Louisville Faces Houston in American Championship Title Game
May 25, 2014 | Baseball
May 25, 2014
The top-seeded Cardinals return to Bright House Field on Sunday for a title game showdown against No. 3 seed Houston.
GAME DAY INFO: #5 Louisville (45-14, 19-5 American) vs. #12 Houston (43-15, 14-9 American)
Date: May 25, 2014
Times: Noon ET
Location: Clearwater, Fla.
Venue: Bright House Field (8,500)
Radio: News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA)
TV: ESPNU
Internet: CardsTV (Audio) at GoCards.com
Live Stats: www.theamerican.org/baseball
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
| Sunday, Noon ET - Watch | CardsTV: Listen | Live Scoring |
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The No. 5 ranked Louisville baseball team will look for the program's first postseason conference title since 2009 when the top-seeded Cardinals meet third-seeded and No. 12 Houston in the American Conference Championship title game on Sunday at noon ET on ESPNU.
Live play-by-play of the game from Bright House Field can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM while live audio will be available to subscribers of CardsTV at GoCards.com. Live scoring will be available through the Live Stats link on the baseball schedule page at GoCards.com.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville is 45-14 overall after winning Pool A at the American Championship with a 2-1 mark. The Cardinals closed pool play with a 9-3 win over Rutgers on Saturday afternoon before clinching the title game berth later in the evening when Memphis earned a 2-1 victory over USF. Louisville opened the week with a 13-3 win over Memphis before falling 2-1 to USF on Friday.
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Houston is 43-15 on the season after winning Pool B at the American Championship with a 2-1 record. The Cougars completed pool play on Friday with a 13-8 win over UCF and then clinched their title game spot with Temple's 9-4 win over UConn on Saturday. Houston started the week with a 3-0 win over Temple on Wednesday before falling 7-2 to UConn on Thursday.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville is 12-17 all-time against Houston in a series that dates back to 1997. Earlier this season, the Cardinals swept a three-game road series against the Cougars on April 11-13.
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SPOTLIGHT
Entering Sunday's title game, Louisville has a 21-13 record in postseason conference games under the guidance of head coach Dan McDonnell, including Big East Conference Championship titles in 2008 and 2009. The Cardinals are making their first conference championship title game appearance since defeating Connecticut 11-3 to win the 2009 Big East Championship.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS
- Louisville is 38-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning and has won 93 straight games when entering the ninth with the lead going back to May 2012.
- The Cardinals are 34-2 this season when out-hitting their opponents and 10-10 when being out-hit.
- Louisville has won 51 straight games dating back to last season when scoring five runs or more including a 35-0 record this season.
- The Cardinals are 30-5 this season against righty starters and 15-9 against lefties.
- The Cardinals have allowed two or fewer earned runs in 36 of 59 games this season, something they did in 36 of 65 in 2013.
- Having won 18 of the last 21 games, the bullpen has a 1.86 ERA in 67.2 innings in that stretch. Overall, the pitching staff has a 2.12 ERA in the last 21 games with 180 strikeouts in 187.0 innings.
- Louisville entered the week ranked second in the nation in stolen bases with 114 and third in stolen bases per game at 2.04.
- The Cardinals were also 11th nationally in HBP (93), 18th in runs (359) and 26th in scoring (6.4 per game).
- The Louisville pitching staff was ranked ninth in strikeouts per 9 IP (8.4), 12th nationally in hits allowed per 9 IP (7.37) and 19th in ERA (2.77).
- The Cardinals are 21-11 all-time at Bright House Field, including a 19-11 record in conference championship games.
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 maintained its highest ranking of the season this week. Entering the postseason, the Cardinals are ranked as highly as No. 5 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30 for the third straight week 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 NCBWA 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.
LOUISVILLE WINS THIRD STRAIGHT CONFERENCE TITLE, FIFTH IN SIX YEARS
With its 5-1 victory over Cincinnati on May 16, Louisville clinched the inaugural American Athletic Conference regular season championship and the top seed in this week's conference championship. The Cardinals have won three straight regular season conference championships and five in the last six seasons overall.
CARDINALS IN SELECT COMPANY WITH ANOTHER 40-WIN SEASON
With the victorious series finale at Temple on May 11, Louisville clinched its seventh 40-win season in Dan McDonnell's eight years as head coach. Entering Sunday's title game, Louisville was one of only five programs in the nation to accomplish the feat of seven or more 40-win campaigns in the last eight seasons. Joining the Cardinals on that list are Florida State (8), Rice (8), South Carolina (8) and TCU (7).
BURDI TAKES THE 101 TO JIM PATERSON STADIUM
As the only person to ever hit the 100 mph plateau on the mound at Jim Patterson Stadium, junior closer Nick Burdi took it to a new level on April 25 when his final pitch of the night in the Cardinals' 2-0 win over UConn registered at 101 mph on the ballpark scoreboard and produced a swing-and-miss for the final out of the game. Last season, the talented righthander became the only pitcher to ever reach the centuary mark at Patterson Stadium when his first three pitches in a save against Akron on Feb. 24 hit 100 mph. Burdi has used that very live arm to become Louisville's career saves leader with 30, including 14 this season.
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 (.340), RBI (65), home runs (9), doubles (19) and slugging (.575) while starting 57 games. Sturgeon leads the team in runs scored (54) and triples (7), ranks second in doubles (16) and is third in stolen bases (18) while starting all 59 games in the outfield.
FUNKHOUSER EMERGES AS THE CARDINALS' FRIDAY NIGHT ACE
A year after earning Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors as a contributor to the Louisville pitching staff as both a midweek starter and a reliable reliever, sophomore Kyle Funkhouser has established himself as the Friday night ace in 2014. Having earned the series-opening start in each of the final 10 regular season weekends, Funkhouser has been terrific throughout the season setting a school record for single season wins going 12-2 with a 1.81 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 99.1 innings and 15 total starts in 2014. Last season, he was 5-1 with a 2.14 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched.
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 114 steals in 145 attempts entering the week. The Cardinals were paced by junior Sutton Whiting, who ranked sixth in the nation in stolen bases with 32 in 38 attempts despite missing six games with an injury. Grant Kay is 21-for-23 on steals, Cole Sturgeon is 17-of-21 and Colin Lyman is 10-for-13 giving Louisville four players with 10 or more stolen bases.
FUNKHOUSER EARNS INVITATION TO TEAM USA TRAINING CAMP
It was announced on May 19 that Kyle Funkhouser earned an invitation to compete for a roster spot on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. He is slated to participate in the team's training camp starting June 19, while the final 24-man roster will be announced on June 29. Funkhouser becomes the seventh Louisville player to earn an invitation from the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team joining Nick Burdi (2013), Ryan Wright (2010), Phil Wunderlich (2009), Tony Zych (2009), Justin Marks (2008) and Mark Jurich (2002). Overall, Funkhouser is the 14th player coached or signed by Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell to earn international baseball experience. In 2009, McDonnell served as an assistant coach for the USA National Team, which finished with a 19-5 record overall and won the World Baseball Challenge in Canada.
STURGEON NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR DICK HOWSER AWARD
On May 16, Cole Sturgeon was named as a semifinalist for the 2014 Dick Howser Award, given annually to the top player in collegiate baseball by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. This is the 28th year of the Dick Howser Trophy with two rounds of national voting determining the winner. The finalists will be announced on Thursday, June 5. The 2014 award will be presented at TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, the home of the College World Series for the fourth year. The winner will be unveiled on Saturday, June 14 at 10 a.m. CT, the opening day of the 2014 CWS.
GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD 30-MAN WATCH LIST INCLUDES BURDI
Nick Burdi was named to the 30-man Golden Spikes Award watch list released on May 8 by USA Baseball. 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.
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 seven of 13 starts and registering an ERA of 2.27. 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 7-1 record and 68 strikeouts (including a career-high 11 against Toledo on March 1) in 75.1 innings. He has 34 starts, 15 wins and 191.0 innings pitched in his collegiate career.
GARDNER SELECTED AS FINALIST FOR 2014 SENIOR CLASS AWARD®
Louisville senior outfielder Jeff Gardner was one of 10 finalists announced on April 30 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.
Finalists were chosen by national media from the list of 30 candidates announced in March. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through June 9. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 College World Series® in June. To vote for Gardner, visit http://www.seniorclassaward.com/athletes/jeff_gardner/ and click on the "Vote Now" button.
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.
