Tuesday, May 7
LOUISVILLE, KY
7:00 PM
University of Louisville
vs
Vanderbilt
Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics
No. 3 Louisville Hosts No. 2 Vanderbilt Tuesday for Battle of the Barrel
May 06, 2019 | Baseball
The Cardinals lead the Battle of the Barrel rivalry 4-3 since its inception in 2012.
| GAME DAY INFORMATION #3 Louisville vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt Location: Louisville, Ky. Venue: Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000) Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleBSB Game Notes: Louisville | Vanderbilt Tickets: GoCards.com/BSBTickets Tuesday, May 7 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ESPNU | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Fr. RHP Jack Perkins (3-0, 3.20 ERA) VU: So. RHP Mason Hickman (6-0, 2.05 ERA) |
ABOUT THE LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
Louisville completed its fourth conference sweep of the season over the weekend, winning three games at Notre Dame. The Cardinals used a strong pitching performance from Reid Detmers in a 2-0 victory in the opener, and Alex Binelas launched a three-run homer in the eighth inning of game two to lift the Cardinals to a 3-1 win. Louisville capped off the weekend with an 8-2 triumph in the finale.
The Cardinals have won a season-best nine games heading into Tuesday's contest. It is the longest winning streak for Louisville since opening the 2018 season with 14 straight victories.
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 VANDERBILT
Like Louisville, Vanderbilt enters Tuesday on a roll tied for the nation's longest current winning streak at 11 games. The Commodores took all three games at South Carolina last weekend, including a 22-run outburst in the series opener.
Vanderbilt is among the best offensive teams in the country, ranking third in batting average (.320) and fifth in runs per game (8.6). The Commodores lead the SEC in both categories, as well as home runs and on base percentage. Junior outfielder JJ Bleday is the national leader in home runs with 23 on the season, including 11 in the last 15 games.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville trails 24-10 in 34 all-time meetings with Vanderbilt, a series that dates back to 1971. The Battle of the Barrel rivalry began in 2012 with the Cardinals holding a 4-3 edge in the seven meetings, including three straight victories.
TEAM NOTES AND TRENDS
- The Louisville offense tallied double digit hits in 24 games this season. The Cardinals are 32-1 this season when they outhit the opposition.
- Louisville has scored double digit runs in five straight games from April 23-30, the first time in program history with 10 runs or more in five consecutive victories.
- Louisville leads the ACC in batting average (.298), hits per game (10.4) and stolen bases (88).
- Louisville pitching currently leads the ACC in ERA (3.29), WHIP (1.14), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.87), shutouts (6) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.60).
- Louisville's starting pitcher has pitched five innings or more with one earned run or fewer allowed in 19 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.
- Louisville pitchers set a Jim Patterson Stadium record with 19 strikeouts against Alabama A&M on April 26. The Cardinals have struck out 10 or more in 30 games this season, with a 27-3 record when doing so.
- UofL set program records against Alabama A&M for most runs in a three-game series (61) and margin of victory in a three game series (54).
- The Cardinals have been active offensively in the first inning this season, plating at least one run in the opening inning of 25 games. Louisville has scored 44 first inning runs overall and is 21-4 when scoring in the first.
- Logan Wyatt is second in the country with 55 walks through 48 games and is currently on pace for 64 this season. The UofL single season record in 69 by Kevin Malone in 1980. Wyatt moved into seventh all-time on Louisville's career walk list with three walks vs. Alabama A&M Friday.
- 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 currently leads the ACC with 88 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 35-0 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 37 of its 48 ACC series since joining the league and is 40-7 in its series finales during that span, including an 12-4 record in rubber games.
- The Cardinals have won 19 of their 24 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
- Five different Cardinals have hit their first collegiate home runs this season (Binelas, Davis, Leonard, Masterman, Poland).
- 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.
- 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 AGAINST TOP FIVE OPPONENTS
Of Louisville's 48 games this season, 17 have been against teams that were ranked at the time of the game. The Cardinals are 12-5 in those contests and will add another to that number on Tuesday with the game against second-ranked Vanderbilt.
Louisville was 3-5 in 2018 against teams ranked in the top five and is 3-0 in 2019 after the series sweep at then-No. 2 NC State. Under Dan McDonnell, the Cardinals are 11-17 versus top-five competition.
The last top-five opponent to play at Jim Patterson Stadium was NC State, who was fourth when it took two of three from the Cardinals April 4-6, 2018.
CARDINALS SHOWING TOUGHNESS ON THE ROAD
The Louisville baseball program has experienced tremendous success on its home field at Jim Patterson Stadium, and is doing so again this season with a 25-5 mark at home.
In 2019, the Cardinals have proven even tougher to beat in their opponents' ballpark. Louisville is 13-2 in enemy territory, tied with Stanford for the best road record in the country.
The Cardinals have completed four sweeps in conference play this season, three of which have come on the road, including most recently at Notre Dame over the weekend.
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 396-112 record (.779 winning percentage), including an impressive 33-4 mark during the 2017 season at the corner of Third and Central. The Cardinals are 25-5 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 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 | 593 | |
| 2. North Carolina | 583 | |
| 3. Florida State | 582 | |
| 4. LSU | 581 | |
| 5. Vanderbilt | 575 | |
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.
Players Mentioned
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