Baseball Notebook: Cardinals Begin Preseason Work
January 08, 2015 | Baseball
Louisville alum and San Francisco Giants infielder Adam Duvall talks with Sean Moth during a timeout at Wednesday's men's basketball game.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With opening day of the 2015 college baseball season less than 40 days away, the University of Louisville baseball team returned to campus this week to resume preparations for the program's inaugural campaign in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Following back-to-back College World Series seasons, the Cardinals kicked off 2015 with a one-hour team meeting on Tuesday afternoon inside the Omaha Room at Jim Patterson Stadium. As the first day of classes for the spring semester at UofL began on Wednesday, the Louisville players started the day with a 6 a.m., shuttle run inside the Trager Center. The day also included afternoon individual drills and a team weightlifting session at the Marshall Center.
"It was a busy first day for the team but it was a very productive start to the spring for our players," said head coach Dan McDonnell, now in his ninth season with the Cardinals. "We have a little more than two weeks of individual work and conditioning work to focus on before full squad practices begin on Jan. 23, so we plan to make the most of it."
Ranked No. 12 in the preseason Collegiate Baseball newspaper preseason poll released last month, the Cardinals will open the 2015 season at the Clearwater (Fla.) Tournament against Alabama State (Feb. 13), USF (Feb. 14) and No. 17 Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 15) at Bright House Field. Louisville's 33-game home slate at Jim Patterson Stadium is set to begin on Feb. 18 against Eastern Kentucky.
DUVALL HONORED AT WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL GAME
Former Louisville baseball standout and San Francisco Giants infielder Adam Duvall visited the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday night where he was honored during the men's basketball team's ACC win over Clemson. A member of the Giants' 2015 World Series winning club, Duvall visited with reporters prior to the basketball game and was honored during a second half timeout for a highly successful debut season in Major League Baseball. A Louisville native and a graduate of Butler High School, Duvall had a truly memorable MLB debut connecting for a solo home run in his first big league game as the Giants' starting first baseman against the Cincinnati Reds on June 26, 2014 at AT&T Park.
CARDINALS CONTINUE STRONG WORK IN THE CLASSROOM
The fall semester proved to be another good one for the Louisville baseball team in the classroom as the Cardinals earned a cumulative team GPA of 3.251 marking the seventh straight semester the team has finished above a 3.0 as a group. A total of 29 Louisville players finished the fall semester with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
LOUISVILLE'S 2014 CWS TEAM TO BE HONORED TUESDAY AT KFC YUM! CENTER
The Cardinals' 2014 team, which advanced to the program's second straight College World Series and won 50 games overall, will be honored on Tuesday night at the KFC Yum! Center during the Louisville men's basketball team's ACC matchup with Virginia Tech. The team, which also won the program's fifth conference championship in six seasons, will be introduced during a media timeout.
LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN FOR 2015 LEADOFF DINNER
In what has become status quo, ticket sales for the annual Louisville Baseball Leadoff Dinner presented by Republic Bank have been very successful with a limited number of spots remaining for the 2015 event. Scheduled for Jan. 23, the dinner will be headlined by a trio of former Louisville standouts who made their Major League Baseball debuts in 2014 -- Chris Dominguez, Adam Duvall and Justin Marks. The annual dinner is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., ET in the Regency Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Louisville. Tickets for the event can be purchased online here for $50 each. The deadline to register is Jan. 16, 2015, while more information can be obtained by contacting Ronee Baxter at (502) 852-2015 or at ronee@gocards.com.
WINTER CAMPS BEGIN THIS WEEKEND
The first weekend of the 2015 Louisville Baseball Winter Camps is scheduled to kick off on Saturday and Sunday at Jim Patterson Stadium and inside the Trager Center. Limited spots still remain for all of the upcoming winter camp dates, which include Jan. 10, 11, 17 and 18. The cost for the Louisville Winter Camp is $100 per session and they are open to anyone in grades 1-12. More information on the camps is available by calling (502) 852-5791 or online 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.
