Fourth-Ranked Baseball Hosts Morehead State Tuesday Afternoon
February 26, 2013 | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2013
GAME DAY INFORMATION: #4 Louisville vs. Morehead State
Date: Feb. 26
Location: Louisville, Ky. | Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000)
TV: None
Radio: News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA)
Internet: CardsTV (Audio/Video) at GoCards.com
| Tuesday, 3 p.m. ET | CardsTV Audio / Video | Gametracker |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 4 Louisville baseball team continues its eight-game homestand at Jim Patterson Stadium with a visit from Morehead State on Tuesday at 3 p.m., ET and admission is free for the game.
The midweek matchup with be the 78th meeting all-time between the Cardinals and Eagles. Live play-by-play can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM, while live video and audio will be available to subscribers of CardsTV at GoCards.com. Live scoring will be available through the Gametracker feature on the baseball schedule page at GoCards.com.
MIDWEEK PROMOTIONS
- Schedule Keychain Giveaway: first 500 fans receive schedule keychain, distributed at front gates
PITCHING MATCHUP
Louisville: Jr. RHP Dace Kime - (1-0, 1.23 ERA)
Morehead State: Sr. LHP Garrick Whittle - (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
SERIES OVERVIEW
Entering this week's game, Louisville and Morehead State have met 77 times previously with the Cardinals holding a 42-35 advantage overall. Louisville has won 12 straight in the series and 14 of the last 15 between the two programs. The two teams have played a single midweek game in each of the last 13 seasons, while the last 15 matchups in the series have been played in Louisville.
ABOUT MOREHEAD STATE
Morehead State is 4-4 overall after dropping three of four at Gardner-Webb last weekend. The Eagles are led by first-year head coach Mike McGuire. Last season, the Eagles were 28-27 overall and 13-14 in the Ohio Valley Conference to finish tied for fifth in regular season race. MSU went 0-2 at the 2012 OVC Championship.
LAST OUTING FOR THE CARDINALS
On a day dominated by pitching and defense, the fourth-ranked Louisville baseball team closed out a weekend sweep of Akron with a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium.
With Sunday's game even at 1-1, junior outfielder Adam Engel started the decisive scoring chance for the Cardinals with his one-out single up the middle off Akron starter J.T. Brubaker. Engel then stole second and third before scoring on an RBI sacrifice fly to left field off the bat of senior second baseman Nick Ratajczak. After the Cards plated the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, sophomore Nick Burdi had three strikeouts in a scoreless ninth to earn his first save. The hard-throwing Louisville closer opened the ninth with three straight pitches of 100 mph on the Patterson Stadium radar gun while all 11 of his pitches were strikes.
Engel led the way for Louisville going 3-for-5 with a double, triple, career best four RBI, three runs scored and three stolen bases in the win. Sturgeon added four hits with two stolen bases, two runs and an RBI, while Whiting finished 3-of-3 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored. On the mound, righty Dace Kime allowed only one run on three hits with five strikeouts in four innings as the Cardinals' starter on a predetermined staff day to earn his first win of the season.
EIGHT-GAME HOMESTAND STARTS SECOND LARGEST HOME SLATE EVER FOR LOUISVILLE
Slated to play the second most home games in school history at expanded Jim Patterson Stadium, the Louisville baseball team opened its 36-game home schedule last Wednesday with the win over EKU. The 2013 schedule ranks second in Cardinals' baseball history trailing only the 43 home games played in 1980.
Wednesday's game also started an eight-game homestand for the Cardinals and a stretch of 24 of 26 games for Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium, which has an updated seating capacity of 4,000. The eight-game homestand is the second longest on the schedule behind the 12-game stretch from March 8-24.
NOTES AND TRENDS TO FOLLOW
Through seven games, Louisville has 31 stolen bases (in 39 attempts), while opponents have just five stolen bases in seven attempts... The Cardinals have a 14-1 scoring advantage in the first two innings this season... Louisville is 3-1 against lefty starters this season... The Cardinals are 6-0 when leading after eight innings... In their six wins this season, the Cardinals have never trailed, while in their one loss, they never led... Adam Engel has hit safely in all seven games this season, the only Cardinal to do so... Louisville's six-game winning streak is the longest since winning seven straight from March 16 to March 25 during the 2012 season.
ENGEL NAMED BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON FEB. 25
Outfielder Adam Engel was named BIG EAST Baseball Player of the Week on Feb. 25 after his impressive performances in the Cardinals' four wins the previous week. Engel had a terrific week hitting .400 (6-for-15) at the plate with two doubles, a triple, five RBI, six runs scored and eight stolen bases in eight attempts as the No. 4 Cardinals went 4-0 on the week. In the Feb. 24 series finale against Akron, Engel matched a school record and became just the fifth Louisville player in school history to steal four bases in a game. Earlier in the week, Engel was 3-for-5 with four RBI, three runs scored and three stolen bases in the Cards' 17-6 win over Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 20.
FOLLOWING THE CARDINALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
