WKU Visits No. 11 Baseball For Midweek Matchup
April 29, 2013 | Baseball
April 29, 2013
GAME DAY INFO: #11 Louisville (33-10) vs. Western Kentucky (22-22)
Date: April 30, 2013
Times: 6 p.m. ET
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000)
Radio: News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA)
TV: None
Internet: CardsTV (Audio) at GoCards.com
Live Stats: Gametracker at GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
| Tuesday, 6 p.m. ET | CardsTV Listen / Watch | Gametracker |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 11 Louisville baseball team concludes its five-game homestand with a midweek rematch against in-state foe Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 6 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.
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.
GAME PROMOTIONS
- T-Shirt Tuesday: First 150 fans through the gates receive a free Louisville Baseball t-shirt (will be given voucher to pick-up at end of the 5th).
PITCHING MATCHUP
UofL: Jr. RHP Dace Kime (2-1, 4.19 ERA)
WKU: TBA
SERIES OVERVIEW
- Louisville trails 63-59 in the all-time series with WKU. The Cardinals do hold a 35-26 advantage in games played in Louisville.
- Earlier this season, the Hilltoppers earned a 6-5 walkoff win over UofL on April 9 in Bowling Green.
- Though Louisville has lost three of four in the series, they are 9-4 against Western Kentucky under the guidance of head coach Dan McDonnell.
- In WKU's last visit to Louisville, the Cardinals earned a 9-2 win on April 3, 2012.
- The Louisville-WKU series dates back to 1924 when the two schools split a pair games with the home squad winning each contest.
ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY
WKU enters the week at 22-22 overall and 11-10 in Sun Belt games after being swept in a three-game series at UALR last weekend. Last Tuesday, the Hilltoppers earned a 3-2 win in 18 innings over Kentucky in Bowling Green in their most recent midweek game. Last season, WKU was 25-33 and finished eighth in the Sun Belt with a 13-17 record.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS TO TRACK
- With three weekends left in the regular season, Louisville is two games out of first in the BIG EAST standings with an 11-4 record. USF leads the way at 13-2 while Pittsburgh is one game behind at 12-3.
- The Cardinals' 33-10 mark is the second best record through 43 games in school history trailing only the 36-7 effort of the 2010 team, which set school records for regular season wins (46) and total wins (50).
- Ranked among the nation's best pitching staffs entering the weekend, Louisville is 13th in ERA at 2.60 and first in strikeouts per nine innings with 9.4.
- The Cards are fifth in the nation in stolen bases with 110. Adam Engel paces the UofL running attack with 32 steals (fifth nationally) in 40 attempts.
- Louisville has allowed only 28 stolen bases in 45 attempts so far this season.
- UofL is 23-4 against righty starters while only 10-6 against lefties this season.
- The Cards are 26-5 when scoring first, including 16-2 when scoring in the first inning.
- The Cardinals have allowed two or fewer earned runs in 24 of 43 games this season.
- Louisville is 29-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning.
- Nick Ratajczak is the third toughest player in the nation to strike out doing so once for every 23.7 at-bats.
- Coco Johnson has reached base safely in 18 straight games.
- Louisville ranks fifth in the nation in hit-by-pitch with 91, while Nick Ratajczak (11th nationally with 17 HBPs) and Coco Johnson (15th with 16) lead the way.
- The Cardinals are seventh in the nation in triples with 21. Ty Young ranks fourth nationally with six.
LOUISVILLE REMAINS OUTSIDE TOP 10 FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK
The Cardinals enter week 12 of the season as high as No. 11 and no lower than 13th in the five major national polls. UofL, ranked in at least one national poll for 26 straight weeks in the regular season dating back to the 2012 preseason, is 11th in the Perfect Game, the NCBWA and the Collegiate Baseball newspaper polls, 12th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll and 13th in the Baseball America Top 25. It is the second straight week Louisville has been ranked outside the top 10 in all five polls after holding a top 10 ranking the first 10 weeks of 2013.
BURDI INVITED TO USA BASEBALL COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM
Sophomore righty Nick Burdi has been selected for the 2013 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team as announced on April 24. A native of Downers Grove, Ill., Burdi leads the Cardinals' in saves with eight to go with a 0.84 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 17 relief appearances and 21.1 innings pitched this season. Opposing batters are hitting just .195 against the hard-throwing Burdi, who has a 2-2 record overall on the mound. Burdi is the sixth UofL player to earn an invitation to the USA Collegiate National Team. Previous Cardinals to participate in the selection process for Team USA include Ryan Wright (2010), Phil Wunderlich (2009), Tony Zych (2009), Justin Marks (2008) and Mark Jurich (2002). Training for the team is set for June 21-July 2 in Cary, N.C., at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Team USA will travel to Japan from July 6-11 and is also scheduled to play Cuba from July 18-23 in the U.S.
YOUNG LEADS THE WAY FOR THE CARDINALS' OFFENSE
The Cardinals' top hitter in 2012, junior infielder Ty Young is among the leaders in several major hitting categories for Louisville in 2013. He ranks first in hitting (.387), RBI (47), on-base percentage (.466) and triples (6) while ranking second in home runs (6), stolen bases (20-of-25), slugging (.574), runs (38) and doubles (8). A Third Team All-BIG EAST selection last season, Young has started all 43 games in 2013 with 41 of those at third base.
LOUISVILLE STAYS AGGRESSIVE ON THE BASES IN 2013
Louisville has already surpassed last season's stolen bases total while remaining among the nation's best in that category ranking fifth with 110 in 145 attempts. 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. Ranking fifth nationally with 32 steals in 40 attempts, Adam Engel leads five Cardinals with 10 or more stolen bases this season.
THREE BAGS AND A CLOUD OF DUST FOR THE CARDINALS
With their 21st triple of the season on April 28, the Cardinals (who rank seventh in the NCAA in triples) have already surpassed last season's total of 18 three-baggers. Five players have at least two triples this season with Ty Young leading the way with six, which ranks fourth in the nation overall. Louisville's highest triple total in any of Dan McDonnell's previous six seasons as head coach was 19 in 2009, while the lowest total was just nine in 2010. The school record for triples is 34 set in the 1980 and 1992 seasons.
LOUISVILLE ONE AWAY FROM MATCHING SCHOOL SHUTOUT RECORD
With last their 4-0 win over Elon on April 14, the Cardinals moved within one game of matching the school record for shutouts in a season after claiming their sixth of 2013. The 2007 College World Series squad holds the UofL record for shutouts earning seven en route to advancing to Omaha. Overall, Louisville has 30 shutout wins under the direction of seventh year head coach Dan McDonnell -- four in 2012, six in 2011, five in 2010, one each in 2009 and 2008 and the school record of seven in 2007.
THOMPSON STARTS FAST WITH FIVE STRAIGHT WINS & SEVEN OVERALL
Junior Jeff Thompson has been among the nation's best pitchers in 2013 with a 7-1 record through 11 starts while allowing only 14 earned runs in 69.0 innings. Along with the 1.83 ERA, Thompson has 71 strikeouts and just 23 walks while opposing batters are hitting just .181 against the 6-6 righty. He set the tone in his first start of the season striking out a career best 12 in five shutout innings against USF. Over the course of four straight starts, Thompson had a career best stretch of 28.0 shutout innings from March 9 to March 29.
GREEN CONSISTENT EARLY AS CARDINALS' FRIDAY STARTER
Having never made a regular season weekend start when the 2013 season opened, junior right-hander Chad Green has handled the role as the Cardinals' Friday starter solidly through the first 11 weekends. With a 6-2 record overall, Green has a 2.12 ERA and 43 strikeouts to only 11 walks in 68.0 innings pitched. Arguably his best start of the early season came on Feb. 22 when he allowed only one hit and issued just one walk with three strikeouts in seven shutout innings against Akron.
KIDSTON EARNS FIVE WINS AND A SAVE TO OPEN COLLEGE CAREER
Freshman righty Anthony Kidston has been impressive and successful early in his UofL career earning wins in each of his first two appearances on the mound, picking up a save in his third outing and adding three more wins in his first four starts. Overall, Kidston is 5-0 with a save, a 1.31 ERA and 58 strikeouts while allowing only 25 hits in 48.0 innings of work. His best start of the season came on April 14 when he matched a career high with seven strikeouts while working a career best eight shutout innings to earn the win against visiting Elon.
BURDI BRINGS HEAT TO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM
Penciled in as the closer entering the 2013 season, sophomore righty Nick Burdi was impressive in his first ever save situation. With the Cards holding a one-run lead over Akron on Feb. 24, Burdi entered from the Patterson Stadium bullpen and promptly delivered 11 straight strikes to earn his first career save. His first three pitches registered at 100 mph on the stadium radar gun making him the first pitcher in the history of the ballpark to reach triple digits. In 17 outings (21.1 innings pitched) this season, Burdi is 2-2 with eight saves and a 0.84 ERA to go with 43 strikeouts (of his 64 total outs; 67.1 percent of outs by strikeout).
FUNKHOUSER OPENS WITH NO EARNED RUNS IN FIRST 21.1 INNINGS
Freshman right-hander Kyle Funkhouser started his collegiate career in highly impressive fashion allowing no earned runs in his first 21.1 innings overall. Earning a win in his first career start with 5.2 innings of quality baseball against USC on March 20, Funkhouser has a 2-1 record overall with a 1.84 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 29.1 innings of work so far.
WHITING HELPS PACE OFFENSE IN FIRST SEASON AS A STARTER
Entering 2013, sophomore infielder Sutton Whiting had never made a start while only playing in 20 games total. While being used as a pinch runner for most of his appearances as a freshman, Whiting was hitless in his only five at-bats. However, after a strong fall and even better preseason, Whiting earned the opening day start at shortstop and has been outstanding since. As one of the Cards' top hitters with a .328 average, Whiting has chipped in with 22 RBI and 16 stolen bases while hitting in the No. 9 spot in the lineup.
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