Louisville Announces 2017 Baseball Schedule

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville baseball program released its 2017 schedule on Thursday and the slate includes 27 of 56 games against NCAA Regional qualifiers from last season, including 14 of those at home inside Jim Patterson Stadium.

Following their fourth straight NCAA Super Regional season, the Cardinals will play a 34-game home schedule in 2017, highlighted by visits from 2016 NCAA Regional foes Xavier, Boston College, Wake Forest, Duke, Vanderbilt and Florida State. The Cardinals' road challenges include games at NC State, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson, all of which advanced to the postseason last year, as well as visits to Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Kentucky and Indiana.

In addition to the regular season schedule, the 2017 ACC Baseball Championship will also be played in the Cardinals' backyard as Louisville Slugger Field will host the event for the first time on May 23-28. Louisville Slugger Field boasts a seating capacity of 13,131 and is home to the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

For the second time in three seasons, Louisville will open its season at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida for a trio of neutral site games in the Sunshine State. The Cardinals will face 2016 NCAA qualifier Alabama State (Feb. 17, 3 p.m.), Big Ten foe Maryland (Feb. 18, 6 p.m.) and Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State (Feb. 19, 1 p.m.) at the spring training home for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The home schedule begins on Feb. 22 at 3 p.m., when Eastern Kentucky opens an eight-game homestand for Louisville. The stand will also feature a three-game series against first-time opponent Nebraska-Omaha (Feb. 24-26), a mid-week game against Morehead State (March 1) and a weekend set versus Eastern Michigan (March 3-5). Following a road game at Eastern Kentucky (March 7), the Cardinals begin another eight-game stretch at home with a contest against Fort Wayne (March 8) before opening their 30-game ACC schedule with a series against Pittsburgh on March 10-12 at Patterson Stadium.

Louisville will stay home during Spring Break with a midweek game against Xavier (March 15) and a three-game series against Boston College (March 17-19), an NCAA Super Regional qualifier last season. The Cardinals then begin a stretch of seven of eight games away from home with a contest at Cincinnati (March 21) and a weekend visit to NC State. Following a home game against Western Kentucky (March 28), Louisville returns to the road for a trio of games at Virginia (March 31-April 2).

The Cardinals return to the friendly confines of Patterson Stadium on April 4 for the first of two midweek games against Kentucky before also hosting Wake Forest (April 7-9) and Purdue (April 11). Following road trips to Georgia Tech (April 13-15) and Kentucky (April 18), Louisville kicks off its third and final eight-game homestand with a weekend series against Duke (April 21-23). The home stretch also includes Northern Kentucky (April 26), Toledo (April 28-30) and Miami (Ohio) on May 3 to begin the last month of the regular season.

The final stretch of the season will commence with a three-game set at Notre Dame (May 5-7) before hosting Vanderbilt in the annual Battle of the Barrel on May 9. Road challenges at Clemson (May 12-14) and Indiana (May 16) will precede the last weekend series of the regular season when Florida State travels to Patterson Stadium on May 18-20.

The 2017 NCAA Championship is scheduled to begin on June 2 with regional play, while the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., is slated from June 17-27/28 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

2017 LOUISVILLE BASEBALL SCHEDULE NOTES

The Cardinals' annual Elementary School Day at Jim Patterson Stadium is set for Wednesday, March 15 at noon ET against Xavier.
Cancer Awareness Night at the ballpark is set for Tuesday, March 28 against Western Kentucky.
The series-opener against Wake Forest on Friday, April 7 will be the Cardinals' annual Patriotic Game at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville will host its second annual Diamond Heritage Day on Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m., ET against Duke.
The annual Battle of the Barrel contest against Vanderbilt is set for Tuesday, May 9 at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville's annual Senior Day ceremony is set for Saturday, May 20 prior to the regular season finale against Florida State.
The longest homestand of the 2017 season for Louisville will be eight games, scheduled to occur three different times during the season – Feb. 22-March 5, March 8-19 and April 21-May 3.
From week five of the season through week 10, the Cardinals will play six consecutive weekend series against 2016 NCAA Regional qualifiers – Boston College (March 17-19), at NC State (March 24-26), at Virginia (March 31-April 2), Wake Forest (April 7-9), at Georgia Tech (April 13-15) and Duke (April 21-23).
Overall, the Cardinals will play 11 different programs (27 games total) in 2017 that advanced to the 2016 NCAA Championship (Alabama State, Xavier, Boston College, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Duke, Vanderbilt, Clemson and Florida State).
The Cardinals return to Clearwater, Florida and Bright House Field, where they were 2-1 in their most recent visit in 2015. Overall, Louisville has a 23-13 record all-time at Bright House Field since its first appearance at the ballpark for the 2006 Big East Tournament.
ACC foe Duke will make its first ever visit to Louisville in 2017.
Louisville and Pittsburgh will meet for the first time as ACC foes and the Panthers will make the first visit to Patterson Stadium since dropping a trio of games against the Cardinals during the 2013 season when the programs competed as Big East members.
The Cardinals will play at Georgia Tech for the first time as a member of the ACC. The weekend series against the Yellow Jackets will also mark Louisville's first visit to Russ Chandler Stadium since 2002 when they were 0-2 in the NCAA Regional in Atlanta and did not play Georgia Tech.
The Cardinals are 313-93 (.770 winning percentage) all-time at Jim Patterson Stadium, which opened in April 2005.
Louisville will continue its commitment to the fan experience by offering free admission to most home games at Jim Patterson Stadium. The lone exception is the April 4 contest against Kentucky ($10 reserved seating) to accommodate the high demand.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE BASEBALL IN 2017

The Cardinals return a trio of All-Americans and 19 total letterwinners for 2017 from last year's team, which won its second straight ACC Atlantic Division championship, advanced to its fourth straight NCAA Super Regional and reached the 50-win plateau for the fourth time in school history. Two-time John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-American Brendan McKay returns for his junior season after finishing with a 12-4 record, 2.30 ERA and 128 strikeouts on the mound and a .333 batting average, six home runs, 19 doubles and 41 RBI at the plate last season.
Junior righthander Kade McClure, an All-American selection by the NCBWA and Perfect Game in 2016, is expected to give the Cardinals a 1-2 All-American punch in their weekend rotation after closing his sophomore season with a 12-0 record, 2.54 ERA and 77 strikeouts 13 starts and 15 total appearances. Joining McKay in the Louisville lineup is junior shortstop Devin Hairston, who hit .361 with three home runs, 16 doubles and 45 RBI while earning ABCA Third Team All-America honors last season.

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.

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