Cardinals Hit Road for Three at Boston College

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team returns to conference play for a three-game series at Boston College beginning on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. ET with the finale scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage available on 93.9 The Ville.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals are hitting the road for the first time since the opening weekend after spending the last month at home. Louisville wrapped up its 18-game homestand with a 15-3 overall record, including a 4-0 mark against ranked opponents.

Louisville opened up ACC play with a three-game sweep of No. 1 Notre Dame last weekend, the third time the Cardinals have started conference action with a sweep (2016, 2017). UofL has a chance to match its best-ever ACC start of 6-0 done in 2017.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Boston College have 19 previous meetings, all coming since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2015. UofL is 14-5 against the Eagles, having won five of the six series between the two. The Cardinals are just 3-3 at Boston College, but haven't made the trip north since 2018 when they won two of three. Louisville swept a three-game series at home versus BC last year.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville owns 130 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
UofL has won 46 of its 63 ACC series (one series ended 1-1) since joining the league and is 48-13 in its series finales during that span, including a 17-6 record in rubber games.
The Cardinals have won 25 of their 31 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
Louisville opened ACC play with a sweep of No. 1 Notre Dame. The Cardinals scored 31 runs on the weekend against a Notre Dame pitching staff that had allowed just 29 runs through its first 13 games.
UofL's offense has been explosive so far this season, plating four or more runs in an inning 16 times through 21 games. The Cardinals had just 19 such innings in 50 games in 2021.
UofL is 14-0 this season when it tallies more hits than the opposition. During Dan McDonnell's 16 seasons at Louisville, the Cardinals are 531-60 (.898) when they record more hits.

PLAYER NOTES

Christian Knapczyk has hit in the leadoff spot every game this season after hitting ninth in 42 of his 43 starts in 2021. Knapczyk is tied for the team lead with 11 multi-hit games and leads the country with 35 runs scored. The Louisville shortstop has scored at least one run in 18 of 21 games this season, including two or more in 12. Knapczyk picked up his first career home run in the second game of the Akron series and hit a leadoff homer against Northern Kentucky. Knapczyk ranks ninth nationally in triples and top 20 in on-base percentage.
Jack Payton played sparingly as a freshman, appearing in 13 games with seven starts. Payton tallied just six hits and two RBIs in his first season. Through 21 games in 2022, Payton is hitting .421 with 32 hits, eight doubles and 10 RBIs. Payton is on a career-long eight-game hitting streak and is 17-for-32 (.531) over that span. The sophomore ranks top 10 in the ACC in batting average (fourth), doubles (fifth) and hits (seventh).
Logan Beard used the 2021 season as a redshirt year and has made the most of his opportunity to play in 2022. The Louisville native has started all but two games, hitting .381 with four doubles, two homers and 22 RBIs. Beard is 18-for-42 (.429) over the last 13 games, scoring 15 runs and driving in 17, including a two-homer game in the series finale against Akron.
Ben Metzinger returned fully healthy in 2022 and has been one of the pillars of the Louisville lineup. The senior ranks 10th nationally with nine home runs and his 29 RBIs are 18th-best in the country. Metzinger leads the ACC in walks and is seventh or better in homers, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage. Metzinger hit a three-run walk-off homer against Morehead State, the first walk-off blast for the Cardinals since Nick Solak's home run beat Notre Dame on March 11, 2016.
Levi Usher struggled during the 2021 season and got off to a slow start in 2022, but the senior has been heating up over the last three weeks. Usher was named the ACC Player of the Week after going 9-for-15 (.600) in four games against TCU and Michigan with two doubles, a triple, a homer, eight RBIs and six stolen bases. Usher is 15-for-43 (.349) over the last 12 games and is now 13-of-13 in stolen bases this season, moving him into 10th place on Louisville's career stolen base list with 50.
Ben Bianco has already turned in a career season this spring setting career highs in runs (17), hits (20), triples (3), home runs (4) and RBIs (25). The fifth-year senior had five hits in the finale against Dartmouth, becoming the first Cardinal with five hits in a game since Alex Binelas did so against Alabama A&M on April 26, 2019.
Jared Poland started his time at Louisville as a two-way player, playing second base and pitching out of the bullpen. Poland took on a pitcher-only role in 2021 and has now worked into a starting pitcher. The right-hander was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week after tossing seven scoreless innings against No. 1 Notre Dame, striking out a career best 10. Poland is working on a 14.1 inning scoreless streak and is the only qualified ACC pitcher with a sub-1.00 ERA at 0.90.
Riley Phillips pitched just 4.2 innings as a freshman with a 15.43 ERA, but has taken on a much larger role during his sophomore campaign. The southpaw has moved into a weekend starter role and enters the weekend 2-0 with a 2.52 ERA and a team-high 27 strikeouts. Phillips has turned in quality starts each of his last two trips to the mound with one run over six innings against Michigan and two earned in six innings versus Notre Dame.
Michael Prosecky has taken over as the Louisville closer for the 2022 season after pitching in a variety of roles during his first two years. The southpaw recorded the final six outs in each of Louisville's first two victories, earning his first two career saves. Prosecky has continued his strong work out of the bullpen, closing down three of Louisville's last four games and has not allowed a run in his last nine innings. The junior leads the ACC and is fifth nationally with six saves.

CARDINALS FEATURE ONE OF NATION'S TOP OFFENSES
The 2022 Louisville offense has been arguably the most potent in Dan McDonnell's 16-year tenure. The Cardinals have more runs (208), triples (15), home runs (33), total bases (412) and a higher on-base percentage (.437) and slugging percentage (.565) through 21 games than any other Louisville team under McDonnell.

Louisville currently ranks seventh nationally averaging 9.9 runs per game. The Cardinals also lead the country in triples and rank fifth in slugging percentage, seventh in runs and ninth in on-base percentage. Louisville is also top 15 in batting average, hits, home runs and stolen bases.

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Players Mentioned

Logan Beard

Ben Bianco

Alex Binelas

Christian Knapczyk

Ben Metzinger

Jack Payton

Riley Phillips

Jared Poland

Michael Prosecky

Levi Usher

University of Louisville Athletics