Cardinals Host Miami (Ohio) Tuesday Night
March 31, 2015 | Baseball
Sutton Whiting leads the ACC and ranks 12th nationally with a .511 on-base percentage.
GAME DAY INFO: #7 Louisville (21-7, 11-1 ACC) vs. Miami (4-19, 2-4 MAC)
Date: March 31, 2015
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000)
Live Stats: Gametracker at GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
Tuesday, March 31 | 6 p.m. ET
TV: None | Radio: 93.9 The Ville
Web: CardsTV Video (Watch) | Live Stats: Gametracker
LOU: Jr. RHP Anthony Kidston (0-3, 5.76 ERA)
MIA: Fr. RHP Gus Graham (0-0, 0.96 ERA)
? Louisville Baseball Game Notes (vs. Miami) | Media Center
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The seventh-ranked Louisville baseball team closes a four-game homestand with a non-conference matchup against Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday at 6 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium and admission is free.
Tuesday's game will be aired live on 93.9 The Ville in Louisville, while CardsTV subscribers can watch all of the action online at GoCards.com. Live scoring will be available through Gametracker at GoCards.com.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville, ranked as highly as seventh by five of the six national polls, earned its third straight ACC sweep and maintained sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with three wins against Georgia Tech last weekend. The Cardinals used strong pitching and early scoring while never trailing in any of the three games against the Yellow Jackets. Louisville has won 10 straight conference games while the 11-1 ACC mark is the best 12-game league record in school history.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE RACE
After four weeks of ACC action, Louisville is atop the Atlantic Division with an 11-1 conference mark. The Cardinals hold a two-game lead over Florida State (9-3), with NC State in third at 6-5, Wake Forest in fourth at 6-6 and Clemson fifth at 5-7. Miami leads the Coastal Division at 8-4, while Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia Tech are tied for second with 6-6 conference marks.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville is 7-12 all-time against Miami (Ohio) in a series dating back to 1940. Most recently, the Cardinals won two of three against the RedHawks last season in Louisville. After dropping the series-opener 6-4, the Cardinals bounced back for wins of 10-1 and 9-0 to claim the series. In games played in Louisville, the Cardinals have a 6-8 record overall.
ABOUT THE REDHAWKS
Miami enters the week at 4-19 overall and 2-4 in the Mid-American Conference after dropping all three games against Central Michigan last weekend in Oxford, Ohio. Last season, the RedHawks were 30-27 overall and won the MAC East title with an 18-9 conference mark. They ended their season after going 1-2 at the MAC Tournament.
LOUISVILLE CONNECTIONS TO OHIO
The Cardinals have three players hailing from the state of Ohio, including Tuesday's starter on the mound Anthony Kidston (Defiance). Joining Kidston on the Louisville roster are freshman pitchers Butch Baird (Big Prairie) and Kade McClure (Mentor).
FEELING AT HOME IN PATTERSON STADIUM
Since opening the gates at Jim Patterson Stadium in 2005, the Cardinals have won more than 75 percent of their games in the ballpark posting a 259-85 record, including a 15-3 mark this season.
TEAM NOTES AND TRENDS
? Through 28 games this season, the Louisville bullpen has a 1.67 ERA with an 11-0 record, 124 strikeouts in 108.0 innings pitched and opposing batters are hitting just .166.
? In 12 ACC games, the Cardinals have a 2.21 ERA overall with 115 strikeouts in 118.0 innings. The bullpen has a 1.29 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 42.0 innings of work in conference action.
? Louisville has won 117 straight games when entering the ninth inning with a lead dating back to May 2012. The Cardinals were 43-0 last season and 46-0 in 2013 when leading after the eighth.
? The Cardinals are 17-1 this season when out-hitting their opponents, 1-5 when out-hit and 3-1 when hits are tied. Last season, Louisville was 38-3 when out-hitting its opponents.
? Louisville was 32-8 last season against righty starters and 18-9 against lefties. This season, they are 15-5 versus righties and 6-2 against lefties.
? The Cardinals allowed two or fewer earned runs in 40 of 67 games last season, something they did in 36 of 65 in 2013. So far in 2015, they have allowed two or fewer earned runs in 17 of 28 games overall.
? Louisville is 7-0 this season when scoring in the first inning and 13-0 when scoring first.
PLAYER NOTES AND TRENDS
? Senior Sutton Whiting leads the Cardinals with a .387 average through 28 games and is hitting .438 in ACC games.
? Sophomore Corey Ray leads the team with 23 RBI and 18 runs scored and is tied for the team lead with three home runs.
? As the first player in Dan McDonnell's nine seasons to start on the mound and play virtually every day as a position player/hitter, freshman Brendan McKay is 4-0 with four saves, a 1.36 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 33.0 innings pitched (10 appearances, three starts.). At the plate, he is hitting .293 with 18 walks and 10 RBI in 21 starts as a hitter.
? In his last three starts, junior Kyle Funkhouser is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 21.0 innings. Overall, he is 3-2 with a 2.40 ERA and 49 strikeouts on the season.
? In his last five starts, sophomore lefthander Josh Rogers is 4-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 31.0 innings pitched.
? Sophomore lefty Drew Harrington has allowed only one earned run in 11 appearances on the mound this season. In 22.1 innings of work in 2015, Harrington is 2-1 with four saves, a 0.40 ERA, 32 strikeouts to just seven walks while opposing hitters are batting just .103 against him.
? Ray and Whiting lead the Cardinals with 11 multiple-hit games this season, while Nick Solak is next with 10. Devin Hairston has six multiple-RBI performances to lead the club, while Ray and Solak are next with five.
LOUISVILLE PITCHERS LEAD NATION IN STRIKEOUTS SINCE 2012
Since 2012, Louisville's pitchers lead the nation in strikeouts with 1,954 overall (entering the week). The Cardinals, who had 287 strikeouts through the first 28 games of 2015, finished with 563 strikeouts last season, had an NCAA best 629 in 2013 and finished with 474 in 2012. Vanderbilt ranks second since 2012 with 1,899 strikeouts, while NC State (1,886), Mississippi State (1,872) and North Carolina (1,848) round out the top five.
TEN CARDINALS MAKE COLLEGIATE DEBUTS IN 2015
A total of 10 Cardinals have made their collegiate debuts thus far in the 2015 season. During the Opening Weekend Challenge in Florida, Devin Hairston, Colby Fitch, Lincoln Henzman, Kade McClure, Brendan McKay and Blake Tiberi took the field for Louisville, while Butch Baird and Sean Leland saw their first chances for the Cardinals in the series against Arkansas State. On Feb. 24, Chandler Dale became the ninth player to see action with a relief appearance against Butler. Junior Jimmy Faul added his name to the list as the 10th player when he had a pinch hit single against Boston College on March 14.
STRONG WORK IN THE CLASSROOM CONTINUES FOR LOUISVILLE BASEBALL
The 2014 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 IN NATIONAL POLLS EVERY WEEK SINCE BEGINNING OF 2012
The Louisville baseball program has enjoyed a historic run by remaining in at least one of the major national polls every week since the release of the 2012 preseason rankings -- the longest such span in school history. The Cardinals received their second highest preseason ranking ever prior to 2015 after being tabbed as highly as No. 7 in the USA Today preseason coaches poll. The ranking, which marked the third straight season the Cardinals were positioned in the top 10 in a preseason poll, was second to only the No. 4 ranking by Baseball America in 2013.
Earning a preseason national ranking for the eighth straight season, Louisville was ranked in the top 12 in each of the six preseason national polls in 2015. The Cardinals were also at No. 9 in the Perfect Game preseason Top 25, No. 11 in the D1Baseball Top 25 and No. 12 in both the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball newspaper polls.
SMITH NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
On March 11, Louisville sophomore Will Smith was among 75 catchers named to the official watch list for the 2015 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com. Because the award is given annually to the top division one collegiate catcher, the list will be updated to include other candidates until May 4. The watch list will be narrowed to the semifinalists on May 14, while the finalists will be announced June 2. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 18th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 25, 2015.
FUNKHOUSER EARNS ACC, NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS FEB. 16
Junior righthander Kyle Funkhouser was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 16 while also being named as a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. He matched a career-high with 12 strikeouts and allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings to lead the seventh-ranked Cardinals to a 5-1 season-opening win over Alabama State on Feb. 13 at the Opening Weekend Challenge. Funkhouser retired the final 20 batters he faced and equaled his strikeout total at Temple last May and improved to 19-4 in his collegiate career with the performance.
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.
