Saturday, February 20
Louisville, Ky.
1:00 PM
University of Louisville
vs
Bellarmine
Photo by: Karthik Kalvakuri | Louisville Athletics
No. 2 Cardinals Open 2021 Season Against Bellarmine
February 19, 2021 | Baseball
The 2021 season begins Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium.
| GAME DAY INFORMATION #2 Louisville vs. Bellarmine Location: Louisville, Ky. Venue: Jim Patterson Stadium Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleBSB Game Notes: Louisville Saturday, February 20 | 1:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACCNX | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Jr. RHP Glenn Albanese (2020: 0-0, 2.08 ERA) BU: Sr. LHP Shane Barringer (2020: 2-1, 4.12 ERA) Sunday, February 21 | 12:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACCNX | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Sr. LHP Adam Elliott (2020: 1-0, 0.87 ERA) BU: Sr. RHP Deylen Miley (2020: 1-0, 4.05 ERA) Sunday, February 21 | 3:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats TV: ACCNX | Radio: 93.9 The Ville LOU: Sr. RHP Luke Smith (2020: 3-0, 3.42 ERA) BU: Jr. RHP Reece Davis (2020: 2-2, 6.06 ERA) |
JIM PATTERSON STADIUM ATTENDANCE UPDATE
Due to stadium conditions as a result of recent inclement weather in the area, general public admission will not be permitted for this weekend's series.
Attendance will be limited to home and visiting player/staff guests only.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals will begin the season at home for the first time since 2016, when UofL swept SIU Edwardsville on the opening weekend. Louisville has opened at home only three times previously in Dan McDonnell's 14 seasons.
McDonnell starts his 15th season with a veteran squad in 2021. The Cardinals return starters at six positions along with 12 of 14 pitchers that pitched an inning in 2020. UofL also gets back infielders Alex Binelas and Lucas Dunn, who started in 2019 but missed the majority of 2020 due to injury.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Bellarmine have a long history against each other with 69 previous meetings, but the two programs have not met since 1993. The Cardinals own a 40-29 all-time advantage, including a sweep of the home-and-home series in the most-recent meetings in 1993.
EXPERIENCED POSITION PLAYERS LEAD CARDINALS INTO 2021
In 2020, it was a heralded starting rotation and pitching staff that headlined the Louisville roster. The script flips for the 2021 season, as the Cardinals boast what some college baseball media have referred to as "the best position player group in the country".
Louisville returns starters at six positions from last year, led by outfielder Levi Usher and catcher Henry Davis. Usher hit .411 last year leading the team in hits and tying for the team lead with 11 stolen bases. Davis hit .372 with a team-best 1.179 OPS. Luke Brown started all but one game in centerfield in 2020, hitting .328 with 11 stolen bases in the leadoff spot. Tim Borden II and Jared Poland return after combining to hit .356 with 16 RBIs splitting time at second. The first base combo of Ben Bianco and Dalton Rushing are back as well after posting eight doubles, four homers and 20 RBIs together in 2020.
The Cardinals also get back the services of Alex Binelas and Lucas Dunn, who both missed the majority of 2020 due to injury. Binelas was a freshman All-American in 2019 after hitting .291 with 14 home runs and 59 RBIs, while Dunn hit .309, scored 48 runs and stole 15 bases.
CARDINALS RANKED UP TO NO. 2 IN PRESEASON RANKINGS
Louisville opens the 2021 season ranked as high as No. 2 in the six major preseason rankings. The Cardinals are second in the Perfect Game rankings, while ranging from No. 5 to No. 11 in the other five polls.
D1Baseball has the Cardinals at five, while the USA Today Coaches Poll and NCBWA rankings put UofL at six. Baseball America ranked Louisville seventh and Collegiate Baseball has the Cardinals at No. 11.
UofL closed out the 2020 season at No. 2 in the polls after opening up the season as the top-ranked team in the country.
BINELAS, DAVIS NAMED TO GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST
Sophomores Alex Binelas and Henry Davis were each named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.
Louisville is one of 11 schools to have multiple players on the 55-man list for the award, given out annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country.
Louisville has now had 15 student-athletes on the preseason watch list, with Brendan McKay taking home the Golden Spikes Award in 2017.
SIX CARDINALS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Alex Binelas, Henry Davis, Michael Kirian, Jack Perkins, Jared Poland and Levi Usher all garnered preseason All-America recognition.
Davis was a unanimous preseason All-America selection from the five major services. Binelas and Usher were each named to the preseason All-America teams by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, D1Baseball and Perfect Game. Kirian was selected by Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game, while Perkins earned a Baseball America selection and Poland one from Perfect Game.
The six players on preseason All-America teams were the most of any program in the country.
LOUISVILLE VOTED AS ACC PRESEASON FAVORITE
For the third consecutive season, the Cardinals begin the 2021 season as the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Louisville received 11 of a possible 13 first-place votes to win the Atlantic Division and were chosen as the overall champion as well. NC State and Florida State were voted second and third in the division, respectively. Clemson, Wake Forest, Boston College and Notre Dame rounded out the Atlantic Division poll. Miami was selected as a narrow favorite ahead of Virginia in the Coastal.
Louisville has won the Atlantic Division in four of the five seasons since joining the league, including in 2019 when the Cardinals were also picked as the favorite.
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