Cardinals Return to ACC Play at Pitt

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team returns to conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Pitt. The series begins Friday at 3 p.m. ET with game two set for Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and the finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra. Radio coverage will be available on 970 WGTK on Friday and move to 93.9 The Ville for Saturday and Sunday.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals picked up a 16-6 victory at Western Kentucky on Tuesday night. Louisville has now scored double digit runs in 11 games this seasons, including seven of the last 11 and three straight heading into the weekend.

Louisville has swept three-game series against Notre Dame and Boston College to open up ACC play this spring. The 6-0 record matches the best start for the Cardinals in conference play since joining the ACC, also done by the 2017 team.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Pitt will play for the first time in four years when the two teams meet this weekend. The Cardinals lead the all-time series 21-8 and have won 12 straight over the Panthers. However, the two have not played since meeting in the 2018 ACC Tournament. The two teams had their three-game series canceled last season.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville owns 133 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
UofL has won 47 of its 64 ACC series (one series ended 1-1) since joining the league and is 49-13 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 21 times through 25 games, surpassing its total of 19 in 50 games in 2021.
UofL is 18-0 this season when it tallies more hits than the opposition. During Dan McDonnell's 16 seasons at Louisville, the Cardinals are 535-60 (.899) when they record more hits.

PLAYER NOTES

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. He currently leads the Cardinals with 13 multi-hit games on the season, including seven with three hits, and is coming off a 3-for-5 night at WKU in which he drove in a career-high five runs and hit his first career home run. Payton is 23-for-50 (.460) over his last 12 games. The sophomore ranks top 10 in the ACC in batting average (4th), doubles (5th) and hits (6th).
Christian Knapczyk has hit in the leadoff spot every game this season after hitting ninth in 42 of his 43 starts in 2021. Knapczyk owns 12 multi-hit games and is second nationally with 40 runs scored. The Louisville shortstop has scored at least one run in 22 of 25 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), on-base percentage (2nd), triples (3rd), stolen bases (3rd), doubles (5th), walks (8th), hits (9th) and batting average (10th).
Ben Metzinger returned fully healthy in 2022 and has been one of the pillars of the Louisville lineup. The senior ranks 13th nationally with 10 home runs and his 35 RBIs are 14th-best in the country. Metzinger is top 10 in the ACC in walks (2nd), home runs (3rd), RBIs (5th), total bases (5th), runs (5th), triples (8th), slugging percentage (9th) and stolen bases (9th). 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 (25), hits (33), doubles (7), homers (7) and RBIs (28). The fifth-year senior has tallied multiple hits in seven of the last 11 games, hitting .386 (17-for-44) with three home runs and 14 RBIs over that stretch.
Levi Usher has been a terror on the basepaths for opponents since arriving at Louisville for the 2020 season. The centerfielder led the ACC with 26 stolen bases in 2021 and is a perfect 17-for-17 this season. Usher has moved into ninth place on Louisville's career stolen base list with 54 in 57 attempts.
Ben Bianco has already turned in a career season this spring setting career highs in runs (18), hits (25), 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.
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 put together an 18-inning scoreless streak from March 8-26, which included starts against ranked opponents TCU and Notre Dame.
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 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA and a team-high 34 strikeouts. Phillips has turned in quality starts each of his last three trips to the mound with one run over six innings against Michigan, two earned in six innings versus Notre Dame and seven shutout innings at Boston College.
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.

KNAPCZYK, METZINGER PROVIDING LETHAL 1-2 COMBINATION
The Louisville offense has beat opponents in a variety of ways in 2022, but the combination of Christian Knapczyk and Ben Metzinger at the top of the Cardinals' lineup has been at the center of it all.

Knapczyk is hitting .381 heading into the weekend and has been an on-base machine in the leadoff spot, ranking second in the ACC with a .528 on-base percentage. The shortstop has scored 40 runs through 25 games, second-most in the country.

Metzinger has taken advantage of having his fellow infielder on base in front of him, hitting .347 with a team-best 35 RBIs that ranks top 15 nationally. The senior has 10 home runs on the season, eight of which have come with Knapczyk on base.

The duo has scored 71 runs and been active on the basepaths as well, combining for 22 stolen bases on the season in just 24 attempts.

WEEKEND ROTATION STARTING TO SETTLE IN FOR CARDS
One of the bigger questions entering the season for Louisville was which pitchers would earn weekend starting roles. The trio of Tate Kuehner, Jared Poland and Riley Phillips have grabbed the reins and taken hold of the rotation.

Kuehner, Poland and Phillips have combined for an 8-1 record with a 2.27 ERA, striking out 87 batters in 87.1 innings and holding opponents to a .228 batting average. The three hurlers have combined for 10 starts this season with two earned runs or fewer allowed, including four of their six starts in ACC play.

Poland garnered ACC Pitcher of the Week honors after shutting out Notre Dame over seven innings as part of an 18-inning scoreless streak, while Phillips twirled seven shutout innings of his own at Boston College last weekend.

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 (255), home runs (40), total bases (493) and a higher on-base percentage (.440) and slugging percentage (.558) through 25 games than any other Louisville team under McDonnell.

Louisville currently ranks fifth nationally averaging 10.2 runs per game. The Cardinals rank second in triples, fifth in runs, fifth in slugging percentage, fifth in on-base percentage, seventh in walks, eighth in batting average, ninth in stolen bases and 10th in hits.

FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ben Bianco

Alex Binelas

Christian Knapczyk

Tate Kuehner

Cameron Masterman

Ben Metzinger

Jack Payton

Riley Phillips

Jared Poland

Michael Prosecky

Levi Usher

University of Louisville Athletics