Louisville Hosts Kentucky Wednesday Night
April 07, 2015 | Baseball
Zach Lucas is one of 16 players on the Louisville roster from the Bluegrass State.
GAME DAY INFO: #5 Louisville (25-7, 14-1 ACC) vs. Kentucky (18-13, 4-7 SEC)
Date: April 8, 2015
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000)
Live Stats: Gametracker at GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
Wednesday, April 8 | 6 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN3 (Watch) | Radio: 93.9 The Ville
Web: CardsTV Audio (Listen) | Live Stats: Gametracker
LOU: Fr. RHP Sean Leland (1-0, 1.06 ERA)
UK: Sr. RHP Andrew Nelson (2-2, 4.40 ERA)
? Louisville Baseball Game Notes (vs. Kentucky) | Media Center
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a series sweep at nationally ranked Virginia last weekend, the No. 5 Louisville baseball team returns home to host Kentucky in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass on Wednesday at 6 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Television coverage of the Cardinals and Wildcats on the baseball diamond will be provided by ESPN3 at WatchESPN.com. Additionally, the game will also be aired live on 93.9 The Ville in Louisville, while CardsTV subscribers can listen at GoCards.com. Live scoring will be available through Gametracker at GoCards.com.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville, ranked as highly as fifth in three of the six national polls this week, earned its fourth straight ACC sweep and maintained sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with three wins at Virginia last weekend. The Cardinals pushed their winning streak to seven games overall and have won 13 straight ACC games after Monday's 4-0 victory in the series finale against the Cavaliers. The 14-1 ACC mark is the best 15-game league record in school history.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE RACE
After five weeks of ACC action, Louisville is atop the Atlantic Division with a 14-1 conference mark. The Cardinals hold a three-game lead over Florida State (11-4) with Wake Forest in third at 8-7, NC State in fourth at 7-7 and Clemson fifth at 7-8. Miami leads the Coastal Division at 11-4, while Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech are tied for second with 7-8 conference marks.
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 264-85 record (.756 winning percentage), including a 16-3 mark this season at the corner of Third and Central.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville trails 36-61-1 all-time against Kentucky in a series dating back to 1925. Last season, the Cardinals were 1-2 against the Wildcats but the lone victory was a big one as Louisville earned a 4-1 win in the championship round of the NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals are 5-4 at home against the Wildcats under head coach Dan McDonnell.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters Wednesday night's game at 18-13 overall and riding a three-game losing skid. Last weekend, the Wildcats dropped a pair of home games (6-3, 5-2) against Texas A&M and lost a midweek home contest to Indiana (11-7). Last season, UK finished with a 37-25 record overall and was fourth in the SEC Eastern Division with a 14-16 conference mark. The Wildcats earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship before falling in the title game of the NCAA Louisville Regional to the Cardinals.
TEAM NOTES AND TRENDS
? Through 32 games this season, the Louisville bullpen has a 1.60 ERA with a 12-0 record, 139 strikeouts to just 46 walks in 118.1 innings pitched and opposing batters are hitting just .162.
? In 15 ACC games, the Cardinals have a 2.11 ERA overall with 133 strikeouts in 145.0 innings. The bullpen has a 1.14 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 47.1 innings of work in conference action.
? Louisville has won 121 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 21-1 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.
? 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 19 of 32 games overall.
? Louisville is 9-0 this season when scoring in the first inning and 17-0 when scoring first.
? The Cardinals have played 74 consecutive innings against ACC foes without trailing. Louisville's last deficit in ACC action came in the seventh inning of the March 21 win at Notre Dame.
PLAYER NOTES AND TRENDS
? Sutton Whiting continues to lead the Cardinals in hitting with a .390 average overall in 32 starts at shortstop. In ACC action, Whiting has a .443 average and has reached base safely in all 15 conference games.
? Corey Ray leads the team with five home runs, 32 RBI, 24 runs scored, three triples and 15 stolen bases on 18 attempts.
? 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 5-0 with four saves, a 2.03 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 40.0 innings pitched (11 appearances, four starts.). At the plate, he is hitting .289 with one home run, 14 RBI, 19 runs scored and 21 walks in 25 starts as a hitter.
? In his last four starts, junior Kyle Funkhouser is 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 28.2 innings. Overall, he is 4-2 with a 2.22 ERA and 54 strikeouts on the season.
? In his last six starts, Josh Rogers is 5-0 with a 0.94 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 38.0 innings pitched. Opposing batters are hitting just .176 in those games.
? Sophomore lefty Drew Harrington has allowed only one earned run in 13 appearances on the mound this season. In 27.1 innings of work in 2015, Harrington is 3-1 with four saves, a 0.33 ERA, 40 strikeouts to just eight walks while opposing hitters are batting just .095 against him.
? Ray leads the Cardinals with 14 multiple-hit games this season, while Sutton Whiting (13) and Nick Solak (12) are next. Devin Hairston has eight multiple-RBI performances to lead the club, while Ray is next with seven.
LOUISVILLE PITCHERS LEAD NATION IN STRIKEOUTS SINCE 2012
Since 2012, Louisville's pitchers lead the nation in strikeouts with 1,980 overall (entering the week). The Cardinals, who had 313 strikeouts through the first 31 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 1,943 strikeouts, while NC State (1,927), Mississippi State (1,898) and North Carolina (1,880) round out the top five.
RAY NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON APRIL 6
Sophomore Corey Ray was chosen as the ACC Baseball Player of the Week on April 6. Ray hit .600 in three games during the week, finishing 9-for-15 with two home runs, nine RBIs, three doubles, six runs scored, two stolen bases and a 1.333 slugging percentage. After opening the week by going 3-for-5 with a home run, double, triple and four RBIs in a nonconference win over Miami (Ohio) on March 31, Ray kicked off the Cardinals' series win at No. 9 Virginia by connecting for his first career grand slam in the seventh inning of an 8-1 triumph and finished 2-for-5 overall. The Chicago, Illinois, native kept things rolling on April 5 by going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, one RBI and two stolen bases in an 11-4 victory over the Cavaliers.
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.
CARDINALS COMPLETE MOST SUCCESSFUL MARCH IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Louisville finished with its highest winning percentage ever for the month of March after compiling a 16-3 record overall (.947 winning percentage) this season. The Cardinals surpassed the previous best record for March of 15-3 (.833) during the 1984 season, while the third highest winning percentage in the month came during the 2010 season when Louisville finished at 14-3. The month of March has proven to be a successful one for the Cardinals under the guidance of coach Dan McDonnell. Louisville has never finished with a losing record in the month while seven of the nine seasons they have won 13 or more games in March.
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.
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.
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
Kyle Funkhouser was chosen as the ACC 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 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.
