Baseball Notebook: Cardinals Ranked as Nation’s No. 6 Program by D1Baseball
September 27, 2017 | Baseball
Cardinals to cap fourth week of fall ball with scrimmages Thursday (3 p.m., ET), Friday (2:30 p.m.), and Saturday (11 a.m.)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - D1Baseball ranked the nation's Top 100 collegiate baseball programs following the completion of the 2017 season and the University of Louisville landed at No. 6 overall.
The release of the Top 100 list, which identified the programs in the best shape right now, began with 91-100 on Sept. 11 and continued in increments of 10 until reaching the final 10. Programs 6-10 were announced on Sept. 22 while the final five programs were introduced on Sept. 25.
The formula for the rankings included points for the postseason success over the last five years and additional, fewer points for postseason results between six and 10 years ago. Additional adjustments were made based on evaluations of coaching staff quality and stability, facilities, scholarship/financial aid situation, conference dynamics, momentum, and recruiting and player development proficiency.
During head coach Dan McDonnell's 11 seasons at the helm of the Cardinals, the program has four College World Series berths, seven NCAA Super Regional appearances, 10 NCAA Regional bids, eight regular season conference championships and two conference tournament titles with 34 All-Americans. Louisville, which ranks No. 3 in the nation in wins during that span with 509, has produced 34 All-Americans in the last 11 seasons and 57 players have signed professional contracts after being selected in the MLB Draft.
The top five teams on the list were No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Virginia. The No. 6 Cardinals were followed by No. 7 Florida State, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 9 Cal State Fullerton and No. 10 Texas A&M.
CARDINALS HOST OPEN SCRIMMAGES THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AT PATTERSON STADIUM
Louisville has surpassed the halfway point in its fall ball schedule and will conclude the fourth week of workouts with a trio of weekend scrimmages at Jim Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals will begin the weekend slate on Thursday at 3 p.m., ET while also hosting open scrimmages on Friday at 2:30 p.m., and Saturday at 11 a.m. Batting practice will begin 75 minutes prior to first pitch each day and all scrimmages are free to the public.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK THREE SCRIMMAGES
The Cardinals conducted three scrimmages last week as they completed the third week of work on the field as a squad. Pacing the way for the pitchers last weekend was rising sophomore righthander Shay Smiddy, who had four strikeouts and allowed just one hit and no runs in 3.1 innings. Sophomore lefty Adam Elliott had one strikeout and did not allow a hit in two innings of shutout work, while freshman righty Bobby Miller registered four strikeouts with just one hit in two scoreless innings.
At the plate, rising junior outfielder Josh Stowers was 6-for-12 with one home run, a double, triple, three RBIs and three stolen bases in the three games. Junior catcher Zeke Pinkham finished 6-of-13 with six doubles and two RBIs, while junior infielder Devin Mann was 4-of-9 with a home run, two RBIs, five runs scored, three stolen bases and two walks. Sophomore outfielder Danny Oriente also had a strong weekend finishing 6-for-14 with five RBIs, five runs scored and three stolen bases.
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