruxer (vs. Michigan State) saw game action for the first time as Cardinals, while freshman pitcher Nick Burdi is slated to make his collegiate debut as the starter in today's game against EKU.
