Friday, February 26
Louisville, Ky.
1:00 PM
University of Louisville
vs
Western Illinois
Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
Second-Ranked Cardinals Host Western Illinois for Three
February 25, 2021 | Baseball
First pitch of all three games is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Winners of four straight to open the season, the second-ranked University of Louisville baseball team welcomes Western Illinois for a weekend series at Jim Patterson Stadium. First pitch for all three games is scheduled for 1 p.m. and all three can be seen on ACC Network Extra. Radio coverage Friday will be on 1450 WXVM and then 93.9 The Ville for the final two games.
JIM PATTERSON STADIUM ATTENDANCE UPDATE
General public admission will be permitted for Tuesday's game. Socially distant seating will be available in the reserved seating sections and berm and handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville picked up its fourth straight win in 2021 on Tuesday, defeating Eastern Kentucky 6-2. Henry Davis led the charge for the Cardinals, reaching base four times, homering for the second straight game and driving in four.
It has been a well-rounded start to the season for the Cardinals outscoring the opposition 32-7 through four games. The Louisville offense is hitting .298 as a team with an ACC-leading seven home runs. Meanwhile, the pitching staff is tied for the league lead with a 1.25 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .150 average.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Western Illinois have met six times previously, all in Louisville with the Cardinals holding a 5-1 record. The most recent meeting between the two programs came in 2014 as UofL swept a doubleheader against WIU, 8-0 and 5-2.
TEAM NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
JIM PATTERSON STADIUM ATTENDANCE UPDATE
General public admission will be permitted for Tuesday's game. Socially distant seating will be available in the reserved seating sections and berm and handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville picked up its fourth straight win in 2021 on Tuesday, defeating Eastern Kentucky 6-2. Henry Davis led the charge for the Cardinals, reaching base four times, homering for the second straight game and driving in four.
It has been a well-rounded start to the season for the Cardinals outscoring the opposition 32-7 through four games. The Louisville offense is hitting .298 as a team with an ACC-leading seven home runs. Meanwhile, the pitching staff is tied for the league lead with a 1.25 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .150 average.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Western Illinois have met six times previously, all in Louisville with the Cardinals holding a 5-1 record. The most recent meeting between the two programs came in 2014 as UofL swept a doubleheader against WIU, 8-0 and 5-2.
TEAM NOTES
- Louisville has an .867 winning percentage (104-16) in non-conference games over the previous six seasons, including a 84-6 (.933) mark in non-conference home games.
- UofL is 42-1 over the past five seasons in its non-conference home series, with the lone loss coming against Indiana State in 2018. The Cardinals opened the 2021 season with a sweep of Bellarmine.
- The Cardinals pounded out six home runs during the opening series, the most home runs they've hit in a series since also hitting six in three games at Clemson from May 12-14, 2017. The six home runs were the most for the Cardinals in a single series at Jim Patterson Stadium since April 30-May 1, 2010 when they launched nine against Rutgers (three by Phil Wunderlich and Andrew Clark, two by Stewart Ijames and one from Ryan Wright).
- Since joining the ACC prior to the 2015 season, Louisville leads all ACC teams in wins, batting average, runs, hits, doubles, extra-base hits, RBIs, total bases, stolen bases, ERA, shutouts, saves, strikeouts and opponents' batting average.
- Twelve different players have made their Louisville debuts in 2021, including nine who played in their first collegiate game.
PLAYER NOTES
- Henry Davis is on fire to begin the year, going 6-for-12 (.500) with a pair of home runs while sitting atop the ACC leaderboard with eight RBIs. The sophomore homered three times in his first 54 career games, but has homered five times in the last nine games dating back to last season. Davis also has three stolen bases after having just one in his first two seasons.
- Cameron Masterman was scorching hot to start the 2021 season, picking up six hits, three home runs and six RBIs in the series against Bellarmine. Masterman leads the ACC in home runs and total bases (15), while sitting third in RBIs.
- Levi Usher picked up right where he left off in 2020, tallying a pair of multi-hit games against Bellarmine, including a home run and a triple in the series finale. In 19 career games started at Louisville, Usher has picked up multiple hits in 11 of them.
- Michael Kirian was absolutely lights out in 2020, saving all six games he appeared in and allowing just three baserunners in his 6.1 innings. Since the start of the 2019 season, Kirian has a 1.37 ERA in 39.1 innings with 53 strikeouts and just 11 walks.
- Adam Elliott made 67 relief appearances across his first four seasons at Louisville before taking the ball to start the second game of the series against Bellarmine. Elliott worked four scoreless innings, lowering his career ERA to 1.80. He currently sits second on Louisville's career ERA list, .01 higher than former first round pick, Nick Burdi.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Players Mentioned
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