Louisville No. 2 in Baseball America Preseason Top 25
January 25, 2016 | Baseball
Cardinals receive fourth No. 2 preseason ranking of 2016; ACC with three top 10 teams
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the first official practice of the 2016 season just four days away, the Louisville baseball team received another high preseason ranking Monday as Baseball America placed the Cardinals at No. 2 in its preseason Top 25. It marked the fourth No. 2 preseason ranking for Louisville, which is also second in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll, D1Baseball.com Top 25 and Perfect Game Top 25.
The No. 2 rankings stand as the highest preseason ranking in program history for the Cardinals, two positions better than their previous preseason high of No. 4 by Baseball America during the 2013 College World Series season. The No. 2 ranking also equals the best overall ranking in school history matching the high point last season when Louisville was second in the nation in back-to-back weeks on May 4 (D1Baseball.com and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) and May 11 (D1Baseball.com, NCBWA, USA Today & Perfect Game).
Landing in the No. 1 position in the Baseball America Top 25 was Florida, which was also in the top spot in each of the previous three polls. Following the No. 2 Cardinals in the Baseball America rankings were No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Oregon State. Louisville leads five ACC schools in the Baseball America Top 25, including three in the top 10 with the reigning NCAA champion Cavaliers at No. 4 and Miami at No. 6. They are joined by No. 17 Florida State and No. 19 NC State.
The Cardinals have received a preseason top 10 ranking in four straight seasons (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) and have earned a preseason national ranking in nine straight seasons (2008-2016) overall. Monday's ranking extends a record-setting run for the Louisville baseball program, which has remained ranked in at least one major national poll every week since the release of the 2012 preseason rankings -- the longest such stretch in school history.
The second-ranked Cardinals are scheduled to open the 2016 season on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium in the first game of a weekend series at home against SIU Edwardsville.
ABOUT LOUISVILLE BASEBALL IN 2016
The Cardinals return an experienced, talented and deep roster of players from last year's record-setting club, which won the ACC Atlantic Division title with the most league wins in conference history (25-5 record) and advanced to an NCAA Super Regional for the third straight season. Louisville returns more than 75 percent of its pitching starts from 2015, anchored by the 1-2 All-American punch of senior righty Kyle Funkhouser and sophomore lefty Brendan McKay. The pitching staff also returns 83 percent of its relief innings, including Burdi, talented junior lefty Drew Harrington and Freshman All-Americans Lincoln Henzman and Sean Leland.
Offensively, the Cardinals return seven players who started 30 or more games last season, including the top three hitters in junior outfielder and All-American Corey Ray, Solak and McKay, the reigning John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year. Collectively, Louisville returns 78 percent of its runs driven in, 73 percent of its extra-base hits, 72 percent of its total hits and 70 percent of its runs scored from the 2015 team.
In his nine seasons guiding the Louisville baseball program, head coach Dan McDonnell has placed the Cardinals among the nation's elite with three College World Series berths, five NCAA Super Regional appearances, eight NCAA Regional bids, six conference regular season titles, two conference tournament titles, 22 All-Americans and 406 wins overall (sixth most nationally during that nine-year span).
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2016 BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON TOP 25Â
1. Florida
2. Louisville
3. Texas A&M
4. Virginia
5. Oregon State
6. Miami
7. Vanderbilt
8. California
9. Oklahoma State
10. UCLA
11. LSU
12. Houston
13. Louisiana-Lafayette
14. Oregon
15. Michigan
16. USC
17. Florida State
18. TCU
19. NC State
20. Mississippi State
21. Oklahoma
22. Cal State Fullerton
23. Coastal Carolina
24. Ole Miss
25. Kentucky
