Cardinals Travel to Western Kentucky on Tuesday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team continues its eight-game road swing with a midweek contest at Western Kentucky on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET in Bowling Green. The game will be streamed on Facebook with radio coverage available on 93.9 The Ville.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals are coming off a three-game sweep at Boston College over the weekend. Louisville outscored the Eagles 31-8 during the series, improving to 6-0 in conference play. The six straight wins match the best ACC start for the Cardinals since joining the league in 2015.

Following the sweep at Boston College, the Cardinals took a leap forward in the national rankings. After opening the season unranked, the Cardinals are now in the top 15 in all six major polls with a high ranking of fifth in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper rankings.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Western Kentucky will meet for the 144th time on Tuesday night. The Cardinals own a 74-69 all-time record against the Hilltoppers, including seven consecutive victories. The two teams have met every season since 1990 with the exception of 2020, when the two didn't meet due to the COVID cancellation of the season. Louisville defeated WKU 13-6 last March at Jim Patterson Stadium.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has an .839 winning percentage (125-24) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 102-12 (.895) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
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 19 times through 24 games, matching its total in 50 games in 2021.
UofL is 17-0 this season when it tallies more hits than the opposition. During Dan McDonnell's 16 seasons at Louisville, the Cardinals are 534-60 (.899) when they record more hits.
Louisville is 102-2 when leading after eight innings over the past four seasons, including a 17-0 mark this season. The Cardinals are 593-17 (.972) when taking a lead into the ninth inning during Dan McDonnell's tenure.

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 12 multi-hit games and is second nationally with 39 runs scored. The Louisville shortstop has scored at least one run in 21 of 24 games this season, including two or more in 13. 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 top 10 in the ACC in runs (1st), hit by pitch (2nd), triples (2nd), on-base percentage (3rd), stolen bases (3rd), doubles (5th), batting average (7th), hits (7th) and walks (9th).
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 24 games in 2022, Payton is hitting .393 with 35 hits, nine doubles and 12 RBIs. Payton is 20-for-45 (.444) over his last 11 games. The sophomore ranks top 10 in the ACC in doubles (fifth), batting average (sixth) and hits (ninth).
Ben Metzinger returned fully healthy in 2022 and has been one of the pillars of the Louisville lineup. The senior ranks 10th nationally with 10 home runs and his 34 RBIs are 11th-best in the country. Metzinger is top 10 in the ACC in walks (2nd), home runs (3rd), RBIs (4th), total bases (4th), runs (5th), slugging percentage (7th) and stolen bases (8th). He earned ACC Player of the Week honors after tallying four straight multi-hit games against Lipscomb and Boston College. 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.
Cameron Masterman has solidified his spot in the middle of Louisville's lineup with a strong start to the 2021 season. Masterman has already set career highs in runs (23), hits (31), doubles (7), homers (7) and RBIs (28). The fifth-year senior has tallied multiple hits in six of the last 10 games, hitting .385 (15-for-39) with three home runs and 14 RBIs over that stretch.
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 18-for-57 (.316) over the last 15 games and is now 16-of-16 in stolen bases this season, moving him into ninth place on Louisville's career stolen base list with 53.
Ben Bianco has already turned in a career season this spring setting career highs in runs (18), hits (24), triples (3), home runs (5) and RBIs (28). 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.
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 12 innings. The junior leads the ACC 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 (239), home runs (38), total bases (468) and a higher on-base percentage (.439) and slugging percentage (.558) through 24 games than any other Louisville team under McDonnell.

Louisville currently ranks fifth nationally averaging 10.0 runs per game. The Cardinals rank second in triples, fourth in runs, fifth in slugging percentage, sixth in on-base percentage, ninth in walks, ninth in batting average, ninth in stolen bases and 10th in hits.

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Players Mentioned

Ben Bianco

Alex Binelas

Christian Knapczyk

Cameron Masterman

Ben Metzinger

Jack Payton

Michael Prosecky

Levi Usher

University of Louisville Athletics