No. 8 Louisville Visits WKU for Midweek Matchup
April 09, 2013 | Baseball
April 9, 2013
GAME DAY INFORMATION: #8 Louisville Baseball at Western Kentucky
Date: April 9, 2013
Times: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Bowling Green, Ky.
Venue: Bowling Green Ballpark (4,559)
Radio: News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA)
TV: None
Internet: CardsTV (Audio) at GoCards.com
Live Stats: Gametracker at GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
| Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET | CardsTV Listen | Gametracker |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 8 Louisville baseball team closes a four-game road stretch with a visit to Bowling Green, Ky., on Tuesday night for the first of two midweek matchups against in-state foe Western Kentucky. First pitch for the Cardinals and Hilltoppers is set for 7 p.m., ET at Bowling Green Ballpark.
Live play-by-play can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM in Louisville, while live 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.
PITCHING MATCHUP
UofL: So. LHP Kyle McGrath (4-0, 0.87 ERA)
WKU: So. LHP Austin Clay (3-2, 3.40 ERA)
SERIES OVERVIEW
- The Cardinals trail 62-59 in the all-time series with the Hilltoppers. WKU holds a 36-24 edge at home in the series, including a 2-0 edge in games at Bowling Green Ballpark.
- Though Louisville has lost two of three in the series, they have won nine of 12 under the guidance of head coach Dan McDonnell.
- In the last visit to WKU, the Cards dropped an 8-1 decision at Bowling Green Ballpark on May 1, 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 17-15 overall and 8-4 in Sun Belt games after dropping two of three at Arkansas State last weekend. Last Wednesday, the Hilltoppers lost 3-1 at home to Austin Peay 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
- The Cardinals' 25-6 record equals the best record in school history through 31 games matching the effort of the 2010 team, which went on to set school records for regular season wins (46) and total wins (50).
- Ranking among the nation's best pitching staffs entering the week, Louisville is fourth in ERA at 2.27 and second in strikeouts per nine innings with 9.6.
- The Cardinals rank third in the nation in stolen bases with 86 in 109 attempts.
- Junior OF Adam Engel paces the UofL running attack with 29 steals (2nd nationally) in 32 attempts.
- Louisville has allowed only 20 stolen bases in 33 attempts so far this season.
- UofL is 18-3 against righty starters and 7-3 against lefties this season.
- The Cards are 14-1 when scoring in the first inning and have a 30-8 scoring edge in the first this season.
- Louisville has finished with 10 or more hits in 17 games this season and has scored eight or more runs 13 times so far in 2013.
- The Cardinals have allowed two or fewer earned runs in 19 of 31 games this season.
- The UofL bullpen has allowed only 24 earned runs (1.80 ERA) and has 163 strikeouts in 120.0 innings.
LAST OUTING FOR THE CARDINALS
Junior Ty Young was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI to lead Louisville to a 7-4 road win at Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon at Marge Schott Stadium and complete the weekend sweep. Young was one of five Louisville batters with two or more hits on the day as he added a double and a stolen base to go with his second home run of the season.
CARDINALS AGGRESSIVE ON THE BASES EARLY IN 2013
After more eight weeks of baseball, Louisville remains among the nation's best in stolen bases ranking second with 86 total swipes in 109 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 second nationally, Adam Engel leads four Cards with 10 or more in stolen bases with 29 steals in 32 tries.
THREE BAGS AND A CLOUD OF DUST FOR LOUISVILLE
With another triple last week for 19 on the season, the Cardinals have already surpassed last season's total of 18 through the first 31 games of 2013. Four players already have at least two triples this season with Ty Young leading the way with five. Louisville 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.
THOMPSON STARTS FAST WITH FIVE STRAIGHT WINS & SIX OVERALL
Junior Jeff Thompson has been among the nation's best pitchers in 2013 going 6-0 in his first eight starts while allowing only three earned runs in 53.0 innings. Along with the impressive 0.51 ERA, Thompson has 55 strikeouts and just 15 walks while opposing batters are hitting just .167 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 six weekends. With a 4-2 record overall, Green has a 2.33 ERA and 28 strikeouts to only nine walks in 46.1 innings pitched. 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 FOUR WINS AND A SAVE TO BEGIN 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 two more wins in his first two starts on March 13 and March 29. Overall, Kidston is 4-0 with a save, a 2.03 ERA and 45 strikeouts while allowing only 17 hits in 31.0 innings of work.
WHITING HELPS PACE OFFENSE IN FIRST SEASON AS A STARTER
Entering 2013, sophomore infielder Sutton Whiting had never made a start and had only played 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 terrific since. As one of the Cards' top hitters with a .343 average, Whiting ranks second in RBI (19) and slugging (.471).
ENGEL STARTS OFFENSE, PRESSURES DEFENSE FOR CARDINALS
After ranking among the top five nationally in stolen bases in 2012 with 37 in 39 attempts, junior outfielder and leadoff hitter Adam Engel has picked up where he left off early this season successfully swiping 29 bases (second nationally) in 32 attempts through the first 31 games. Engel has twice matched a school record with four stolen bases in a game doing it in the win over Akron on Feb. 24 and again in a win over No. 15 Notre Dame on March 30. Having reached base safely in 28 of 31 games, Engel is giving the Louisville offense the table-setter it needs so far in 2013.
BURDI BRINGS THE 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 12 outings (17.0 innings pitched) this season, Burdi is 2-1 with five saves and a 0.53 ERA to go with 36 strikeouts (of his 51 total outs; 70.5 percent of outs by strikeout).
CARDINALS WIN INAUGURAL REDS COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL AT GREAT AMERICAN BALL PARK
Jeff Thompson pitched seven shutout innings while Jeff Gardner was 2-for-3 with three RBI as Louisville earned a 4-1 win over Cincinnati in the inaugural Reds Collegiate Invitational on April 6 at Great American Ball Park. The Cardinals' win, which followed the Reds' 11-inning loss to the Washington Nationals, was the first ever collegiate game played at Great American Ball Park.
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.
