No. 4 Baseball Welcomes Kent State for Weekend Series
February 28, 2013 | Baseball
Feb. 28, 2013
GAME DAY INFORMATION: #4 Louisville vs. Kent State
Dates: March 1-3
Location: Louisville, Ky. | Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000)
TV: None
Radio: News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA)
Internet: CardsTV (Audio/Video) at GoCards.com
| Friday, 3 p.m. ET | CardsTV Listen / Watch | Gametracker |
| Saturday, 1 p.m. ET | CardsTV Listen / Watch | Gametracker |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ET | CardsTV Listen / Watch | Gametracker |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The fourth-ranked Louisville baseball team concludes its eight-game homestand at Jim Patterson Stadium with a weekend series against Kent State starting on Friday at 3 p.m., ET.
The series is scheduled to continue on Saturday at 1 p.m., before concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live play-by-play throughout the weekend can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM, while live video and audio for each game 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.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday
- Budweiser Buck Night: Draft Beer and small Pepsi products are only $1 each.
Saturday
- BBQ on the Berm: Hamburgers are $3, 16 oz. canned beer is only $2 in left field outfield berm.
- Cardinal Cap Day: Wear a UofL hat to the game, get a voucher for free 32 oz. tub of popcorn, at main gate.
Sunday - Dr. Bizer's Family Fun Day: Hot Dogs are a $1 (until last out). Inflatable games and kids can run the bases after the game. Select student-athletes will sign autographs postgame on-field.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday
Louisville: Jr. RHP Chad Green - (1-1, 1.64 ERA)
Kent State: Jr. RHP Tyler Skulina - (0-0, 2.08 ERA)
Saturday
Louisville: Jr. RHP Jeff Thompson - (2-0, 0.00 ERA)
Kent State: Jr. RHP Taylor Williams - (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
Sunday
Louisville: So. RHP Jared Ruxer - (0-0, 2.89 ERA)
Kent State: Sr. RHP Casey Wilson - (0-2, 11.57 ERA)
SERIES OVERVIEW
Entering this week's series, the Cardinals and Golden Flashes have met 24 times previously with UofL holding a 13-11 edge in the all-time series, which dates back to 1996. Louisville has won four straight in the series and six of the last 7 with all 24 previous matchups being played in Louisville. The last time the two programs met, the Cardinals swept a three-game weekend series and earned a midweek win over the Golden Flashes during the 2011 season.
ABOUT KENT STATE
Kent State is 1-7 overall after dropping three of four at San Diego last weekend. The Golden Flashes are led by ninth-year head coach Scott Stricklin, who is 315-172 during his tenure in Kent. Last season, the Flashes were 47-20 overall after advancing to the College World Series for the first time in school history. Kent State was 24-3 in the MAC to finish first in the East Division. After winning the Gary (Ind.) Regional, the Golden Flashes defeated Oregon in a Super Regional and went 1-2 in Omaha earning an elimination game win over No. 1 Florida.
LAST OUTING FOR THE CARDINALS
Fueled by a pair of five-run innings, fourth-ranked Louisville won its seventh straight game with a 13-4 victory over visiting Morehead State on Tuesday at Jim Patterson Stadium. Freshman Danny Rosenbaum was 2-for-3 with his first career home run, a career best five RBI and two runs scored as the Cardinals scored five in the first inning and added five more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. On the mound, junior right-hander Dace Kime pitched four innings allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 2-0 on 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 has opened its 36-game home schedule with five straight wins. The 2013 schedule ranks second in Cardinals' baseball history trailing only the 43 home games played in 1980.
This weekend's series will conclude an eight-game homestand for the Cardinals, which is part of 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 eight games, Louisville has 39 stolen bases (in 48 attempts), while opponents have just five stolen bases in seven attempts... The Cardinals have a 20-4 scoring advantage in the first two innings this season... Louisville is 3-0 against righty starters this season... The Cards are 7-0 when leading after eight innings... Louisville's seven-game winning streak is the longest since winning seven straight from March 16-25 during the 2012 season... During the winning streak, six of the seven wins have been by five or more runs.
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.
CARDINALS AGGRESSIVE ON THE BASES EARLY IN 2013
Through eight games, Louisville has 39 stolen bases (4.8 per game) in 48 attempts (6.0 per game). Last season, the Cardinals had 96 stolen bases in 63 games, while the school record is 153 stolen bases in 71 games during the 2007 College World Series season. Leading the way is Adam Engel with 12 steals in 12 attempts, while Ty Young and Coco Johnson have seven swipes each early in 2013.
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.
