2014 Louisville Baseball Season Review
August 28, 2014 | Baseball
2014 Season Review Photo Gallery | 2014 Season Review Game Notes 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A year after saying goodbye to 10 impact players from its 2013 College World Series team, Louisville reloaded its roster and returned to Omaha for the third time in eight seasons in 2014. The Cardinals reached the 50-win plateau for the third time in five seasons, won the program's third straight conference title and the fifth in six seasons, hosted its fourth NCAA Regional in six seasons and its second NCAA Super Regional in school history and produced a trio of All-Americans.
Louisville's run to the 2014 College World Series started at Jim Patterson Stadium where they swept through the NCAA Regional with wins against Kent State, Kansas and Kentucky. The final step in the return to Omaha was an NCAA Super Regional triumph over Kennesaw State as a school record crowd of 6,007 packed Patterson Stadium to share in the victory.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TRACKER - COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Game 2: Texas 4, Louisville 1: Another highly successful season for the Louisville baseball team came to an end in a 4-1 loss to Texas in a College World Series elimination game at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. "I'm really proud of this group. This was a fun, fun year. And I'm really proud these five seniors kept the culture alive," said head coach Dan McDonnell after completing his eighth season in Louisville. "Sometimes you have to stop and reflect -- I'm not really good at that because I have a recruiting mind, and I'm always worried about tomorrow. So I need to take a moment sometimes to stop and reflect because what a fun year. This was a lot of fun."
The loss had a similar formula as the previous three losses in Omaha for the Cardinals as they faced an early deficit and were never able to find the offensive traction needed to overcome the margin. Sophomore righthander Anthony Kidston suffered his first collegiate loss on Monday despite delivering a quality start in which he allowed just two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk in eight innings.
Game 1: Vanderbilt 5, Louisville 3: Following a slow start and an early four-run deficit, the third-ranked Louisville baseball team fell short in its comeback attempt dropping a 5-3 decision to Vanderbilt in the College World Series opener for both squads at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Allowing three runs in the second inning and another in the fourth, Louisville faced its largest deficit of the NCAA Championship before eventually closing within a single run in the seventh. However, the Commodores added an insurance run and held for the victory to even the season series with the Cardinals at 1-1. Senior catcher Kyle Gibson (Henderson, Ky.) led the way at the plate for the Cardinals going 2-for-5 with one RBI, while junior shortstop Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) added an RBI triple and scored once in the loss.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TRACKER - LOUISVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
Game 2: Louisville 7, Kennesaw State 4: The Louisville baseball team clinched its second straight College World Series berth and the third in eight years with the 7-4 victory over Kennesaw State in the second game of the NCAA Super Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium. A school record crowd of 6,007 watched as senior Cole Sturgeon went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored at the plate and struck out three in 1.1 innings of relief on the mound for the Cardinals, while freshman designated hitter Nick Solak added his second home run of the season and drove in three runs. Sophomore righty starter Anthony Kidston improved to 9-0 on the season, while junior righty Nick Burdi closed the night with school record setting 18th save of the season.
Game 1: Louisville 5, Kennesaw State 3: Freshman designated hitter Nick Solak delivered a two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning to lift fourth-ranked Louisville to a 5-3 victory over No. 12 Kennesaw State in the NCAA Super Regional opener in front of a crowd of 5,351 at Jim Patterson Stadium. With the game tied at 3-3, Solak sent a 2-1 pitch from Owls closer Justin McCalvin into right center plating junior second baseman Zach Lucas and senior catcher Kyle Gibson and give the Cardinals the lead for good. The double capped a three-run eighth inning for Louisville, which closed out the win with junior righty Nick Burdi striking out two in a scoreless ninth for his 17th save of the season equaling the school record set by Neil Holland in 2010.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TRACKER - LOUISVILLE REGIONAL
Game 3: Louisville 4, Kentucky 1: Matched against long-time rival Kentucky for the first time outside the regular season, the top-seeded Louisville baseball team continued its trend of postseason success with a 4-1 win in the NCAA Regional title game at Jim Patterson Stadium. In a game delayed nearly four hours due to lightning and rain, the Cardinals plated three runs in a pivotal seventh inning to win its fourth NCAA Regional in the last eight years under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell. Making his third start of the season against the Wildcats, freshman lefty Josh Rogers delivered a dominant performance allowing only one run on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks in 6.0+ innings to improve to 3-3 on the season. At the plate, senior third baseman Alex Chittenden paced the Cardinals going 3-for-5 with one RBI, while freshman designated hitter Nick Solak added a single, a walk, one RBI and one run scored.
Game 2: Louisville 6, Kansas 3: Powered by another quality start on the mound and a fast start at the plate, the top-seeded Louisville baseball team advanced to its fourth NCAA Regional title game in six seasons with a 6-3 victory over Kansas at Jim Patterson Stadium. Sophomore righty Anthony Kidston led the way on the mound for the Cardinals allowing just two runs on five hits with six strikeouts in seven innings to improve to 8-0 this season and 13-0 in his collegiate career. At the plate, Louisville scored the first five runs of the game with freshman outfielder Corey Ray setting the pace going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored. Senior outfielder Cole Sturgeon chipped in with two hits, one run driven in and one run scored, while junior second baseman Zach Lucas was 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Junior shortstop Sutton Whiting added a single, two walks, two stolen bases, two RBI and two runs scored as the Cardinals out-hit the Jayhawks 11-6.
Game 1: Louisville 5, Kent State 0: Sophomore righthander Kyle Funkhouser had 10 strikeouts in eight strong innings to lead the top-seeded Louisville baseball team to a 5-0 victory over No. 4 seed Kent State at Jim Patterson Stadium in the final game of the opening day of the NCAA Louisville Regional. Funkhouser reached double-figures in strikeouts for the third time this season and the second time in the last four games while allowing just four hits and only one walk to improve to 13-2 on the season. At the plate, junior second baseman Zach Lucas had a pair of doubles and drove in a run, while freshman designated hitter Nick Solak singled, walked twice, stole two bases and scored once in the win. Freshman outfielder Corey Ray added a two-run single for Louisville.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS
- Louisville was 43-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning and has won 98 straight games when entering the ninth with the lead going back to May 2012.
- The Cardinals were 38-3 this season when out-hitting their opponents and 10-12 when being out-hit.
- Louisville has won 55 straight games dating back to 2013 when scoring five runs or more including a 39-0 record this season.
- The Cardinals were 32-8 this season against righty starters and 18-9 against lefties.
- The Cardinals allowed two or fewer earned runs in 40 of 67 games this season, something they did in 36 of 65 in 2013.
- Having won 23 of the last 29 games of the season, the bullpen had a 2.16 ERA in 87.2 innings in that stretch. Overall, the pitching staff had a 2.41 ERA in the last 29 games with 248 strikeouts in 258.0 innings.
- Louisville closed the season ranked second in the nation in stolen bases with 133 and fifth in stolen bases per game at 1.99.
- The Cardinals were also sixth nationally in HBP (109), 5th in runs (417), 12th in hits (636) and 33rd in scoring (6.2 per game).
- The Louisville pitching staff ranked 5th in strikeouts per 9 IP (8.4), 12th nationally in hits allowed per 9 IP (7.40) and 20th in ERA (2.80).
- Kyle Funkhouser finished tied for the NCAA lead in wins with his school record total of 13.
LOUISVILLE BASEBALL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
- The Cardinals made their eighth NCAA Championship appearance, including their seventh in eight seasons under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell.
- While sweeping through the Regional and Super Regional rounds for the second straight season (5-0 in 2013 and 5-0 in 2014), the Cardinals closed 2014 with a 24-19 all-time record in NCAA postseason games.
- Not only was Louisville the only program from last year's College World Series field to return to Omaha in 2014, the Cardinals were the only one of those eight programs to reach the Super Regional round of this year's NCAA Championship.
- In 18 career NCAA postseason games, senior Cole Sturgeon had a .338 career average (23-for-68) with nine runs scored and nine RBI.
- In the Cardinals' seven NCAA games in 2014, Sturgeon hit .321 (9-for-28) with five RBI and four runs scored. He also made two relief appearances on the mound allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts in three innings.
- In six NCAA postseason appearances on the mound, sophomore righty Kyle Funkhouser has a 2.96 ERA (8 ER in 24.1 IP) with 26 strikeouts.
- In 14 career NCAA postseason starts at shortstop, junior Sutton Whiting has scored 12 runs with six stolen bases in six tries, two doubles, one triple and five RBI.
- During the Cardinals' last two seasons, junior righty Nick Burdi had six saves in 10 relief appearances allowing just one unearned run on six hits with 14 strikeouts in 10.0 innings of postseason work.
- Freshman Nick Solak was up to the task as the designated hitter in the postseason carrying a .318 average (7-for-22) with two doubles, one home run, eight RBI, four runs scored, six walks and three stolen bases in seven NCAA Championship starts.
- In his postseason debut, freshman Corey Ray hit .363 (8-for-22) with three doubles and three RBI while starting all seven of the Cardinals' NCAA games.
- Junior second baseman Zach Lucas was 9-for-22 with five doubles and two RBI in seven starts during the 2014 NCAA postseason Prior to that showing, he had just two hits in four career starts and seven total NCAA postseason appearances.
- During the 2014 NCAA postseason, none of Louisville's three starting pitchers doubled as a reliever.
- The Cardinals' pitching staff had a 2.32 ERA in the seven NCAA postseason games including the CWS. The staff also had 59 strikeouts while allowing only seven extra-base hits in 62.0 innings pitched.
- Louisville continued its aggressive base-running in the postseason stealing 12 bases in 14 attempts through seven games in the NCAA Championship. Sutton Whiting set the pace with four swipes in four attempts.
- After never trailing in their three NCAA Regional games against Kent State, Kansas and Kentucky, the Cardinals faced two-run deficits in both wins over Kennesaw State in the NCAA Super Regional. By contrast, Louisville has not held a lead in each of its last four CWS games during the last two seasons.
- Louisville had previously played just three of the other seven teams in this year's CWS field. The Cardinals had played 29 games against Vanderbilt (7-22), 16 times against TCU (5-11) and nine games against Ole Miss (4-5) before the 2014 games in Omaha.
LOUISVILLE OVERCOMES DEPARTURES TO RETURN TO OMAHA IN 2014
As the only program to advance to the 2013 College World Series and then return to Omaha in 2014, Louisville did so despite numerous roster departures due to graduation and the MLB Draft. The Cardinals lost three seniors and seven juniors (all seven signed with MLB teams) from the record-setting, 51-win team in 2013, including five everyday position starters, three starting pitchers and one impact reliever. Statistically, Louisville lost 43 of its 65 starts on the mound (66 percent), 31 of its 51 wins (60 percent) and more than 54 percent of its innings pitched (323.1 of 589.2) from the 2013 team. Offensively, the Cardinals' departures accounted for 67 percent of the stolen bases (101 of 150), 55 percent of the team's RBI (200 of 361) and 51 percent of the extra-base hits (79 of 153).
CARDINALS IN SELECT COMPANY WITH ANOTHER 50-WIN SEASON
Following the College World Series, Louisville was one of only three programs to have three or more 50-win seasons over the last five years. Louisville (2010, 2013, 2014), Virginia (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014) and Vanderbilt (2011, 2013, 2014) are the three schools with three or more 50-win seasons since 2010. Only five schools, including the Cardinals, have more than one 50-win season over that span (Louisville (3), Virginia (4), Vanderbilt (3), North Carolina (2), South Carolina (2).
LOUISVILLE IN A GROUP OF 16 SCHOOLS WITH FOUR OR MORE NCAA SUPER REGIONAL APPEARANCES IN LAST EIGHT SEASONS
Louisville is one of 16 Division I schools with four or more NCAA Super Regional appearances in the last eight seasons (since 2007). Joining the Cardinals on this impressive list is Florida State (7), Arizona State (5), Cal State Fullerton (5), North Carolina (5), South Carolina (5), Virginia (5), Florida (4), LSU (4), Rice (4), Stanford (4), Texas (4), TCU (4), UC Irvine (4) UCLA (4) and Vanderbilt (4).
CARDINALS AMONG 11 SCHOOLS TO HOST FOUR OR MORE NCAA REGIONALS IN LAST SIX YEARS
Louisville is one of just 11 Division I schools to have hosted four or more NCAA Regionals over the last six seasons (since 2009). That list includes seven schools serving as hosts for 2014 Regionals -- Florida (5), Florida State (5), Louisville (4), LSU (4), Rice (4), South Carolina (5), TCU (4) and Virginia (5). Also joining that group are Cal State Fullerton (4), North Carolina (4) and UCLA (4).
NCAA POSTSEASON HISTORY AT JIM PATTERSON STADIUM
The 2014 Louisville Super Regional marked the sixth time Jim Patterson Stadium has hosted NCAA postseason games. Overall, the Cardinals are 15-4 all-time in postseason home games after going 2-0 in the 2014 NCAA Super Regional, 3-0 in the 2014 NCAA Regional, 3-0 in the 2013 NCAA Regional, 2-2 in the 2010 NCAA Regional, 3-1 in the 2009 NCAA Regional and 2-1 in the 2007 NCAA Super Regional.
Last season, the Cardinals swept through a trio of games against Bowling Green, Miami (Fla.) and Oklahoma State to begin its run to Omaha. In 2010, Louisville earned wins over Saint Louis and Vanderbilt in the first two games before dropping back-to-back contests to the Commodores in the championship round. In 2009, the Cardinals opened with wins over Indiana and Vanderbilt, dropped a title game matchup with Vandy before winning the Monday night rematch to advance to a Super Regional. In its 2007 Super Regional matchup with Oklahoma State, Louisville won the opener and dropped game two in 12 innings before winning 20-2 in the deciding third game to earn the program's first College World Series berth.
BURDI CHOSEN AS NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR
Nick Burdi was introduced as the 2014 recipient of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association's Stopper of the Year during a national media conference on June 14 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Burdi put together a tremendous junior season, in which he posted a 3-1 record with 18 saves and an 0.49 ERA. He became Louisville's single-season saves leader after recording the final three outs in a win over Kennesaw State that sent the Cardinals to the NCAA College World Series for the second year in a row. In 32 appearances this year, Burdi registered 37.0 innings of work, allowing just five runs, two earned, while opponents hit just .135 against the Cardinals' hard-throwing righty. Burdi posted 65 strikeouts to just 10 walks and allowed just one extra base hit all season.
BURDI, FUNKHOUSER AND GARDNER EARN MULTIPLE ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Nick Burdi, Kyle Funkhouser and Jeff Gardner hauled in numerous All-America honors in 2014 as the headline players for the Cardinals. Burdi earned First Team All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball newspaper, NCBWA, Perfect Game and the ABCA. Funkhouser was tabbed as a First Team ABCA All-American, a Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper and the NCBWA and a Third Team All-American by Baseball America and Perfect Game. Gardner was chosen as a Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA and a Third Team ABCA All-American. In head coach Dan McDonnell's eight seasons, 14 different Louisville players have earned All-American honors from various organizations.
LOUISVILLE ENDS SEASON RANKED IN TOP 10 IN ALL FIVE MAJOR POLLS
After opening 2014 in the same position it ended the 2013 season with a top 10 national ranking, Louisville remained in the top 10 most of the 2014 season. Following the CWS, the Cardinals were ranked as highly as No. 6 in the Baseball America, NCBWA and USA Today coaches 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.
EIGHT CARDINALS CHOSEN IN 2014 MLB DRAFT, SEVEN SIGN CONTRACTS
The deadline for Major League Baseball teams to sign 2014 draft picks passed on July 18 and the Louisville baseball team received good news as infielder Zach Lucas chose to play for the Cardinals in 2015. Lucas was selected in the 29th round of the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates but will return to school for Louisville's inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Seven other Louisville players, including juniors Nick Burdi (2nd round, Minnesota Twins), Jared Ruxer (12th round, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), Joe Filomeno (15th round, Texas Rangers), Grant Kay (27th round, Tampa Bay Rays) and Kyle McGrath (36th round, San Diego Padres were selected in the MLB Draft and chose to sign professional contracts. Seniors Jeff Gardner (8th round, Washington Nationals) and Cole Sturgeon (10th round, Boston Red Sox) were also selected in this year's MLB Draft.
GARDNER CHOSEN AS AMERICAN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE YEAR; SEVEN CARDINALS ALL-CONFERENCE
Louisville outfielder Jeff Gardner was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and led a group of seven Cardinals earning All-American Conference honors during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 American Conference Championship on May 20. This year's honor for Gardner marks the eighth time in the last eight seasons a member of the Cardinals has been selected as conference player or pitcher of the year. Gardner is the first player of the year for the honoree for Louisville since Chris Dominguez earned back-to-back Big East Player of the Year awards in 2008 and 2009. Joining Gardner as All-American Conference First Team selections were closer Nick Burdi, third baseman Alex Chittenden and righthanded pitcher Kyle Funkhouser. Righty Jared Ruxer and outfielder/lefty pitcher Cole Sturgeon were All-American Conference Second Team honorees, while second baseman Zach Lucas was an All-American Conference Third Team pick.
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 last week's conference championship. The Cardinals have won three straight regular season conference championships and five in the last six seasons overall. Louisville won Big East regular season titles in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013 prior to winning this year's American championship.
BURDI TAKES THE 101 TO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM
As the only person to ever hit the 100 mph plateau on the mound at Patterson Stadium, junior 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 century mark at Patterson Stadium when his first three pitches in a save against Akron on Feb. 24 hit 100 mph. Burdi used that arm to become Louisville's career saves leader with 34, including a single season record 18 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 continued to pace the way for the Louisville offense in 2014. Gardner hit .313 while leading the team in RBI (68), home runs (9), doubles (20) and slugging (.525) while starting 65 games. With a .323 average, Sturgeon led the team in runs scored (58) and triples (7), ranked second in doubles (16) and third in stolen bases (19) while starting all 67 games in the outfield.
FUNKHOUSER SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINS AS 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 established himself as the Friday night ace in 2014 while setting a single season school record for wins. Having earned the series-opening start in each of the last 10 weekends of the regular-season, Funkhouser was terrific throughout 2014 with a 13-3 record and a 1.94 ERA to go with 122 strikeouts in 120.1 innings and 18 starts. 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 continued the aggressiveness on the bases in 2014 ranking second nationally with 133 steals in 167 attempts following the CWS. The Cardinals were paced by junior Sutton Whiting, who ranked fourth in the nation in stolen bases with 37 in 43 attempts despite missing six games with an injury. Grant Kay was 23-for-26 on steals, Cole Sturgeon was 19-of-24 and Colin Lyman was 10-for-13 giving Louisville four players with 10 or more stolen bases.
FUNKHOUSER LEADS USA COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM IN STRIKEOUTS
After earning a roster spot at the USA Collegiate National Team Trials, righy Kyle Funkhouser had an impressive summer competing around the world. In six appearances and five starts for Team USA, Funkhouser was 1-2 with a 1.27 ERA (four earned runs in 28.1 innings) and a team-high 36 strikeouts while allowing just eight walks and 15 hits. Funkhouser became 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 was as an assistant for Team USA, which finished with a 19-5 record and won the World Baseball Challenge in Canada.
GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD 30-MAN WATCH LIST INCLUDED 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.
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.
GARDNER NAMED 2014 SENIOR CLASS AWARD FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
Senior outfielder Jeff Gardner was named as a Senior CLASS Award First Team All-American adding another during his outstanding collegiate career with the Cardinals. A native of Louisville, Gardner was one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Senior Class Award, won by UC Irvine pitcher Andrew Morales. 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 award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring.
