Tuesday, April 9
LOUISVILLE, KY
6:00 PM
University of Louisville
vs
Northern Kentucky
Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics
No. 12 Louisville Hosts Northern Kentucky for Bark at the Park Night
April 08, 2019 | Baseball
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium
| GAME DAY INFORMATION #12 Louisville vs. Northern Kentucky Location: Louisville, Ky. Venue: Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000) Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleBSB Game Notes: Louisville | Northern Kentucky Tuesday, April 9 | 6:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACC Network Extra | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Jr. RHP Luke Smith (3-0, 3.86 ERA) NKU: Fr. RHP Proctor Mercer (1-2, 6.56 ERA) |
PROMOTIONS
Tuesday is Bark at the Park Night at Jim Patterson Stadium. All fans are invited to bring their dog to the ballpark for the midweek contest and each dog in attendance will be given a doggie bandana. Waste bags will also be provided with owners asked to pick up after their pets.
Fans with dogs must enter and exit the stadium via the gate in left field, and all dogs will be required to stay in the outfield berm seating area, with a special exception made for service dogs.
ABOUT THE LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
Louisville is coming off a 2-2 week after taking a midweek contest against Kentucky, before losing two of three at Clemson over the weekend. The Cardinals took 5-1 and 6-3 losses in the first two games of the weekend series, but bounced back for a 7-4 victory in 11 innings in Sunday's series finale.
Alex Binelas and Drew Campbell each hit solo home runs in the 11th inning of Sunday's win to help lift the Cardinals. Meanwhile, Jared Poland, Adam Elliott, Michael McAvene and Michael Kirian combined for 7.1 scoreless innings of relief work to assist in the victory.
The Cardinals began head coach Dan McDonnell's 13th season ranked as high as fourth in the national polls. UofL is coming off a 45-19 record in 2018, its seventh straight 40-win season and the 11th in 12 seasons under McDonnell. The Cardinals advanced to the championship round of an NCAA Regional for the seventh straight season.
ABOUT NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Northern Kentucky enters Tuesday night's contest with an 8-22 overall record. However, the Norse are fresh off of taking two of three from Wright State, which won the Horizon League and played in a NCAA regional last season. NKU has struggled in nonconference play this season, going 2-16 against teams outside the Horizon League.
Out of 297 teams, the Norse rank 273rd at 4.2 runs per game and 282nd with a 7.48 team ERA.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville is 13-7 all-time against Northern Kentucky in a series that dates back to 1971, however 18 of those 20 meetings came between 1971-85. The two sides have met the last two seasons, with Louisville winning 6-4 at Louisville Slugger Field in 2017 and 7-2 last season at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Cardinals have won seven in a row and 14 of the last 15 against in-state opponents (Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky, Morehead State, Northern Kentucky, Western Kentucky).
TEAM NOTES AND TRENDS
- Louisville pitching currently leads the ACC and ranks top 15 in the country in ERA (3.03), WHIP (1.10), shutouts (4), strikeouts per nine innings (10.27) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.71).
- Louisville's starting pitcher has pitched five innings or more with one earned run or fewer allowed in 15 games this season.
- UofL has had a starting pitcher throw seven no-hit innings on three occasions this season, with Reid Detmers doing it against Brown and James Madison, and Bobby Miller against Wake Forest.
- The Cardinals have been active offensively in the first inning this season, plating at least one run in the opening inning of 18 games. Louisville has scored 31 first inning runs overall and is 15-3 when scoring in the first.
- Louisville pitchers set a Jim Patterson Stadium record with 18 strikeouts against Georgia Tech on March 22. The Cardinals have struck out 10 or more in 16 games this season, with a 14-2 record when doing so.
- Logan Wyatt is second in the country with 39 walks through 32 games and is currently on pace for 68 this season. The UofL single season record in 69 by Kevin Malone in 1980. Wyatt is two walks away from reaching UofL's top-10 career list.
- Louisville swiped a season-high nine bases on March 6 against Morehead State. It was the most since the Cardinals finished with 10 stolen bases against Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 20, 2013. UofL is currently second in the ACC with 63 stolen bases on the year. Louisville has finished in the top five in the country in stolen bases in four of the last six seasons.
- In the victory over Morehead State on March 6, the Cardinals set a program record with eight different players recording a stolen base.
- The Cardinals are 20-0 this season when leading after eight innings. From 2012-17, Louisville accumulated a six-year record of 266-3 when entering the ninth with a lead, including a 50-0 mark in 2017.
- UofL has won 34 of its 45 ACC series since joining the league and is 37-7 in its series finales during that span, including an 11-4 record in rubber games.
- The Cardinals have won 18 of their 23 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
- Twelve different Cardinals have made their Louisville debuts this season (Albanese, Binelas, Davis, Leonard, Lohman, Masterman, Metzinger, Perkins, Poland, Schmeltz, Smith and Wright). It was the collegiate debut for 11 of the 12.
- Louisville has 24 games on its schedule against teams ranked inside the top 25 in at least one of the six major preseason polls (Clemson, Connecticut, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, NC State, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest).
- While at Louisville, coach Dan McDonnell has guided the Cardinals to four College World Series berths, seven NCAA Super Regional appearances, 11 NCAA Regional bids, eight regular season conference championships and two conference tournament titles with 37 All-Americans.
LOUISVILLE'S BACK END BULLPEN RESURGENCE
Louisville has consistently produced top of the line bullpen arms, many of which are spread across pro baseball. This season is no different, with the Cardinals a perfect 20-0 when leading after eight innings.
Michael Kirian and Michael McAvene have been key pieces at the end of games in 2019 with marked improvement from their 2018 numbers. Kirian held a 12.71 ERA in 11.1 innings as a freshman last season, while McAvene had a 4.55 ERA over his two-year career entering 2019. This season, Kirian is 2-0 with a save and has given up just one run in 16.2 innings for a 0.54 ERA. McAvene is 1-0 with three saves and three runs allowed in 14.0 innings. The duo has combined to strike out 41 batters with just six walks.
In Sunday's win over Clemson, McAvene and Kirian pitched the final six innings of the game, striking out eight with no runs and just three hits allowed.
DETMERS NAMED PERFECT GAME MIDSEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Sophomore Reid Detmers was named the Midseason Pitcher of the Year by Perfect Game on Wednesday.
Detmers has been dominant through eight starts this season, holding a 5-2 record with a 1.65 ERA. The southpaw ranks second in the country with 86 strikeouts and has walked just 10 batters in 54.2 innings.
Of his seven starts in 2019, three have ended with a career high in strikeouts. Detmers worked seven hitless innings with a then-career best 11 strikeouts against Brown on Feb. 22. His next start out against James Madison, he once again carried a no-hitter through seven innings, finishing with 14 punchouts on the night.
Following victories over Boston College and Duke, Detmers set the Jim Patterson Stadium record striking out 16 Georgia Tech hitters over 7.2 innings on March 22. Last weekend, the lefty gave up just one run in 7.1 innings against Wake Forest while tallying double digit strikeouts for the fifth time on the year.
LOUISVILLE'S CONTINUED FLIRTATIONS WITH NO-HITTERS
The Cardinals have taken a no-hitter into the eighth inning on three separate occasions this season. Reid Detmers tossed seven no-hit innings against Brown on February 22 before the Bears spoiled things against the UofL bullpen with two outs in the ninth. Detmers followed it up with seven hitless innings the next week versus James Madison, only to see the bid end in the eighth.
Sunday against Wake Forest, Bobby Miller made his own run at history with seven hitless innings in his second start of the season. However, the Demon Deacons broke through against the relievers in the eighth.
It has been more than 35 years since Louisville last tossed a no-hitter, going all the way back to Dave McCormick's gem against Cincinnati on March 26, 1983. The Cardinals have five in program history.
FOUR FORMER CARDS ON MLB OPENING DAY ROSTERS
The Major League Baseball season opened up on Thursday and four former Louisville baseball players were on Opening Day rosters.
Nick Burdi (Pittsburgh Pirates), Adam Engle (Chicago White Sox), Chad Green (New York Yankees) and Matt Koch (Arizona Diamondbacks) were each on the roster to start the 2019 season.
Since the hiring of head coach Dan McDonnell prior to the 2007 season, 64 Louisville players have signed professional contracts after being selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including a school-record nine Cardinals in 2010.
CARDINALS CONTINUE TO FIND SUCCESS IN ACC PLAY
Since joining the ACC before the 2015 season, Louisville has seen its success at the conference level spill over into its new league. The Cardinals won regular season titles in each of their first three seasons in the ACC and were voted the preseason favorite in 2019.
Louisville has won 34 of 45 conference series since joining the league. With sweeps this season against Wake Forest and at Duke, the Cardinals have tallied nine conference road sweeps over the last four-plus seasons and 19 sweeps in ACC play altogether.
Louisville is currently third in the Atlantic Division with a 10-5 start at the midway point in conference action.
LOUISVILLE FRESHMEN HAVE BIG WEEK AT THE PLATE
On a roster that returned seven of its position starters from the 2018 season, Louisville had three freshmen with memorable moments at the dish the week of March 11-17.
Alex Binelas was the first of three to hit his first collegiate home run, doing so in the third inning against Ole Miss. The two-run shot was part of a 2-for-4 showing with four RBIs for the Oak Creek, Wis. native.
Henry Davis, who has split time behind the plate this season, launched his first collegiate home run with a towering shot in the seventh inning of Louisville's opening win at Duke. He then added a second long ball in the finale, when he was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Two batters after Davis hit his second homer of the weekend, Jared Poland got in on the act with a two-run blast that tied the game at four as the Cardinals rallied back for the victory.
DETMERS EARNS BACK-TO-BACK ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Sophomore lefthander Reid Detmers was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week in consecutive weeks after dominant starts against Brown and James Madison.
Detmers tossed seven no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts against Brown. The southpaw retired the first 16 batters he faced before issuing a walk with one out in the sixth inning. Detmers then retired the next five hitters to finish off his outing.
He then followed it up with seven more hitless innings against James Madison before allowing the only hit of the game to lead off the eighth. Detmers finished his eight innings with a career-high 14 strikeouts.
Through eight starts, Detmers has a 1.65 ERA with 86 strikeouts and just 10 walks.
LOUISVILLE LEADS COUNTRY IN WINS SINCE 2007
Dan McDonnell took the reins of the Louisville baseball program in 2007. Louisville entered 2019 with the most wins of any Division I program from 2007-18 with 554.
| Most Wins Since 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. Louisville | 578 | |
| 2. LSU | 574 | |
| 3. North Carolina | 572 | |
| 4. Florida State | 571 | |
| 5. Vanderbilt | 561 | |
FEELING AT HOME INSIDE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM
Since opening the gates at Jim Patterson Stadium in 2005, the Cardinals have won more than 77 percent of their games in the ballpark posting a 389-111 record (.778 winning percentage), including an impressive 33-4 mark during the 2017 season at the corner of Third and Central. The Cardinals are 18-4 on their home field this season. Louisville set a school record for home wins with 36 in 2016 and the Cardinals have registered 30 or more wins at home in four of the last six seasons.
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 2019, the Cardinals have earned a preseason national ranking in 11 straight seasons (2008-2018) overall. Louisville entered the 2019 season ranked fourth in the D1Baseball rankings, eighth in the Perfect Game and USA Today polls, ninth in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and NCBWA rankings and 11th by Baseball America.
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