Louisville Baseball Postgame Notes

April 24, 2012

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

With Tuesday's win, the Cardinals earned a series sweep of the Wildcats with both wins coming when UK was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Tuesday's game was played in front of an announced crowd of 3,863, the largest of the season for the Cardinals and the seventh largest in Jim Patterson Stadium history.

Against one of the nation's best offensive team's statistically, Louisville limited Kentucky to just two runs and nine hits in 18 innings this season.

In the two-game season series, Louisville outscored Kentucky 22-2 and finished with a 28-9 advantage in hits.

With their two runs in the opening frame on Tuesday night, the Cardinals have outscored their opponents 69-9 in the first inning this season.

In their two games with the Wildcats, Louisville outscored UK 5-0 in the first inning.

During the first three innings in their two games with the Wildcats, Louisville had a 13-1 scoring advantage.

The Cardinals improved to 17-5 this season when scoring in the first inning and 23-5 when scoring first.

Including Tuesday's 11-hit outing, the Cardinals have finished with 10 or more hits 25 times this season.

With their six runs in the third inning on Tuesday, the Cardinals have scored five or more runs in an inning 15 times this season.

The Cardinals improved to 29-0 this season when leading after the seventh inning.

Sophomore righty Chad Green earned his second straight midweek win to improve to 3-0 on the season. In his last two midweek outings, he has allowed just one run on two hits with three strikeouts and has an ERA of 1.29.

While starting each of the Cardinals' last three games, junior outfielder Matt Helms is hitting .556 (5-for-9) with four RBI, two doubles, one walk, one HBP and two runs scored.

With his fifth inning single on Tuesday, sophomore Cole Sturgeon has hit safely in a career-best nine straight games.

Prior to Tuesday's game, Stephanie Decker of Henryville, Ind., threw out the ceremonial first pitch. On March 2nd, 2012, an EF4 tornado destroyed the homes of many in the community of Henryville, Indiana. During this time of crisis, Decker went to special lengths to protect her family. As the massive tornado hit, she laid over top of her two children as their house fell on top of her and the kids. While both children were able to walk away without a scratch, she lost both of her legs. On Wednesday, she is scheduled to undergo what will hopefully be her last surgery at University Hospital in Louisville and plans to be walking with the aid of prosthesis within the next month. She was joined on the field by her husband, Joe and two children, Dominic (8) and Reese (6).

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