Conference Leaders Collide as No. 7 Louisville Visits UCF
April 17, 2014 | Baseball
April 17, 2014
Junior righty Jared Ruxer has 14 career collegiate wins, including a 6-1 mark this season.
GAME DAY INFO: #7 Louisville (27-9, 7-2 American) at UCF (23-15, 10-2 American)
Date: April 17-19, 2014
Times: 3:30 p.m. ET | 6:30 p.m. | 6:30 p.m./11 a.m.
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Venue: Jay Bergman Field (3,600)
Radio: WNDA 1570 AM
TV: None
Internet: CardsTV (Audio) at GoCards.com
Live Stats: Gametracker at GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
| Thursday, 3:30 p.m. ET | CardsTV: Listen | Gametracker |
| Thursday, 7 p.m. ET | CardsTV: Listen | Gametracker |
| Friday/Saturday, 6:30 p.m./11 a.m. ET | CardsTV: Listen | Gametracker |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 7 Louisville baseball team returns to the road for a pivotal three-game American Conference series at league-leading UCF starting Thursday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.
Due to potential inclement weather throughout the weekend, the Cardinals and Knights will open the series with a doubleheader on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., ET. The teams will attempt to complete the series on Friday at 6:30 p.m. If weather forces the cancellation, the finale will be played on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Live play-by-play of the series can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA) while live audio will also be available to subscribers of CardsTV at GoCards.com. Live scoring will be available through the Gametracker feature at GoCards.com.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday
LOU: So. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (7-1, 2.75 ERA)
UCF: Jr. LHP Eric Skoglund (5-1, 1.88 ERA)
Thursday
LOU: Jr. RHP Jared Ruxer (6-1, 2.58 ERA)
UCF: TBA
Friday/Saturday
LOU: So. RHP Anthony Kidston (3-0, 3.54 ERA)
UCF: TBA
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the weekend at 27-9 overall after dropping a midweek game to No. 19 Kentucky on Tuesday and in second place in the American with a 7-2 mark after earning a series sweep at Houston last weekend. The Cardinals, who returned 19 letterwinners from last year's College World Series squad, are finishing a stretch of six road contests in seven games.
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
UCF enters the weekend at 23-15 overall after earning a midweek win over Florida A&M on Tuesday and atop the league standings with a 10-2 record after winning two of three at Memphis last week. The Knights were 29-30 last season and finished fifth in Conference USA with an 13-11 league mark.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and UCF have no previous meetings on the baseball diamond.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS
- The Cardinals have allowed two or fewer earned runs in 20 of 36 games this season, something they did in 36 of 65 games in 2013.
- Louisville is 24-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning and has won 79 straight games when entering the ninth with the lead going back to May 2012.
- The Cardinals are 21-1 this season when out-hitting their opponents and just 5-6 when being out-hit.
- Louisville has won 39 straight games dating back to last season when scoring five runs or more including a 23-0 record this season.
- The Cardinals are 17-2 this season against righty starters and 10-7 against lefties.
- Louisville entered the week ranked second in the nation in stolen bases (76) and fourth nationally in steals per game (2.17).
- Jeff Gardner leads Louisville with 15 multiple hit games and 13 multiple RBI games this season.
- Jared Ruxer, second on the team with six wins this season, is the most experienced pitcher for Louisville in 2014 with 30 career starts, 14 wins, 110 strikeouts and 168.0 total innings pitched collegiately.
- Kyle Funkhouser has won six straight starts while striking out eight batters in three of those.
- While surpassing Neil Holland (19 saves, 2008-10) as the Cardinals' career saves leader on March 26, Nick Burdi has extended his career-best scoreless streak to 22.1 innings dating back to last season.
- Grant Kay is 17-for-17 on stolen bases this season and ranks second on the team in steals.
- Sutton Whiting has earned 30 walks in his 30 games played this season doubling the second highest walk total on the team (Grant Kay, 15).
CARDINALS RANKED IN TOP 20 IN ALL FIVE MAJOR POLLS
After opening 2014 in the same position it ended the 2013 season with a top 10 national ranking, Louisville remains in the top 10 after nine weeks of action. Entering week 10, the Cardinals are ranked as highly as No. 7 by Perfect Game and they continue to be ranked in all five major polls. Prior to the season, Louisville was tabbed at No. 8 in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper preseason poll, 13th in the USA Today coaches' poll, 14th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason 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.
GARDNER, STURGEON CONTINUE WHERE THEY LEFT OFF IN 2013
After finishing the 2013 College World Series season as the Cardinals' top two hitters for average, senior outfielders and team captains Jeff Gardner and Cole Sturgeon have continued to pace the way for the Louisville offense in 2014. Gardner leads the team in average (.352), RBI (40), doubles (13) and slugging (.555) and ranks second in home runs (3) while starting 34 games. Sturgeon leads the team in triples (4), ranks second in runs scored (33) and doubles (9) and is third in stolen bases (11) while starting all 35 games in the outfield in right and center.
RUXER RETURNS TO DOMINATE FORM EARLY IN JUNIOR SEASON
Following a disappointing sophomore season, junior righthander Jared Ruxer has returned to his freshman form early in 2014 winning six of nine starts and registering an ERA of 2.58. A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2012 with an 8-3 mark, Ruxer was winless last season while finishing with an ERA above five. However, he's been strong this season with a 6-1 record and 43 strikeouts (including a career-high 11 against Toledo on March 1) in 52.1 innings and nine starts. He has 30 starts, 14 wins and 168.0 innings pitched in his collegiate career.
KAY SHOWS EARLY OFFENSE, VERSATILITY ON DEFENSE IN FIRST SEASON
In his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Iowa Western Community College, junior infielder Grant Kay has shown flashes of terrific offense while proving to be very versatile defensively. In the 10th week of action, Kay is hitting .297 with three home runs, 33 RBI, seven doubles, 32 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. In addition to his work at the plate, he has 16 starts at first base, eight starts at second base, two starts at third base, four starts in right field and five starts as the designated hitter while also seeing playing time in center field.
BURDI, GARDNER ON GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
Jeff Gardner and Nick Burdi were among the 50 players named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list released on April 10. Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. The watch list will continue to be a "rolling" list until May 27 -- when the semifinalists for the award are announced -- ensuring that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award. The Golden Spikes Award trophy will be awarded live in Los Angeles on July 17. Louisville is one of nine schools with two players on the midseason watch list joining Cal State Fullerton, Florida State, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Oregon State, Pepperdine and Virginia.
LOUISVILLE PLAYS AGGRESSIVE ON THE BASES AGAIN IN 2014
After ranking second in the nation in stolen bases in last season with 150 in 196 attempts, Louisville has continued the aggressiveness on the bases in 2014 ranking second nationally with 78 steals in 100 attempts in the 10th week of the season. The Cardinals are paced by junior Sutton Whiting, who ranks fifth in the nation in stolen bases per game at 0.69 and ranks eighth nationally in total steals with 21 in 26 attempts despite missing six games with an injury. Grant Kay has 17 steals to rank 21st nationally, while Cole Sturgeon's 11 steals give Louisville three players with 10 or more stolen bases this season.
CAREER TOP 10 TRACKER: WHERE THE 2014 CARDINALS RANK IN HISTORY
Nick Burdi has already become Louisville's career saves leader with 23 surpassing Neil Holland (20 saves, 2008-10) atop the all-time leaderboard... With 48 career stolen bases, Sutton Whiting ranks sixth all-time at Louisville equaling Dave Williams, Jr., while sitting 12 behind fifth-place Doug Inghram (1981-84)... Cole Sturgeon needs five stolen bases to move into a tie for 10th all-time at Louisville equaling Drew Haynes (2008-11) and Jeff Arnold (2007-10)... Sturgeon has 11 career triples to rank ninth all-time at Louisville while his next three-bagger will move him into a tie for eighth with Mark Jurich (2001-04)... With 202 games played, Sturgeon is 10 away from moving into a tie for ninth in career games equaling Zak Wasserman (2010-13) and Darren Oppel... Jeff Gardner has 46 career doubles and is just two away from moving into the career top 10 equaling Ryan Wright (2009-11), Adam Duvall (2009-10) and Daniel Burton (2004-07).
GARDNER SELECTED AS CANDIDATE FOR 2014 SENIOR CLASS AWARD®
Jeff Gardner was among 30 candidates announced on March 19 for the prestigious 2014 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 College World Series® in June. For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
FRACTURED NOSE SIDELINES WHITING FOR SIX OF THE FIRST 11 GAMES
Junior shortstop Sutton Whiting missed six of the Cardinals' first 11 games this season due to a fractured nose suffered on Feb. 14 against West Virginia when he was hit in the face by a pitch in the ninth inning of Louisville's season-opening win over the Mountaineers. After missing the final two games of the opening weekend in Charleston, S.C., and the Feb. 19 game with Eastern Kentucky, Whiting returned to the field on Feb. 21 when he came off the bench to go 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the series-opening win over Western Michigan. After starting the final two games of the WMU series as well as the midweek win over Eastern Illinois on Feb. 25, Whiting missed all three games on Feb. 28-March 1 after having his nose reset on Feb. 26.
LUCAS NAMED AMERICAN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK TWICE
Zach Lucas has been selected as the American Conference Player of the Week two times this season earning the honor on March 17 and Feb. 24. During the week of March 11-15, he hit .500 (9-for-18) with two home runs, seven RBI, 10 runs scored, a .944 slugging percentage and a .625 on-base percentage while leading the Cardinals to a 5-0 week. His best game of the week came in Louisville's 20-10 series-opening win over Samford when he connected for a pair of home runs, five RBI and scored four times. During the week of Feb. 19-23, Lucas connected for a pair of three-run home runs, had eight RBI, hit .313 and had a .688 slugging percentage.
GARDNER NAMED AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior outfielder Jeff Gardner was chosen as the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 17 following his contributions at the season-opening Homewood Suites Tournament. Tabbed as the AAC Preseason Player of the Year by the league's head coaches, Gardner hit .417 (5-for-12) with a home run, two doubles, a triple and six RBI in three starts in left field during the event hosted by The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. Gardner's heroics included a 10th-inning walk-off solo home run in the 7-6 triumph over West Virginia and a three-run triple in the first inning of the 6-1 win over Delaware.
SIXTEEN CARDINALS MAKE LOUISVILLE DEBUT IN 2014
A total of 16 first-year Cardinals have made their debuts this season. Most recently, freshman Josh Rogers (March 19) and redshirt freshman Michael Bollmer (March 29) made their first appearances. Prior to that, freshmen Ryan Lauria and Mason Richardson saw their first action in the Cardinals' series with Western Michigan. That was preceded by freshmen Zack Burdi and Robert Strader making their debuts on the mound in the midweek win over Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 19. During the opening weekend in Charleston, a total of 10 first-year Cardinals saw their first game action. Transfer Grant Kay, redshirt freshman Jordan Striegel and freshmen Jake Sparger and Logan Taylor made their first appearances in the UofL uniform in the season-opener against WVU, while freshmen Will Smith and Corey Ray played in their first games on against The Citadel. In the Feb. 16 weekend finale, freshmen Drew Harrington, Colin Lyman, Nick Solak and Ryan Summers all saw action for the first time.
BURDI EARNS NUMEROUS FIRST TEAM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Following an All-American season in 2013, junior righthander Nick Burdi enters 2014 with similar expectations nationally earning preseason All-America accolades from four different organizations. Burdi was named First Team Preseason All-America by Baseball America, Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. In 2013, Burdi was among the nation's best relievers earning 16 saves with a 0.76 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 29 relief appearances and 35.2 innings pitched as the Cardinals won a school record 51 games and advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history. Among the nation's hardest throwers, he was named First Team All-America by Perfect Game and Second Team All-America by the NCBWA last season.
CARDINALS TABBED AS AMERICAN CONFERENCE FAVORITE; GARDNER PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Following its record-setting 2013 season, the Louisville baseball team will enter 2014 as the unanimous favorite to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship while Cardinals' senior outfielder Jeff Gardner was selected as the league's Preseason Player of the Year on Dec. 23.
Louisville, which won its fourth Big East regular season championship in five years and advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history last season, received all eight possible first-place votes and 64 points overall in the preseason poll of the conference's head coaches announced on Monday by the league. The Cardinals were also tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Big East Conference last season before eventually winning the regular season title and a school record 51 games overall.
Following Louisville in the preseason poll was Houston, UCF and Connecticut in a three-way tie for second place with 47 points each. USF rounded out the top five with 34 points, while the final four spots in the preseason conference rundown were Memphis (30), Rutgers (27), Cincinnati (18) and Temple (8). Gardner headlined a group of six Cardinals, including junior righty pitcher Nick Burdi, sophomore righthanders Kyle Funkhouser and Anthony Kidston, senior outfielder Cole Sturgeon and junior infielder Sutton Whiting, earning preseason All-American Athletic Conference accolades.
CARDINALS' RADIO, WEB STREAMING DETAILS FOR 2014
For the sixth consecutive season, News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA) will serve as the radio home for Louisville baseball with 47 regular-season games and all post-season games scheduled for broadcast by the Clarksville, Ind., station. With Sean Moth back calling the action, the radio schedule includes all 36 home games, three games each at American Athletic Conference foes Houston and UCF, midweek games at Indiana, Western Kentucky, Kentucky, Purdue and Vanderbilt and all of the Cardinals' American Athletic Conference Championship and NCAA Championship games.
Louisville once again has a strong presence on the internet as subscribers can follow every game of the 2014 baseball season through CardsTV at GoCards.com. Live streaming audio will be available for every regular-season and post-season game, while streaming video will be available for all 36 home games. Fans can also access the CardsTV video and audio streams for every UofL game while on the go at GoCards.com mobile app.
MCDONNELL'S ALL-AMERICANS
In Dan McDonnell's first seven seasons as head coach, the Louisville baseball program produced 15 All-Americans, more than three times as many as what the program had prior to McDonnell's arrival. Below is the list of All-America honorees since Dan McDonnell was introduced prior to 2007.
2013
- Nick Burdi (Perfect Game First Team, NCBWA Second Team)
- Jeff Thompson (Louisville Slugger Second Team, Perfect Game Third Team, NCBWA Third Team)
2012
- Justin Amlung (Louisville Slugger Third Team)
2010
- Neil Holland (NCBWA First Team, Baseball America Third Team, Louisville Slugger Third Team)
- Thomas Royse (Louisville Slugger Third Team)
- Ryan Wright (Baseball America Second Team)
- Phil Wunderlich (Baseball America Third Team, Louisville Slugger Third Team)
2009
- Chris Dominguez (Baseball America First Team, Louisville Slugger First Team, Ping! Baseball First Team, ABCA Third Team)
- Justin Marks (Louisville Slugger Second Team, Ping! Baseball Second Team, Baseball America Third Team, ABCA Third Team)
- Phil Wunderlich (NCBWA Second Team)
2008
- Chris Dominguez (NCBWA Third Team, Louisville Slugger Third Team, Baseball America Third Team, PING! Baseball Third Team)
- Justin Marks (PING! Baseball Second Team)
- Justin McClanahan (PING! Baseball Third Team)
2007
- Logan Johnson (Louisville Slugger Third Team)
- Boomer Whiting (Louisville Slugger Third Team, Baseball America Third Team)
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.
