Friday, March 16
Winston-Salem, NC
6:00 PM
University of Louisville
at
Wake Forest
Jake Snider is hitting .328 with 14 RBIs, 14 runs scored and nine stolen bases this season.
Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics
Weekend Visit to Wake Forest Up Next for No. 4 Cardinals
March 15, 2018 | Baseball
Louisville and Wake Forest set for Friday at 6 p.m., ET, Saturday at 4 p.m., and Sunday at 11 a.m.
| GAME DAY INFORMATION #4 Louisville (15-2/2-1) at Wake Forest (7-10/2-1) Location: Winston-Salem, N.C. Venue: David F. Couch Ballpark Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball Game Notes: Louisville | Wake Forest | Media Center UofL Tickets: Buy Now | Patterson Stadium Guide/FAQ Friday, March 16 | 6 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACC Network Extra | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Jr. LHP Adam Wolf (3-0, 2.25 ERA) WF: Jr. RHP Griffin Roberts (2-2, 3.71 ERA) Saturday, March 17 | 4 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACC Network Extra | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: So. RHP Shay Smiddy (2-0, 0.61 ERA) WF: So. RHP Morgan McSweeney (1-1, 2.75 ERA) Sunday, March 18 | 11 a.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACC Network Extra | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Jr. RHP Riley Thompson (1-1, 4.43 ERA) WF: So. RHP Colin Peluse (2-0, 2.77 ERA) |
ABOUT THE LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
Louisville opened its ACC slate by winning two of three at home last weekend against No. 13 North Carolina. The Cardinals followed that series win by splitting two midweek games with No. 5 Texas Tech. UofL registered the third best start to a season in school history winning its first 14 games. The nation's last unbeaten team for the second straight season, the Cardinals are ranked as highly as fourth in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll.
Sophomore Logan Wyatt, named Monday as the ACC Co-Player of the Week, has a .317 average with one homer, 15 RBIs, eight doubles and 22 walks to pace the offense. Junior infielder Devin Mann is hitting .298 with two home runs, 22 RBIs and 18 runs scored. Three different Cardinals have seven or more stolen bases as Josh Stowers is 10-of-11, Jake Snider is 9-for-11 and Tyler Fitzgerald is 7-of-8.
The Louisville pitching staff is led by All-American righty Sam Bordner, who has seven saves and a 1-0 record while not allowing a run in his 8.0 innings this season. Overall, the junior has a scoreless streak of 21.0 innings dating back to last season and has surrendered just two earned runs in his last 51.2 innings (0.34 ERA). For the second straight weekend, the starting pitching rotation for the Cardinals will consist of junior lefthander Adam Wolf in game one, sophomore righthander Shay Smiddy in game two and junior righty Riley Thompson in game three.
Louisville is guided by head coach Dan McDonnell, who is in his 12th season in The Ville following a record-setting campaign in 2017 when the Cardinals ranked fifth in every major national poll after advancing to the College World Series for the fourth time in school history. UofL set a school record for wins with a 53-12 mark and earned the program's third straight ACC Atlantic Division title.
ABOUT THE WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
Wake Forest enters the weekend at 7-10 overall following a midweek loss to Charlotte and 2-1 in the ACC after earning a series win over Florida State last weekend. Guided by head coach Tom Walter, who is in his ninth season in Winston-Salem, the Demon Deacons were 43-20 overall and second in the ACC Atlantic with a 19-11 mark. Wake Forest ended its season with an NCAA Super Regional loss at Florida.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville owns a 9-1 lead in the all-time series with Wake Forest. The Cardinals won two of three against the Demon Deacons last season at Jim Patterson Stadium. UofL earned a series sweep in the only previous visit to Winston-Salem on May 19-21, 2016 while also clinching the ACC Atlantic Division title that weekend.
TEAM NOTES AND TRENDS
• The series with No. 5 Texas Tech capped a stretch of five straight games against ranked foes for the Cardinals, who won two of three against No. 13 North Carolina and split two with Tech.
• Overall, Louisville is in the midst of a 20-game stretch where it plays 15 games against teams currently ranked in at least one national poll -- No. 13 North Carolina (3 games), No. 5 Texas Tech (2 games), No. 2 Clemson (3 games), No. 6 Florida State (3 games), No. 3 Kentucky (1 game) and No. 10 NC State (3 games).
• Louisville has started nine different defensive lineups and submitted 15 different batting orders through the first 17 games of the 2018 season.
• UofL has started the same four infielders -- Logan Wyatt at first, Devin Mann at second, Tyler Fitzgerald at shortstop and Justin Lavey at third -- in all 17 games this season.
• Louisville has started seven different players in the outfield through 17 games.
• The Cardinals had a 50-0 record last season when leading after eight innings and are 13-0 this season when entering the ninth inning with a lead.
• UofL is 4th in the nation in strikeouts per 9 IP (11.1) and 30th in hits allowed per 9 IP (7.22).
• Louisville is ranked 12th in the nation in stolen bases in 2018 with 33 in 40 attempts after ranking 17th in 2017 (98-of-123). The Cardinals were 12th in the NCAA in 2016 with 101 stolen bases, fourth nationally with 127 stolen bases in 2015, second in the nation in 2014 with 133 and second in 2013 with 150.
• Offensively, the Cardinals are 5th in the nation in walks, 6th in triples, 12th in on-base percentage, 19th in runs, 20th in scoring and 30th in doubles.
• UofL has won 27 of its 31 ACC series since joining the league and is 28-2 in its series finales during that span, including an 11-1 record in rubber games.
• The Cardinals have won 15 of their 16 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
• While at Louisville, coach Dan McDonnell has guided the Cardinals to 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.
PLAYER NOTES AND TRENDS
• Sam Bordner has a scoreless streak of 21.0 innings dating back to last season. His career long scoreless streak is 31.2 innings spanning the end of 2016 and much of 2017.
• Bordner has surrendered just two earned runs in his last 51.2 innings (0.34 ERA) dating back to the start of the 2017 season.
• Bordner ranks 3rd in the nation with his seven saves in 2018.
• Logan Wyatt leads the team with seven multi-hit performances this season while Devin Mann and Drew Campbell have six each.
• Mann is the team leader in career home runs (10), career doubles (24) and career RBIs (83).
• Wyatt is ranked 3rd in the nation in walks, Devin Mann is 12th nationally, Josh Stowers is 20th and Jake Snider is 31st.
• Wyatt also ranks 15th nationally in doubles.
• Stowers ranks 9th in the nation in stolen bases, while Snider is ranked 24th.
• Junior catcher Pat Rumoro was named on March 6 to the initial watch list for the 2018 Johnny Bench Award, presented annually to the nation's top catcher.
CARDINALS WIN 14 STRAIGHT TO OPEN 2018 FOR THIRD BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Louisville won its first 14 games in 2018 marking the third best start in school history and the second longest season-opening winning streak in head coach Dan McDonnell's 12 years at the helm. The 2017 Cardinals set a school record by winning 19 straight games to begin the season, which culminated with the program's fourth College World Series appearance, while the 1957 Louisville baseball team finished with a 17-0 record overall.
LOUISVILLE IN NATIONAL POLLS EVERY WEEK SINCE START OF 2012
Louisville, which surpassed its previous high national ranking of No. 2 (in 2016) with the No. 1 ranking on March 13 and March 20 during the 2017 season, has enjoyed a historic run by remaining ranked in at least one major national poll every week since the release of the 2012 preseason rankings -- the longest such span in school history. Ranked in the top 25 in all six major preseason polls for 2018, the Cardinals have earned a preseason national ranking in 11 straight seasons (2008-2018) overall.
WYATT NAMED ACC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON MARCH 12
Louisville sophomore first baseman Logan Wyatt was named as the ACC Co-Player of the Week on March 12. The conference honor is the first for Wyatt, who shared the recognition with Clemson's Seth Beer. Wyatt was 7-for-12 at the plate with a home run, three doubles, one triple and eight RBIs as the Cardinals went 3-1 that week with a series win over No. 13 North Carolina. Wyatt added seven walks and scored five runs while registering a 1.250 slugging percentage and .737 on-base percentage in the four games. After opening the week with four hits and five RBIs in a win over Morehead State, the Louisville native was 2-for-3 with a pivotal three-run double and scored the game-winning run in the 5-4 series-opening victory against the Tar Heels.
SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM CONTINUES FOR LOUISVILLE
As the Louisville baseball team began preparations for the 2018 season in the fall with full-squad practices, individual workouts and conditioning, the players were also excelling in the classroom as the Cardinals registered a cumulative 3.21 GPA marking the 13th straight semester the program has achieved a team GPA of 3.0 or better.
A total of 28 members of the Louisville baseball team closed the 2017 fall semester with a 3.0 GPA or better, including newcomer Austin Conway, who accumulated a 3.325 GPA during his first semester attending the Brandeis School of Law. A righthanded pitcher of Muncie, Indiana, Conway earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana State as a double major in legal studies and political science while also pitching in 72 games for the Sycamores. Receiving an additional year of eligibility from the NCAA with a medical hardship waiver due to an injury during his junior season at ISU, Conway is completing his collegiate career on the diamond at UofL while also managing the demands of law school.
The current stretch of academic success for the Cardinals dates back to the fall semester in 2011. The span of 13 straight semesters with a team GPA of 3.0 of better coincides with unparalleled success on the field for Louisville, which earned three College World Series appearances, five NCAA Super Regional berths, six NCAA Regional bids and six conference championships during those six seasons.
CARDINALS HAVE 52 REGULAR SEASON GAMES SET FOR ESPN PLATFORMS
The Louisville baseball team's 2018 television schedule features 52 of 56 regular season games on ESPN platforms, including all 30 Atlantic Coast Conference contests for the second consecutive season. The 52 regular season games slated for television coverage are the most in school history.
Fifty of the 52 games will be televised exclusively on ACC Network Extra, available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app. The Cardinals will also make one appearance on the SEC Network with their May 1 visit to Vanderbilt in the annual Battle of the Barrel and one appearance on SEC Network+ with the road game at Kentucky on April 3.
Overall, more than 420 games featuring ACC teams will be televised across ESPN and regional networks in 2018. Additionally, the 2018 ACC Baseball Championship, scheduled for May 22-27 in Durham, North Carolina, will be televised in its entirety, with games on Tuesday through Saturday on the league's regional sports networks and Sunday's championship on ESPN2.
FOLLOWING THE CARDINALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at @UofLBaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
2018 LOUISVILLE BASEBALL TICKETS
Season ticket packages as well as single game tickets for the 2018 University of Louisville baseball season are on sale now and can be purchased online at GoCards.com/bsbtickets, by phone at 502-GO-CARDS or by visiting the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office, located near Gate 2 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (2800 South Floyd Street) on weekdays from 9 a.m., until 5 p.m., ET.
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