Louisville Baseball Notebook: Cardinals 14th in NCBWA Poll
February 03, 2014 | Baseball
Feb. 3, 2014
Louisville hosted three preseason scrimmages last week, including Friday afternoon prior to the Leadoff Dinner.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball team earned its fifth preseason ranking on Monday after the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association tabbed the Cardinals at No. 14.
Louisville's highest preseason ranking in the five major polls was No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. The Cardinals were also 13th in the USA Today coaches' poll, 16th in the Perfect Game Top 25 and 20th in the Baseball America Top 25. Louisville has earned preseason top 25 rankings in seven straight seasons under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell.
No. 8 Louisville will open its season at the Homewood Suites Tournament hosted by The Citadel on Feb. 14-16 in Charleston, S.C. The Cardinals will kick off the 2014 campaign against West Virginia on Feb. 14 at noon ET at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Louisville will begin its 36-game home slate on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium against Eastern Kentucky.
Louisville Hosts Trio of Scrimmages in Week Two of Preseason
The Cardinals continued their preseason work in advance of next week's season-opener with three intrasquad scrimmages last Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium. Sophomore righty Kyle Funkhouser had a strong outing in his Saturday start working four shutout innings with strikeouts, while freshman lefthander Drew Harrington was equally impressive striking out three without allowing an earned run in 4.0 innings in the start on Thursday. Other pitching highlights included sophomore righty Jonah Philley working 3.0 innings of shutout relief with two strikeouts on Friday and redshirt freshman lefty Robert Strader working 2.0 innings of relief on Saturday without allowing an earned run and striking out two.
At the plate, senior catcher Kyle Gibson was 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored and freshman outfielder Colin Lyman was 3-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored on Thursday. On Friday, junior infielder Grant Kay was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while junior infielder Sutton Whiting was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one stolen base. In Saturday's weekend finale, Whiting was 2-for-3 with a triple, two walks, a stolen base, one RBI and two runs scored, while senior outfielder Cole Sturgeon was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Preseason Honors Continue for Burdi
Louisville junior righty closer Nick Burdi continued adding to his list of preseason accolades on Monday with his fourth All-American honor as well as being named one of the Top 50 Juniors in the nation by Baseball America.
A First Team Preseason All-American selection by Baseball America, Burdi has earned the same preseason honor from Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. A native of Downers Grove, Ill., Burdi was slotted at No. 12 in Baseball America's Top 50 Juniors list released on Monday and was chosen First Team Preseason All-American Athletic Conference earlier this preseason by the league's head coaches.
Sturgeon, Gardner and Funkhouser on Top 50 Lists
Burdi wasn't the only Louisville player named to one of Baseball America's Top 50 by Class lists on Monday as a trio of other Cardinals earned the distinction. Co-captains and outfielders Cole Sturgeon (No. 12) and Jeff Gardner (No. 15) were named to the Top 50 Seniors list, while Kyle Funkhouser (No. 6) was named one of the Top 50 Sophomores in the nation.
Final Look Back at the Leadoff Dinner
Former American League Most Valuable Player and five-time Major League Baseball All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton highlighted an entertaining night at the annual Louisville Baseball Leadoff Dinner presented by Republic Bank last Friday at the Hyatt Regency.
Hamilton, who is entering his second season with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2014, shared numerous stories and experiences during an engaging 60-minute interview session in front of a sold out crowd or more than 600. Earlier in the day, Hamilton continued his preseason preparations with a hitting session inside the Shad Mason Hack Shack at Jim Patterson Stadium before watching some of the Cardinals' Friday afternoon scrimmage in the dugout alongside the Louisville players.
The 2014 edition of the Leadoff Dinner also included a message from Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell, who led the Cardinals to their second College World Series appearances in seven seasons in 2013, as well as remarks from U of L senior associate athletic director for development Mark Jurich. The evening began with the introduction of the 2014 Louisville baseball team, while Sturgeon was honored as the 2014 Jimmy Carraro Award recipient. Video interviews and photos from the 2014 Leadoff Dinner are available here.
Following the Cardinals on Social Media
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter (@UofLBaseball) at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
